Maja Radulovic – Oslo universitetssykehus HF. CanCell member
LYSRUPT- Breaking cancer's recycling system
Cells rely on compartments called lysosomes to recycle waste and stay alive. When lysosomes are damaged, cancer cells can rapidly repair them, helping tumors resist treatment. We and others have discovered different repair mechanisms that protect lysosomes from damage. The new project, LYSRUPT, aims to block these repair pathways to make cancer cells more vulnerable to existing therapies. This approach could boost the effectiveness of drugs and nanomedicines that work by disrupting lysosomes, offering a new strategy to fight resistant cancers.
https://www.ous-research.no/radulovic
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41580-025-00873-w
Anne Simonsen – Universitetet i Oslo. CanCell PI
Characterization of novel Mitophagy Regulators in Metabolic reprogramming during tumorigenesis (MiRMet)
Metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment has been identified as one of the hallmarks of cancer. Tumor cells often undergo metabolic rewiring in a hypoxic tumor microenvironment, which is largely driven by the transcription factor HIF1A. Hypoxia is also known to induce degradation of mitochondria through autophagy (mitophagy). Yet, the mechanistic understanding of mitophagy and its role in metabolic rewiring remains largely unexplored. The MiRMet project aims to mechanistically characterize novel HIF1A-regulated targets in mitophagy and elucidate their role in the metabolic rewiring of cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment. The MiRMet project will provide fundamental insight into the mechanisms of mitophagy and their role in tumorigenesis, and lead to the development of new technology and characterization of novel targets for future scientific discovery or clinical application.
https://ous-research.no/simonsen
https://www.med.uio.no/klinmed/english/research/groups/autophagy/index.html
Jorrit Martijn Enserink – Oslo universitetssykehus HF. CanCell PI
Microbes inhabit many body sites, such as gut and skin, but recent studies have unexpectedly also found that complex microbial communitiescan exist inside primary solid tumors. These intratumoral microorganisms can shape cancer development and therapy outcomes by modulating immunity and degrading chemotherapies, enabling tumor cells to resist treatment. Whether hematologic malignancies harbor similar intratumoral microbes has not been investigated. In a pilot study we found a surprisingly diverse microbial population in the bone marrow of nearly every acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patient analyzed — including those without clinical infection. Because these organisms are not expected in bone marrow, it is critical to determine how they influence treatment response and survival. This project will define the impact of microbes on AML, with the ultimate aim of translating the findings into improved therapies and survival.
https://www.ous-research.no/enserink/
More info from Norwegian Cancer Society:
https://kreftforeningen.no/aktuelt/vi-drysser-millioner-over-toppforskere/