EACR Travel Fellowships are co-sponsored by Worldwide Cancer Research and provide funds up to €3,000 to early-career cancer researchers. For more information on how to apply for Travel Fellowships, you can visit the EACR website.
Home institution and country: Ruđer Bošković Institute, Division of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory for Hereditary Cancer, Zagreb, Croatia
Host institution and country: University Hospital Erlangen, Institute of Pathology, Experimental Tumor Pathology, Erlangen, Germany
Dates of visit: 07 May 2018 – 01 June 2018
Tell us about your research and why you chose to apply for a Travel Fellowship
The Hedgehog-Gli (HH-GLI) signaling pathway is one of the major developmental pathways. Deregulation of the pathway during development leads to several developmental malformations, depending on the deregulated pathway component. The HH-GLI pathway is mostly inactive in the adult organism but retains its function in stem cells. Aberrant activation in adult cells leads to carcinogenesis through overactivation of several tightly regulated cellular processes such as proliferation, angiogenesis and EMT. The GLI transcription factors are the main mediators of the HH-GLI signaling pathway that can be activated both canonically and non-canonically, through cross-talk with other signaling pathways. Targeting the GLI transcription factors has recently become a major focus of potential therapeutic protocols.
I have been a member of the EACR for many years now and have read about the wonderful experiences of previous EACR Travel Fellowship awardees.
The main scientific focus of our lab at the Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI) is the HH-GLI signaling pathway and its mechanisms of activation in various cancer types. Our research involves the GLI transcription factors and the effects of their inactivation in vitro. However, an in vivo model is needed to characterise the effects of xenograft growth, invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis. The chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay is an in vivo method, widely used for studying these processes. This is a simple, quick and low-cost model that does not require administrative procedures for obtaining ethics committee approvals for animal experimentation, which makes it an interesting model for our lab at the RBI. I have been a member of the EACR for many years now and have read about the wonderful experiences of previous EACR Travel Fellowship awardees. This motivated me to apply for the Fellowship when the opportunity to travel to another lab and learn this technique arose.
This has been an wonderful experience. Not only did I learn a valuable technique and gained a new skill that will help me grow as a scientist and bring my research to a new level, but I also got the opportunity to meet inspirational scientists who warmly welcomed me in their lab.
Tell us a little about your host lab
Prof. Regine Schneider-Stock and her group have great experience with the CAM assay and they have been performing the assay successfully for many years. My hosts have taught me all the steps from grafting tumor cells onto the CAM to analysis of tumor characteristics such as growth, invasiveness, angiogenesis and metastasis. This is a sensitive technique and experience is needed to perform the assay successfully, so my hosts put a lot of effort into giving me the opportunity to practice my skills. Even though the main purpose of my visit was to learn the technique, so that eventually I could implement the assay in my home lab, I have also been able to analyse my own samples. I analysed the characteristic of human GLI2 and GLI3 knockout melanoma cells and obtained exciting preliminary results, which I hope will lead to a joint publication in the future.
I would like to thank Dr. Regine Schneider Stock and her team for their warm welcome and for giving me the opportunity to learn and work in such an inspirational scientific environment.
This has been an wonderful experience. Not only did I learn a valuable technique and gained a new skill that will help me grow as a scientist and bring my research to a new level, but I also got the opportunity to meet inspirational scientists who warmly welcomed me in their lab. On top of the fruitful scientific experience, I also had a chance to experience the lovely city of Erlangen as well as the region of Franconia. During my stay I had a chance to experience the Bergkirchweih Festival: a traditional beer festival in Erlangen, where we enjoyed traditional Franconian specialities. We also visited Nürnberg, a vibrant city with an impressive medieval castle and numerous historic sights.
I would like to thank Dr. Regine Schneider Stock and her team for their warm welcome and for giving me the opportunity to learn and work in such an inspirational scientific environment.
I would especially like to thank Dr. Julienne Münzner for teaching how to perform the CAM assay, for her patience and valuable scientific input.
I am very grateful for the EACR Travel Fellowship that has made this incredible experience possible, and I would like to sincerely thank the EACR for supporting me.
N.B.: Daily allowance costs were covered by the Croatian science foundation project No. IP-06-2016
