Speaker: Marta Barber Servera, predoctoral Researcher, Cancer Laboratory/Biomedical Research Group in Urology (VHIR).

Aurora Borealis (BORA) is the major activator of the mitotic kinase polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1). Both proteins are known to have an oncogenic role in the tumorigenesis and progression of ovarian cancer (OC). OC is a very aggressive tumor type usually diagnosed at advanced stages where the survival is very low and there are not targeted therapies. Our project aims to decipher the mechanisms by which BORA enhances OC aggressiveness, and also to validate BORA as a potential therapeutic target for OC. Our results indicate that BORA overexpression increases, through PLK1 activation, the expression of genes involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), resulting in higher migration and invasive capacities in vitro and faster metastasis formation in vivo. By contrast, BORA downregulation reduces OC cell viability in vitro and ex vivo, both as a single treatment and in combination with the standard of care (cisplatin/paclitaxel). Altogether, our results uncovered a potential new role of BORA in OC metastasis through the induction of EMT. Moreover, we demonstrated that targeting BORA with RNA-based nanotherapies reduces OC cell viability, providing a potential therapeutic opportunity for OC management.

Marta Barber Servera, predoctoral Researcher in Cell Cycle and Cancer Laboratory/Biomedical Research Group in Urology (VHIR), led by Dr. Juan Morote and Dra. Anna Santamaria (thesis supervisor). Graduated in Biomedical Science by the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and in the Translational Biomedical Research Master (VHIR).  

Host: Dr. Olga Méndez Fernández,  Postdoctoral researcher Biomedical Research in Urology (VHIR)