Ricerc@Sapienza

Metastasis is the major factor responsible for the death of cancer patients. Lung and breast cancer are highly aggressive tumors and clinical evidence demonstrates that brain and liver are tumor-supporting microenvironments for successful metastatic colonization of these cancers. The microenvironment provides molecules/nutrients which may act inducing the invasion of the parenchyma and sustain the cell's metabolic demand in the novel site. Brain microenvironment is rich in serine and glycine, glutamine, glutamate since these aminoacids are not only nutrients but also important neurotransmitters.
For this project we will set a model in vitro to study the interaction between endothelial cells of BBB and breast or lung cancer cells to understand if this interaction trigger the invasive process. In more detail we want to clarify the influence that cancer cells have on the process of amino acids release by the brain through the process called "brain to blood efflux" and the influence that these aminoacids have in the invasive process of the cerebral parenchyma by lung and breast cancer cells.