We are delighted to announce that a project involving BioSIM has been selected for funding by the CaixaImpulse Health Innovation Program.The CaixaImpulse Health Innovation Program, organized by the “la Caixa” Foundation in partnership with the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and in collaboration with BPI, has funded nine Portuguese biomedical research projects out of a total of 29 selected from 413 applications.
The project, titled “New Drugs that Modulate Tubulin Modifications to Enhance Taxol Treatment in Breast Cancer,” is led by Sónia Silva from i3S. The team includes researcher Helder Maiato, also from i3S, Fernanda Borges (FCUP), and Sérgio F. Sousa from BioSIM (LAQV/FMUP).
This project focuses on microtubules, which are polymeric structures playing a crucial role in cellular processes and are often deregulated in tumor cells, making them highly effective targets for cancer treatments. Drugs targeting these structures, such as Taxol, disrupt their normal function, preventing the division and proliferation of tumor cells, thus proving effective in chemotherapy treatments. However, these drugs are associated with severe side effects, and tumors often develop resistance to them, leading to metastases—the primary cause of patient mortality. In recent investigations, Sónia Silva and Hélder Maiato discovered a causal relationship between specific modifications of tubulins—the building blocks of microtubules—and the sensitivity level of tumor cells to Taxol.
This project aims to identify new compounds that can alter a critical modification undergone by tubulins, thereby increasing their sensitivity to Taxol-based chemotherapy. The ultimate goal, as emphasized by the researchers, is to develop new personalized and more effective treatment strategies for breast cancer while simultaneously reducing the side effects of Taxol.
More information is available here.