Regulation mechanisms of DLC1 and their role in tumour cell migration
Understanding regulation mechanisms in intracellular signaling pathways and malfunctions that frequently occur in cancer cells is important to improve tumour therapeutics and to find appropriate drug targets. Our project focuses on the regulation mechanisms of the protein 'Deleted in Liver Cancer 1' (DLC1), which acts as a tumour suppressor protein by serving as a GTPase activating protein (GAP) for members of the Rho family of GTPases. These GTPases are critically involved in various cellular processes such as the cytoskeletal organization and cell migration and thus control the invasiveness of cancer cells.
The aim of this project is to get a profound understanding of regulation mechanisms of DLC1 and downstream mechanisms through which DLC1 acts as a tumour suppressor. This is realized via a systems biological approach combining mathematical models and experimental data. Experiments are performed by the group of Prof. Dr. Monilola Olayioye, Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology, at the University of Stuttgart.
Moreover this project also focuses on further methodological development of parameter estimation techniques and subsequent uncertainty quantification for those biological models using statistical approaches like Maximum Likelihood estimation and Bayesian methods.
Nicole Radde
Prof. Dr. rer. nat.Professor for Mathematical modeling and simulation of cellular systems
Viviane Klingel
M.Sc.Research Assistant
[Photo: Ludmilla Parsyak, © Fraunhofer IAO]