Despite continuous improvements in diagnostics and treatment, cancer is still one of the leading causes of death in developed countries, including Poland, according to WHO data. Lung, intestinal and pancreatic cancers are among the most common. There is therefore a need for further research aimed at understanding the mechanisms of cancer formation and designing new therapies. The aim of the project, led by dr Magdalena Oroń from the Medical Research Institute PAS, is to investigate the mechanism of regulation of alternative mRNA splicing by mutant p53 in lung, intestinal, pancreatic and head and neck cancers, and then to use this knowledge to design and test new drug combinations.

The project will be carried out in collaboration with dr Giulia Fontemaggi from the Regina Elena National Cancer Institute. Dr Oroń already carried out a research internship in collaboration with dr Fontemaggi as a PhD student, which resulted a joint publication in EMBO Reports. She is currently the head of an NCN Sonata grant, in which the researchers want to look more globally at the role of mutant p53 in the regulation of alternative splicing in cancer. Using modern RNA sequencing methods, they will compare the profile of alternative splicing in several selected cancer cell lines in the presence and after TP53 silencing. They will also check the expression of the different isoforms of selected genes found in the cell lines in tumour tissues taken from patients.

“The collaboration with dr Giulia Fontemaggi will allow us to expand our access to material from patients with different types of cancer - in our laboratory we mainly have tissues from bowel cancer and pancreatic cancer, while our Italian partners have a tissue bank from head and neck cancer. The collaboration will also allow for a mutual exchange of experience and research methodology," says dr Magdalena Oroń.