Jennifer Leight awarded $60,000 grant for cancer research

Jennifer Leight, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME), was recently awarded a two-year grant in the amount of  $60K, from the the Ohio Cancer Research Associates for her study entitled “Impact of the tumor microenvironment on matrix metalloproteinase activity.” The project is in collaboration with Dr. Doug Kniss, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and BME.

Project Summary: Metastasis, the spread of cancer from the original tumor to other sites in the body, is the main cause of death in most cancer patients. During the first step in metastasis, invasion, cancer cells break away from the original tumor and migrate through the tissue. In order to escape the primary tumor, cancer cells need to break down barriers in the dense surrounding tissue using enzymes called matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). High levels of MMPs are observed in almost all types of cancers, including breast, colon, and pancreatic cancer, and increased levels of MMPs are associated with poorer outcomes. The goal of this proposal is to understand the factors that lead to increased levels of MMPs during disease progression. During disease progression, one of the first signs of a tumor is a hard lump. This tissue stiffening was once thought of as just a byproduct of the cancer cells growing uncontrollably. However, more recently, it has become clear that this tissue stiffening is not just an after effect but can also control the behavior of the cancer cells. In this proposal, we will investigate how tissue stiffening controls MMP activity during the first stages of cancer progression. First, we will use a cell culture model system in which we can carefully control tissue stiffness to investigate how the changes in tissue stiffness observed during cancer progression affect MMP activity and cell migration. Then we will extend these studies to human tissue samples in which we will spatially map MMP activity and tissue stiffness to understand how MMP activity changes with disease progression. Through this investigation, we will develop a clearer picture of the factors that lead to increased levels of MMPs during cancer progression. Understanding these factors will contribute to the identification of new therapeutic targets to reduce cancer cell invasion and metastasis.

This project runs from July 1, 2015 - June 30, 2017.

Congratulations Drs. Leight and Kniss on this great accomplishment!