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The ability of stem cells to self-renew and give rise to differentiated progeny makes them a promising tool for regenerative medicine. The basic cell biology of stem cells however remains poorly characterized while apparent similarities of the stem cell and cancer cell life cycles raises concerns for the safety of therapeutic applications. How does the cell cycle of stem cells differ from cancer cells? This proposal brings together investigators with extensive experience in cell biology, cancer biology, stem cell research, modelling and analysis of biological systems.
We aim to compare the stem cell and cancer cell life cycles in a concerted manner at different steps: DNA replication and the DNA damage response, cyclin dependent kinase activity, centrosome duplication and chromosome segregation, signal transduction.
To this end we plan to:
- establish advanced methodologies for studying the cell cycle of stem cells, which will be used throughout the consortium,
- investigate the pathways which control cell division of stem cells,
- compare and contrast the stem cell and cancer cell life cycles.
In silico analysis and modelling will be employed. The proposed research is expected to offer a better understanding of:
- the cell biology of stem cells,
- the characteristics which differentiate the stem cell and cancer cell life cycles,
- how stem cells may convert to cancer (stem) cells.
