Research on cells' power plants and mechanisms behind cancer receives funding for five years

Paulina Wanrooij, Research fellow at Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics

ImageMattias Pettersson

“The long-term support that follows from appointment as Wallenberg Academy Fellow grants me and my research team the time and stability to tackle some challenging scientific questions that we would not otherwise have the possibility to take on,” says Paulina Wanrooij. “The appointment is also a confirmation of the relevance and timeliness of our research questions.”

Every year, about 1 in 5,000 children are affected by mitochondrial diseases when our cells' energy power plants, the mitochondria, do not function properly. Paulina Wanrooij will carry out detailed studies of how damage to mitochondrial genes affects the cell and why this can cause premature aging, for example.

Almost all of our genome is located in the nucleus of the cell, but there is also a small amount in our cells’ power plants, the mitochondria. This genome contains vital genes that govern the cell’s energy production. Children who are born with genetic mutations in the mitochondrial genome therefore often suffer from energy deficiency in certain organs, which may lead to muscle weakness, brain damage and organ failure.

New research indicates that the mitochondria also affect other cell functions, such as which genes are active in the cell’s nucleus. Instability in the mitochondrial genome can also trigger the immune system and lead to premature aging.

“I hope my team’s research can uncover new factors and mechanisms related to the signaling of mitochondrial DNA defects,” says Paulina Wanrooij. “This improved understanding of the interplay between mitochondria and the rest of the cell can in the long run contribute to the design of better treatment options for mitochondrial diseases and certain cancers.”

This year, 27 researchers at Swedish universities have been appointed as new Wallenberg Academy Fellows. An additional twelve researchers who have previously received fellowships have been granted a five-year prolongation period. Among them is Nasim Sabouri, who is researching four-stranded DNA in association with cancer-driving genes. Something that will hopefully lead to new and more effective cancer drugs.

Nasim Sabouri's research group is studying a four-stranded structure that is formed when guanine bases from the same or different DNA strands interact with one other. It is called G-quadruplex (G4), and is often found near DNA regions that turn gene activity on or off. G4-DNA has been found both in HIV and in human papillomavirus (HPV), and also in association with cancer-driving genes. This makes the G4 structure a potential target for both antiviral drugs and cancer preparations.

“The previous support I received as a Wallenberg Academy Fellow has enabled the exciting and groundbreaking results that we have now, and another five years of support gives us the opportunity to understand in detail the mechanisms behind how four-stranded DNA structures contribute to cancer,” says Nasim Sabouri.  “For example, we have discovered proteins that have higher specificity for the G4 structure than for the double-stranded DNA helix and will in the coming years study in detail how these proteins regulate G4 structures and thus also understand how G4 structures regulate our cells. When cell regulation no longer functions, the normal cell is then transformed into a cancer cell. Therefore, understanding cell regulation is very important for understanding the origins of cancer.

Nasim Sabouri, Associate professor at Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics

ImageFoto: Markus Marcetic © Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse/Kungl. Vetenskapsakademien

“The prolonged support also contributes to me being able to continue to recruit inquisitive and creative students from all over the world to Umeå and thereby further increase the quality and competitiveness of our research,” says Nasim Sabouri.