"For me, as a molecular cell biologist, it is very exciting to now be able to analyse and understand such complex tissues in detail"
Attana partner in the EU-project WntsApp, Prof. Madelon Maurice at University Utrecht is featured in the April issue of Moonshot for life
Moonshot for Life is a global healthcare innovation nerve center reporting, storifying and connecting progress and impact in healthcare and medical innovation towards a goal of saving and extending as many years of life as possible.
Prof. Maurice, Oncode Institute, UMC Utrecht, University Utrecht, Isogenica (UK) and Attana (Sweden), recently published a study in Nature Communications, where antibodies that block cell-to-cell communication was identified.
“Many tumors have errors in their Wnt signaling pathway due to mutations. Currently, clinical trials are ongoing that block the function of all 19 Wnt genes that are present in the human body. Due to the importance of Wnt signals in tissue maintenance, with this approach the risk of side effects for multiple tissues is very high. We hope it will be more efficient to instead only block those Wnts to which the cancer cell is addicted. We have focused on a subset of cancers where something is wrong with the receptors that capture the Wnt signals at the cell surface. Due to mutations these cancer cells accumulate too many receptors on their surface. As a result, the signaling mediated by these receptors is too strong and drives the growth of the tumor. We developed a strategy to block the binding of Wnts to these receptors with antibodies. When we add these antibodies to our preclinical tumor cultures, the cancer stem cell properties dissappear and the tumor cells stop growing.” says Prof. Maurice.
For more information, please contact:
Teodor Aastrup, CEO Attana AB
e-mail: teodor.aastrup@attana.com
tel: + 46 8 674 57 00
The Board of directors for Attana consider that the information in this press release is not likely to have a significant effect on the share prices, but is of general interest for the shareholders and hence should be communicated.
Attana was founded in 2002 with the vision of in-vitro characterization of molecular interactions mimicking in-vivo conditions. Since then, Attana has developed proprietary label free biosensors for biochemical, crude, sera, and cell-based assays. Attana’s products and research services are used by Big Pharma, biotech companies and academic institutions within the life sciences. To learn more about Attana’s contract research services and our label free cell-based biosensors, please visit www.attana.com or contact sales@attana.com.
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