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Department of Cell Pathology

Head of the Laboratory

Staff

 PhD Students

Research topics and the most important results

  • Nowak Team

In our projects, we focus on the aspects of tumor progression important for metastasis formation and which may affect the development of more effective anticancer therapies. Using melanoma, triple-negative breast cancer, and colon cancer cell lines, as well as cells isolated from melanoma patients, we endeavor to study the invasiveness and tumor microenvironment of these cells.

We have shown in vitro efficiency of combination therapy using inhibitors of EGFR and MET receptors, and characterized the phenotype of resistant melanoma cells. Moreover, we have demonstrated that the regulation of colon cancer cell invasiveness is dependent on the level of apelin, an adipokine associated a.o. with obesity and heart diseases. In addition, we also aim to fully uncover the role of adipokines secreted by adipose tissue in vivo and adipocytes in vitro on different stages of melanoma and colon cancer progression.

  • Mazur Team

Our goal is to discover the differences in functions of proteins important for cell motility between embryonic and melanoma cells. Melanoma stems from pigment cells, which originate from neural crest cells, which similarly to melanoma cells are characterized by high migratory potential.

We have shown that gelsolin is important for melanoma cell migration on laminin, a protein present in the extracellular matrix and essential for the development of neural crest cell derivatives. In addition, we have demonstrated that the recently discovered actin isoform (actbl2) is important for melanoma cell motility.

To realize our goals, we have created a unique laboratory to conduct experiments on chicken embryos.


Collaborations

We collaborate with dr. hab. Łukasz John and dr. hab. Anna Skarżyńska (Faculty of Chemistry UWr), dr. hab. Piotr Donizy and dr. Piotr Kupczyk (Wroclaw Medical University), as well as prof. Rafał Matkowski and  dr. Marcin Ziętek (Lower Silesian Oncology Center).

In addition to national research institutes, we also work closely with prof. Hans Mannherz (Ruhr University Bochum, Germany), prof. Staffan Strömblad (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden), prof. Marco Lazzarino (IOMN Research Council, Italy), prof. Christophe Ampe (Universiteit Gent, Belgium), and prof. Stephane Brezillon (Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, France).


Publications

 


Example doctoral dissertation topics

  • “The role of adipocytes in the colon cancer invasiveness”, Joanna Olszańska.
  • “Determination of the role of extracellular integrin-dependent kinase (ILK) in adhesion, migration / invasion and proliferation of melanoma cells”, Agata Górska.
  • “The effect of tumor microenvironment on efficiency of melanoma targeted therapy”, Justyna Mazurkiewicz.
  • “Effect of gelsolin, non-integrin laminin receptor and integrin-dependent kinase on the development of the peripheral nervous system of a chicken embryo”, Ewa Mrówczyńska.
  • “The role of selected gelsolin isoforms in the migration of human melanoma cells, and their influence on the localization of the non-integrin laminin receptor in the cell”, Ewa Mazurkiewicz.
  • “Role of apelin and its receptor in the progression of colon cancer”, Marta Podgórska, 2021.
  • “EGFR and c-Met inhibitors as factors limiting the invasiveness of human melanoma cells”, Ewelina Dratkiewicz, 2020.
  • “The effect of gelsolin and thymosin β4 on ithe invasiveness of melanoma cells”, Aleksandra Makowiecka, 2019.
  • “Functional diversification of actin isoforms in the process of cell migration”, Aleksandra Simiczyjew, 2015.

Current bachelor’s and master’s theses

Bachelor’s
  • “The role of structural components of extracellular matrix proteins in melanoma progression”
Master’s
  • “Characterization of Hs294T cells with impaired expression of a gene coding for gelsolin”

Research projects

Current
  • NCN SONATA 16: „Changes in lipid metabolism of resistant to BRAF/MEK inhibitors human melanoma cells associated with the presence of adipocytes within tumor niche”, (2021-2024).
    Head of the project: dr Aleksandra Simiczyjew.
  • NCN PRELUDIUM 19: „Determination of the mechanisms responsible for the impact of non-integrin laminin receptor (LamR) on the developmenDetermination of the mechanisms responsible for the mobility of non-integrin laminin receptor (LamR) isoforms, including unstudied yet LamR long isoform, in the plasma membrane of human melanoma cells”, (2021-2023).
    Head of the project: mgr Ewa Mazurkiewicz.
  • NCN PRELUDIUM 19: „Determination of the mechanisms responsible for the impact of non-integrin laminin receptor (LamR) on the development of neurites and Schwann cell precursors at the stage of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) development”, (2021-2023).
    Head of the project: mgr Ewa Mrówczyńska.
  • NCN PRELUDIUM BIS 1: „Determination of the role of present in extracelluar space integrin-linked kinase (ILK) in adhesion, migration/invasion and proliferation of melanoma cells”, (2020-2024).
    Head of the project: dr hab. Antonina Mazur.
  • NCN OPUS 15: „The effect of tumor microenvironment on efficiency of melanoma targeted therapy”, (2019-2022).
    Head of the project: dr hab. Dorota Nowak.
  • NCN SONATA BIS 6: „The role of gelsolin and its complexes with LamR and ILK in adhesion to laminin and migration/invasion of normal and tumor cells”, (2017-2022).
    Head of the project: dr Antonina Mazur.
Accomplished
  • Polish-French Partnership Programme POLONIUM: „The influence of lumican and its peptide derivatives on the formation and activity of invadopodia in a variety of human tumor cell lines”, (2017-2018).
    Head of the project: dr hab. Dorota Nowak, prof. Stephane Brezillon.
  • NCN ETIUDA 5: „The effect of gelsolin and thymosin β4 on ithe invasiveness of melanoma cells”, (2017-2018).
    Head of the project: mgr Aleksandra Makowiecka.
  • NCN SONATA 12: „Role of apelin and its receptor in the progression of colon cancer”, (2017-2021).
    Head of the project: dr Katarzyna Pietraszek-Gremplewicz.
  • NCN OPUS 9: „Characterization of actbl2 – recently discovered actin isoform and its role in migration and invasion of human melanoma cells”, (2016-2020).
    Head of the project: dr Antonina Mazur.
  • NCN OPUS 8: „EGFR and c-Met inhibitors as factors limiting the invadopodia formation in human melanoma cells”, (2015-2018).
    Head of the project: dr hab. Dorota Nowak.

Laboratory equipment

  • Fully equipped mammalian and bacterial cell culture room with:
    · a hypoxia incubator;
    · an incubator for insect cell culture;
    · fluorescence inverted microscope Leica DMI3000 B
  • Confocal fluorescence microscope FluoView 500 (Olympus)
  • Gel imaging and analysis system ChemiDoc (Bio-Rad)
  • Microplate spectrophotometer µQuant (BioTek Instruments)
  • Fully equipped laboratory for chicken embryo experiments:
    · Hybridization oven Hybaid’n’Stack (ThermoFisher);
    · TSS20 Ovodyne Electroporator (Intracel);
    · McIlwain Tissue Chopper (Ted Pella, Inc.);
    · Leica M205 fluorescence stereo microscope;
    · Zeiss Stemi 305 microscope;
    · chicken egg incubator