Senescence Associated Secretory Proteins
Immune cells release cytokines and chemokines that control their interaction with each other and with pathogens. What complicates our understanding of these interactions is that in cancer, tumor cells can also secrete these cytokines and chemokines. And unlike immune cells, secreted factors released by tumor cells are not tightly regulated and they can vary depending on a number of factors including tumor stage and the type of treatment that cells are exposed to. In our lab, we are interested in identifying factors released by tumor cells in response to radiation. We utilize multiplex proteomic approaches and preclinical tumor models to identify these factors and validate their involvement in disease progression and response to treatment.