Searching for new treatments to control paediatric cancers
The Sunrise project, coordinated by the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and involving the University of Oxford and the University of Barcelona, has won a Synergy Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to study key challenges in research into paediatric cancers, such as neuroblastoma, the most common childhood tumour. In total, the scientific team, formed by Valérie Castellani, from the CNRS; Elena Seiradake, from the University of Oxford, and Daniel del Toro, from the UB, will receive more than eight million euros — 2.6 million for the UB — to research new treatments to control paediatric cancers.
Daniel del Toro, a Ramón y Cajal researcher at the UB’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Institute of Neurosciences (UBneuro), points out that “the Sunrise project will study a network of interactions between proteins related to a specific receptor — Unc5 — to understand the aggressive and dissemination and growth behaviour of paediatric cancers”. Innovative models and patient samples will be used to understand the interactions between tumour cells and their environment.
The enormous ambition of the project combines three laboratories and three research teams with complementary knowledge and techniques in structural, molecular and cellular biology to develop new tools applied to childhood cancers. Del Toro’s group specialises in neurodevelopmental processes, for example, in the analysis of the interactions between proteins that regulate the migration of neurons in the brain. “We have solid experience with the protein network that Sunrise will analyse and also in techniques to understand their function and behaviour. The aim is to provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms behind paediatric cancers such as neuroblastoma, which will be useful for developing new therapeutic strategies”, concludes the researcher.Yesterday, the European Research Council published the results of this call for Synergy Grants, which support teams of two to four researchers to tackle research that requires broad collaboration across disciplines. In total, 57 research groups were recognised and will receive funding of €571 million.
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