Dancing with steroid hormone receptors: cooperation and complexity in gene expression
Isabel Mayayo Peralta defended her thesis at the Department of Biomedical Engineering on July 4th.
Steroid hormone receptors (SHRs) play a crucial role in maintaining balance in our bodies by regulating various biological processes, such as cell division, development, reproduction and metabolism. Disregulation of SHRs can lead to diseases in humans, including metabolic disorders, immunological disorders and cancer.
For her doctoral research, Isabel Mayayo Peralta focused on studying two SHRs: the estrogen receptor, involved in breast cancer, and the glucocorticoid receptor, involved in leukemia and other diseases in children.
What makes the glucocorticoid receptor so special is its intriguing dual nature. Depending on the specific tumor, the activity of this receptor can either suppress tumor growth or actually aid in tumor progression.
In other words, it is both a bad guy and a good guy. In her research, Mayayo Peralta identified which co-regulators cooperate with the glucocorticoid receptor in lung cancer and act as partners in crime. She found that the absence of certain co-regulators alters the function of the receptor, which directly affects tumor growth.
It takes (more than) two to tango
In addition, the estrogen receptor in breast cancer is a common target for therapy. Unfortunately, resistance to treatment occurs. Therefore, Mayayo Peralta studied the mechanisms behind this resistance and tried to identify new vulnerabilities. While it would be ideal to translate some of her findings into clinical applications, she and her team are still working to reach that stage.
In the title of her thesis, 'It takes (more than) two to tango', Mayayo Peralta draws a parallel between her hobby for Latin dancing and the complex world of gene expression. Like tango, where you need dancers and music for a beautiful performance, gene expression mediated by SHRs follows a similar rule - it takes more than SHRs for everything to run smoothly. In her dissertation, she delves into the fascinating details of gene expression, shedding light on the essential role of SHRs and emphasizing that cooperation between factors is necessary in this biological process.
Title of PhD thesis: “Deciphering the role of steroid hormone receptors, and their co-regulators, across different tumor types”
Supervisors: Wilbert Zwart and Stefan Prekovic (NKI)