Investigating a 'vanishing act' linked to treatment resistance

Grant information

Researcher - Professor George Baillie
Institution - University of Glasgow
Grant award - £49,977.00
Status - Complete
Reference - PA14-002

Why did we fund this project?

• There is an urgent need to develop new treatments to overcome resistance to hormone therapy.
• Professor George Baillie and team had previously identified that when prostate cancer cells become resistant to hormone therapy, they stop producing a particular target called PDE4D7.
• The team thought this target's ‘vanishing act’ could be important to the development of resistance, but very little was known about the target's role in prostate cancer cells.
• In this project, the team aimed to identify which other proteins interacted with the target in prostate cancer cells.
• This could give clues as to what the target might be doing in prostate cancer, and how its vanishing act could lead to resistance to hormone therapy, potentially identifying new ways to prevent resistance.

What did the team do?

• The team studied prostate cancer cells to identify other proteins that interacted with the target.
• Once they'd identified an interacting protein, they used a special technique to turn off production of this protein. They studied how this affected how rapidly prostate cancer cells grow and spread.

What did the team achieve?

• The team identified that a protein called DHX9 interacts with the target. 
• They think this interaction might be important to the development of resistance to hormone therapy, and are now investigating it in more detail.
• Excitingly, when they turned off production of DHX9, this slowed the growth and spread of the prostate cancer cells. This suggests a drug that can block DHX9 could be an effective treatment.

What does this mean for men?

• The team generated new insight on how prostate cancer cells develop resistance to hormone therapy. 
• They now need to investigate the interaction they have uncovered in more detail, to identify exactly how it is linked to resistance.
• The team hope this insight will allow them to develop a drug that could help men benefit from hormone therapy for longer.