9 September 2005

Cancer Research UK Awards £11M to researchers in Dundee

SCIENTISTS in Dundee, one of the foremost centres for biomedical research in the UK, have been awarded £11M by Cancer Research UK it was announced today (Friday September 9, 2005).

These grants have been allocated to fund the work of seven principal investigators and their teams at the University of Dundee. They will fund programmes of research taking place over the next three to five years.

Three of the research grants, totalling over £8M, have been awarded to researchers at the Cancer Research UK Molecular Pharmacology Unit at the University of Dundee. The Unit, directed by Professor Roland Wolf, will be recruiting eleven new cancer researchers, including Dr Steven Everett and his team who will be relocating from the Gray Cancer Institute near London.

Their work is focused on the factors involved in the uptake, metabolism and detoxification of chemicals. Such studies are important in understanding the causes of cancer and its prevention, as well as determining the activity of anticancer drugs.

Professor Wolf and his team are investigating a group of enzymes, called cytochrome P450s, that play an important role in the way drugs are processed by the body. Levels of these enzymes vary between individuals and affect their response to anticancer treatments.

This work will help doctors in the future to select the best drug - and dose - and maximise the effectiveness of treatment while minimizing the side-effects for cancer patients.

Professor Wolf says: "We are delighted with this exceptional grant, which is probably the highest single award given to the University of Dundee for cancer research. We are also very pleased because it demonstrates the commitment of Cancer Research UK to developing cancer research programmes in Dundee and the quality of the work that is being produced here. We will do our very best to do this award justice."

Dr Steven Everett and his team will work in collaboration with Professor Wolf. Using the cytochrome P450 enzymes as targets, the researchers aim to produce new and more tailored anticancer drugs, with fewer side effects. A better understanding of the way anticancer drugs are processed will also help improve exiting treatments.

Dr Stephen Keyse and his team, also in the Cancer Research UK Molecular Pharmacology Unit, are looking at enzymes in a vital pathway called the MAP kinase pathway. These key enzymes help cells to respond to changes in their environment and are often faulty in cancer, including breast, lung, colon and pancreatic cancer.

Dr Keyse has been awarded a new research programme to unravel the exact role of these enzymes in tumour development and identify those that could be targeted by new treatments.

Sir Alan Langlands, Principal of the University of Dundee, says: "We are grateful to Cancer Research UK for its support. Awards on this scale are a clear endorsement of the calibre of the cancer research being carried out at the University of Dundee. We are pleased that our researchers are able to contribute to the understanding, treatment and prevention of cancer."

The remaining four research grants have been awarded to scientists based in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee.

One grant has been awarded to Professor Julian Blow and Dr Jason Swedlow to study the controls that are in place when cells multiply.

Every day, millions of cells in our body divide in two, replacing the millions of cells that die or are worn out. Before a cell can divide, it needs to make an identical copy of all its genes so there is a complete set of DNA for both cells.

This copying process has to be perfectly choreographed otherwise mistakes are made that can corrupt the cell's genetic instructions and trigger cancer.

The project aims to identify new molecules that are important in controlling this process and find out how they respond to DNA damage. The team will also examine how these molecules behave in cancer cells in response to anti-cancer drugs, so treatments can be made more effective.

Dr Neil Perkins, also at the University of Dundee’s School of Life Sciences, has been granted funding to investigate the role of the NF- kappaB family of molecules in cancer.

Dr Perkins and his team have found that one member of this family, called RelA, has conflicting roles in cancer. In the early stages of tumour development this molecule can help prevent cancer and enhance the effectiveness of treatment. But in later stages it helps cancer cells to spread and prevents treatments from working properly.

The team wants to understand the double nature of RelA and its contradictory roles in cancer. In the future they hope to investigate how drugs could be used to switch RelA back on so that it helps protect against cancer.

Finally, Professor David Lilley and his team, also at the School of Sciences, have been allocated funds to research the structure, folding and function of our cells’ genetic material or DNA.

They are studying a special structure called the four-way (Holliday) junction in DNA, which is the central structure formed during the repair of damaged DNA. Professor Lilley's team operate at the interface, where biology meets chemistry and physics, and are using extremely sensitive methods to probe the structure and dynamics of junctions in single DNA molecules.

Sir Philip Cohen, Director of Research in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee, says: "The impressive amount of money awarded by Cancer Research UK to support the work of seven research groups at the university is testimony to the importance of the cancer research going on at our university and to the quality and stature of our scientists.

"I am sure that the generous awards we have received will be put to excellent use in the fight against cancer and we look forward to continuing to work in partnership with Cancer Research UK in the future."

For media inquiries please contact:
Angela Kilday, Senior Press Officer, Cancer Research UK on 07050 267081
Roddy Isles, Head of Press, University of Dundee on 01382 344910
Angela Nicoll, Publicity and Liaison Officer, School of Life Sciences on 01382 348377

By Roddy Isles, Head of Press 01382 344910, out of hours: 07968298585, r.isles@dundee.ac.uk