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LINEAS DE INVESTIGACIÓN
Our research aims to understand how kinase-driven cell-signalling pathways contribute to cancer development from an experimental (wet-lab) systems-biology perspective. Rather than acting in isolation, signalling pathways function as interconnected biochemical networks that integrate extracellular cues into coordinated cellular responses. Although virtually all cancers disrupt components of these networks, the nature and extent of signalling alterations vary widely across tumours. Consequently, targeted therapies directed at key signalling nodes often produce heterogeneous patient responses, and even effective initial treatments frequently give way to acquired resistance.
To investigate the mechanisms underlying this heterogeneity, our previous work developed methodologies that combine cell-based screening assays and mass-spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics with computational analyses. These approaches enable broad and comprehensive quantification of pathway activity across cell models and patient samples. Our current research aims to advance this further by creating techniques that not only measure pathway activity but also reveal how signalling networks are wired within individual cancer populations. These new tools integrate functional and proteomic readouts to capture both network behaviour and structure.
We now apply these resources to explore the fundamental properties of signalling networks and to determine how signalling heterogeneity drives intrinsic and acquired resistance to inhibitors targeting signalling enzymes. A major focus of our work is to dissect the epigenetic mechanisms that shape signalling heterogeneity in cancer. We work under the hypothesis that deepening our understanding of these processes will be invaluable for reversing drug resistance, or preventing it altogether, and for enabling a new generation of tools to personalise anticancer therapies.
The laboratory is currently funded by an ATRAE fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Science and Universities (ATR2024-154531) titled "Epigenetic Regulation of Kinase Signalling".
External links:
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3426-2274
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedro-rodriguez-cutillas-8300826/
https://cutillaslab.github.io/
ORGANISMOS FINANCIADORES ÚLTIMOS 5 AÑOS
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