Speaker Class C
Cancer cells crossing borders
Tissue homeostasis is dependent on the spatially controlled localization of specific cell types and the correct composition of the extracellular stroma. Integrin-mediated adhesions, in conjunction with the actin cytoskeleton and signaling by receptor tyrosine kinases, regulate cell fate and identity and allow cells to migrate and invade the surrounding extra-cellular matrix (ECM). We have previously uncovered key differences between normal and cancer-associated stroma, whereby the mechanical and architectural features of normal stroma inhibit tumour growth and may epigenetically reprogram aggressive breast cancer cells towards a more benign phenotype. Recently, we turned our attention to other putative crosstalk mechanisms between cancer cells and the microenvironment. These include mechanisms of basement membrane assembly and breaching in control of cancer invasion as well as mechanosensitive guidance of cell migration. In addition, we have recently discovered that normal stromal components can also inhibit cancer cell invasion and migration towards the vasculature. I will describe different control mechanisms guiding cancer cell invasion across physiological borders.
Biography
Johanna Ivaska is currently a Finnish Cancer Institute K. Albin Johansson Research Professor. She is also Professor of Molecular Cell Biology at Turku Bioscience Center at the University of Turku in Finland. She was nominated EMBO member 2015 and EMBO Council member 2023. After obtaining her PhD at the University of Turku in 2000 she did a post-doc in the laboratory of Peter Parker in CR-UK London Research Institute. She moved to VTT technical Research Centre of Finland to establish her research group “Cell adhesion and cancer” in 2003 and in 2013 moved to her current position in University of Turku. In 2014 she was a Visiting Professor at Institute Curie in Paris and currently she is an Affiliate Professor at University of Glasgow and CR-UK Beatson Institute for Cancer Research. Her main research interests relate to the biological role of integrins in cancer progression. The current main research focus are integrin mediated cell adhesion and migration, cell-matrix interactions and mechanosensing as well as molecular mechanisms governing endosomal traffic of integrins and growth factor receptors in cancer. Her research is currently funded by grants from the Academy of Finland and national foundations like the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, Sigrid Juselius Foundation and the Finnish Cancer Organization. She is director of Academy of Finland Center of Excellence in Biological Barrier Mechanics and Disease 2022-2029. She is a scientific editor for JCB (since 2016) and editorial and advisory board member of several journals such as Current Biology, Cell Reports, J. Cell. Sci, Current Opinion in Cell Biology, Molecular Oncology and Trends in Cell Biology.
Website: https://ivaskalab.utu.fi/