The role of autophagy in cancer cell motility

We will investigate the role of autophagy in cell motility taking advantage of novel prostate cancer cell lines that mimic stages of disease progression (including EMT and metastasis). In particular we will address the role of the actin nucleator JMY, a p53 co-factor that affects of autophagosome formation, cell motility and survival in autophagy-mediated effects on cell survival and the role of actin nucleation.

We will assess autophagy levels in cancer cell lines and correlate with cell motility and invasion also assessing cell survival and adhesion/motility events, using impedance measurements to distinguish between effects on proliferation vs motility. We will look at the impact of JMY on autophagy-mediated motility and the impact of modulating autophagy levels on cell motility during various stages in autophagosome formation.