Very pleased to share our latest preprint on MAPK dynamics and cell fate decisions in lung cancer . Does EGFR mutation mean MAPK is always on? NO, it shows dramatic pulses👇1/4
Super excited to receive funding from
@ERC_Research
to understand why tumours look the way they do, and how they might be reorganised to benefit patients. Can't wait to get started. Also, thanks to lab members and colleagues for critiquing the grant.
The phrase ‘metastasis accounts for 90% of cancer deaths’ is one of the most widely used in cancer research, yet it is overly simplistic & imprecise. Here we dig deeper into the events leading to cancer mortality
1/2
A rare personal tweet: writing this made me reflect on many things. Notably, the amazing love and support I received, and my desire to do the same for both my family and the community of researchers that I am part of. Thank you Mum💛
This is shameless self promotion, but isn't that the point of twitter. Our latest work on crosstalk between cancer cells and fibroblasts is now out in
@NatureCellBio
Ever wanted to quantify the patterns in networks? Our tools is now out & free! Designed for the extracellular matrix, but works on F-actin and blood vessels too. Big congratulations to Esther Wershof & the team👏🍾. Tweetorial with non-science examples to follow next week...
This work provides a quantitative tool for the analysis of fibrillar patterns in biology. We demonstrate its utility on in vitro generated extracellular matrices, mouse tissues, and patient samples. By Sahai & colleagues
@eriksahailab
Delighted to share our work imaging metabolic heterogeneity in breast cancer – PI3K, actin, and epigenetics all matter! Big congrats to imaging guru🔬 Hiroshi and
@CDHRatcliffe
🍾👏
Excited to share new optogenetic and analytical techniques to infer nuclear entry & exit rates of YAP1and bound fractions of proteins of interest
@J_Cell_Sci
and Key points in linked tweets 👇 1/6
Really pleased to share our latest pre-print. We characterise the diversity of matrix patterns in lung cancer using topological data analysis. Moreover, we infer how the matrix & TME change over time. Details below 👇🏽
The lab recently turned 18🎉! We can now vote🗳️, drive 🚗(with a licence), and drink🍾 (responsibly, and not in the US). It was great to celebrate with both current and former members. Looking forward to what we might achieve as an adult.
The fascination and beauty of art can’t really be quantified, but as scientists we need to quantify the beautiful patterns in nature. Our latest endeavours, together with the code, are available at
Now with pretty picture added. Delighted to announce the line-up for the 4th Crick International Cancer Conference
@TheCrick
Great speakers, numerous short talk opportunities, and we've kept prices low. Hope to see you there!
Opportunity to join our team &
@TheCrick
to work on the tumour microenvironment funded by
@ERC_Research
Applicants with diverse backgrounds encouraged. Please RT.
Please join us
@TheCrick
in October for our Cancer Symposium. Great line up and lots of opportunities to present and discuss new data. Discounts for students and early registration. Please RT
I found my mother’s old nursing text book recently – first edition 1939. Some interesting insights into how knowledge has developed (or not). Parts still look relevant, others reveal the progress in understanding of gene expression and cell metabolism!
Both the fun and frustration of research is that you don’t always end up where you planned. We wanted to control YAP-dependent transcription with light, but ended up learning more about its dynamic trafficking
Have been trying to suggest reading for new students - this is one of my favourites and pretty timeless
Even after two decades, I still feel that I don’t know enough and understand little. And this makes me want to do research.
Finally (drum-roll please): our most downloaded article of 2020 was a Consensus Statement providing a framework for advancing our understanding of cancer-associated fibroblasts by 29 leaders in the field, led by Erik Sahai
@eriksahailab
@CSHL
@cshlbanbury
Excited to share our latest work on cancer cell and fibroblast crosstalk. We derive a signature of stromal communication and unpick why it is bad news in squamous cell carcinoma More details are linked 👇🏽
The propensity of cancer to return after many years is devastating; especially for those who relapse, but also for those who live worrying about possible relapse. It is great to see how our understanding of this problem has advanced
Hope this leads to more discoveries about CAFs. We started working on them ~15 years ago when we realised they were easier to culture from patient biopsies than the cancer cells!
We published here a very detailed protocol to co-culture CAFs and Cancer Cells in 3D invasion assays. Led by
@seforaconti
, Takuya Kato and Anna Labernadie, with
@eriksahailab
@IBECBarcelona
COVID-19 saves you £100! The Crick Cancer Symposium is now free* and will have a hybrid in person & online format on 5&6 October. Sign up to present your data and hear exciting speakers *supply your own tea/coffee+biscuits
We are recruiting! If you're looking for scientific adventure, then check out
@TheCrick
PhD opportunities🎓. And if you want to study cancer + cell migration and like microscopes🔬, then this👉
Looking forward to presenting new data & meeting colleagues in Lausanne. First trip since 'you know what' hit. Thanks
@unil
&
@Johanna_A_Joyce
for the invitation, and the bonus of a beautiful sunrise over the Alps. Wow!
Register for the 3rd
@TheCrick
International Cancer Conference . Great line-up (see linked tweet) and hybrid format so you can meet up in person. Thanks to our sponsors in person attendance is now only £50 and virtual is free. Please RT
Researchers have delved into the factors that determine the invasive patterns of cancers, from thin discontinuous strands to thick ‘pushing’ collectives.
Am getting excited about the
@MetastasisRS
meeting. Great speakers lined up. Just over 14 weeks to go. Registration and abstract submission are open - early bird rates are available until end of March 👇🏽 Please RT. Hope to see you there!
Ever wanted to know where metastatic cells arise within a primary tumour? Then read this Congrats to all authors🍾👏, especially Xiao who adapted admirably when COVID stopped the experiments feeding his evolutionary models.
📰 A multidisciplinary team of researchers led by
@kevlitchfield
at
@uclcancer
and
@TurajlicLab
,
@SwantonLab
and Paul Bates at the Crick has found that the cancer cells in the centre of tumours have the highest chance of spreading around the body.
Happy to share this Big credit to Takuya Kato and
@jobrenkins
at
@thecrick
for the skillful combination of modelling and experiments. Key findings below
Happy to tell you about our latest work on 'dormant' breast cancer cells. Remarkably, the transcriptional state of indolent cells in vivo is phenocopied by interaction with lung epithelial cells in vitro -
Opportunity to join our team and collaborate with Helen Byrne to work on computational modelling of the tumour microenvironment
@TheCrick
@WCMBlog
. Thanks to
@ERC_Research
funding. Applicants with diverse backgrounds encouraged. Please RT.
The mission of the MRS Early Career Leadership Council (ECLC) is to support ECRs to establish successful careers in
#metastasis
research. Here are our wonderful ECRs at the dedicated ECR workshop as part of the MRS 20th biennial congress in London
#MRS2024
❓What are the best models to study metastasis❓ Join
@AlanaWelm
and Ilaria Malanchi in a wide-ranging discussion on the pros and cons of different models hosted by
@MetastasisRS
- 15th Sept, 3pm (UK summer)/10am (US East). Register for FREE
Only 5 days left to register for this great conference on cancer imaging at different scales. A key area for both research and clinical advances & also a source of some amazing images. Bursaries from
@EACRnews
should still be available Please RT
Thanks for giving me a bit of airtime with this piece. More importantly, thanks to the
@MetastasisRS
board and members for continuing to push for a focus on this lethal facet of the disease and initiatives to support trainees.
Meet the presidents! We asked the current president of the Metastasis Research Society
@MetastasisRS
Dr. Erik Sahai
@eriksahailab
@TheCrick
about his research and story with the society. 🧵 1/8
Great new work from
@EishuHirata
in
@Dev_Cell
! Astrocytes favour brain metastasis by promoting mGluR1 expression in cancer cells and stabilising EGFR. Interesting therapeutic implications & cool brain TME mimetic culture method too.
A big thank you to PCR for funding us. Looking forward to unlocking the information in extracellular matrix patterns and working out the likelihood of metastatic relapse and who'll benefit most from therapy.
How can we predict which prostate cancers will return? Dr Anna Wilkins and Dr Erik Sahai at
@TheCrick
have developed computer software to identify features around prostate cancer cells that mean the cancer is more likely to return.
#AI
#software
#CancerResearch
Happy to share
In brief, collective cancer invasion comes in various forms influenced by MMPs and adherens junctions. Mechanisms that favour wide-strands also promote tumour growth and LN metastasis.
👏🏽 to all authors + 👍🏽
@TheCrick
@ERC_Research
funding
The day concluded with a fantastic keynote lecture from
@eriksahailab
@TheCrick
, who unpicked how the tumour microenvironment sculpts cancer invasion and therapy resistance. Thank you for joining us Erik!
#BCIShowcase24
Excited to be giving an in person talk today. Thanks to
@cerys_manning
&
@UoM
for the invitation. Have located and checked the batteries in my laser pointer 👍! Will have to remember how to talk🗣️and stand 🧍♂️ at the same time…
Big wave of nostalgia: post-doc
@GiovanniGiangr8
has just shown me a western blot on an x-ray film!!! Can still remember the smell of the dark room and the subsequent elation or despair as you squinted at the film.
Very proud to be sharing the pre-print for my work with
@eriksahailab
on signaling dynamics in EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer! What if MAPK pulsing was driven by endocytic recycling? Read more here:
Impressive work on focal adhesion regulation in cancer-associated fibroblasts Always nice to see former team members doing well. Many congratulations to Chris and the Lund team👏🍾
Please check our new work linking spatial growth patterns to cancer evolution
@NatureEcoEvo
. Congrats & thanks to
@XiaoFu90
+
@YueZhao97
+ all authors - big team effort💪
Tweetorial 👉
See also
Super excited to share our latest paper in
@NatureEcoEvo
- Spatial patterns of tumour growth impact clonal diversification in a computational model and the TRACERx Renal study.
Congrats to all new
#AMSFellows2021
👏👩⚕️👨🔬! Always nice to get nod of recognition from peers, but credit should go to lab members past & present. Looking forward to helping
@acmedsci
promote biomedical research
Congratulations to our 50 new Fellows announced today
Find out more about these prominent biomedical and health scientists and see the full list on our website:
#AMSFellows2021
Really looking forward to my visit - both reconnecting with old friends and meeting new colleagues. Just making some last minute adjustments to my slides...
Just over a week left to submit an abstract for 4th
@TheCrick
International Cancer Conference 8-10 Oct. Great speakers and lots of short talk opportunities. Please RT.
Like many, I’ve been reflecting on the past year looking for positives. Two things stand out. First, the resilience, adaptability, and hard work of our team. Thank you for covering for each other and still getting papers submitted/re-submitted🧑💻 & PhDs awarded👩🎓👨🎓👍👏.
1/2
Delighted to announce the line up for the 3rd Crick International Cancer Conference. Pandemic-permitting this will be an in-person meeting with options for online participation. Meeting 4-5 Oct '21, registration opens May.
What is the role of the TME in lung cancer evolution? We are excited to share our new TRACERx paper “Spatial Architecture of Myeloid and T Cells Orchestrates Immune Evasion and Clinical Outcome in Lung Cancer” at
#AACR24
, out in
@CD_AACR
today Tweetorial👇
MetARP connects advocates and researchers to improve cancer research. Our five pairs are attending
#MRS2024
and sharing their experience with one another. A major thank to
@MetastaticOdds
,
@MetastasisRS
, and
@BCRFcure
for making it possible!
Very nice work from
@Erlerlab
. The magnitude of the increase in metastasis in Netrin4 -/- mice is impressive and elegantly linked to basement membrane mechanics.
Thanks to all speakers, especially
@Hodivala_Dilke
for orchestrating amazing demonstration of stromal barriers using rope🪢, chocolates🍫, a sheet, tubes, and 14 volunteers🧑🤝🧑🧑🏾🤝🧑🏽🧑🏽🤝🧑🏼🧑🏽🤝🧑🏻🧑🏿🤝🧑🏽🧑🤝🧑🧑🏽🤝🧑🏽!!😃Impossible to do it justice with words.
Delighted to announce the line-up for the 4th Crick International Cancer Conference
@TheCrick
Great speakers, numerous short talk opportunities, and we've kept prices low. Hope to see you there!
Looking forward to the final day of
#VKSTumor21
w/
@shouval
@RJDLab
and many others. Thanks
@KeystoneSymp
for making it work in the 'ether'. The one unexpected thing I have missed is giving speakers a heartfelt round of applause👏👏👏
Love this single objective light-sheet system 🔬. It sounds to good to be true, but it is the real deal. No more hassle mounting samples + improved throughput 👍. So great and so grateful that
@CR_UK
are funding this work.
The dOPM system can be used for high-speed volumetric imaging or for time-lapse imaging arrays of fixed or live specimens in multi-well plates, e.g. for 3D cancer models. Join us at our launch and tour, Friday 6th May (3:30-6pm). Contact a.kimonyo
@imperial
.ac.uk for more info.
Our brand new
@MetastasisRS
President Dr. Erik Sahai
@eriksahailab
delivering his lecture at our meeting in Buenos Aires. Good luck with your tenure as leader of MRS. It’s been a pleasure working with you these last 2 years.
If you’ve ever got frustrated squinting at figures and trying work out why the error bars seem unfeasibly small, or graphs where the p-value doesn't seem to fit with the data plotted, then this is a good read. And full of good advice
🎟️ Free tickets are still available for our
#MedicineAtTheCrick
event next Thursday! Researchers and clinicians will explore the importance of how cancer cells interplay with their environment, hosted by
@eriksahailab
@CRUKresearch
📅 29 June 2023
4 days left of early bird rates. Top tip - the cost of
@MetastasisRS
members rate + joining fee is less than the non-members rate. Another reason to join. Hope to see you in London 🇬🇧 this summer * good weather is not guaranteed ☔️🌤️⛈️☀️
Am getting excited about the
@MetastasisRS
meeting. Great speakers lined up. Just over 14 weeks to go. Registration and abstract submission are open - early bird rates are available until end of March 👇🏽 Please RT. Hope to see you there!
Thanks for making the long journey ✈️✈️. Already looking forward to MRS2026 in Utah 🇺🇸 to be hosted by
@AlanaWelm
, although hope to catch before then.
Really enjoying the
@XiaoFu90
& Anna Wilkins moving our research in new directions. Big congrats to both on this👉🏼 Thanks to
@PCR_News
for funding. Primary papers to come in 2024... 🤞🏽
What are the big-data analyses that transformed the understanding, diagnosis & treatment decisions of cancer?
The next challenges to push this even further? & a compilation of all the major big-data resources to assist in this.
Our review's full version:
Buckle in, it is
#microtubule
cell migration story time! We reveal a new role for microtubules as cellular sensors which detect and respond to compressive forces, enabling movement and ensuring survival in mechanically demanding environments; just like this little guy squeezing
Great to see this work out. Fascinating insight into how stromal HSF1 activation & ECM changes during inflammation promote tumour formation. Big congratulations to
@OshratLeviG
@shouval
@shouval_lab
Do join us - lots of great speakers lined up. Plus side of a virtual Keystone - still great science, cheaper, no jet-lag, low carbon emission👍. Minus side of a virtual Keystone - no fun in the snow 🎿❄️.
Excited to be catching up with friends and colleagues at
#AACR2022
😃 Spoilt for choice with so many amazing talks. Journey was long ✈️✈️, but got to NO last night. Sorry that others weren't so lucky with their travel
@gerardevan
@JAguirreGhiso
☹️
Such sad news. Jeff opened my eyes to the world of macrophages when our paths crossed
@EinsteinMed
twenty years ago. A big influence on many, this paper remains seminal
Very sad to hear of the death of Edinburgh colleague, Prof Jeffrey Pollard. Jeff was Director of the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health for 10 years after moving from Albert Einstein (NY). He did terrific research on breast cancer, especially the role of macrophages. A huge loss.
Delighted to see published. Lots to unpick, but the highlight is the uncovering links between neutrophil-rich TME, PIK3CA, and bad outcomes, especially in LUSC. Congrats to
@EnfieldKatey
@ColliverEmma
@MihaelaAngel0va
and all authors.
What is the role of the TME in lung cancer evolution? We are excited to share our new TRACERx paper “Spatial Architecture of Myeloid and T Cells Orchestrates Immune Evasion and Clinical Outcome in Lung Cancer” at
#AACR24
, out in
@CD_AACR
today Tweetorial👇
Thanks to all the speakers -
@MVHlab
@Johanna_A_Joyce
@lyssiotis
@MichaelPacold
et al - and participants for a great day one of
#VKSTumor21
. There is even a small dusting of snow in London to re-create the Keystone vibe for me. Looking forward to more exciting talks tomorrow!
Many congratulations Colin!👏🏽 Well deserved. Looking forward to exciting insights into improving targeted therapy in breast cancer working with you,
@EACRnews
,
@AstraZeneca
, &
@MACH3Cancer
🎉 Colin Ratcliffe has been announced as the first recipient of an EACR-AstraZeneca Postdoctoral Fellowship, funding that is awarded for a period of up to 3 years to support excellent postdoc researchers in laboratories throughout Europe and the world:
Delighted that the MRS is able to support trainees presenting at meetings 👇🏽 If you're not already a member there is plenty of time to join before the deadline for travel bursary applications.
The MRS board is pleased to announce the establishment of our Travel Bursaries program for Early Career Researchers to attend national & international metastasis conferences. More details can be found here: | First deadline is 24th March 2023
#metastasis
Come start your group at the Crick! 💡 We're looking for creative researchers from all areas of biology and biomedicine to join our early career faculty community.
#AcademicJobs
|
#ECRChat
Learn more and apply by 6 October ⤵️
Applications are open for the next round of MRS Travel Awards. More info on eligibility and how to apply can be found here: | Deadline is 24th Sept 2023
#metastasis
#ECR
Second, the amazing results that can be achieved by scientists👨🔬 and clinicians🩺 work together. Plenty of COVID-related examples in 2020💉, but this from a few years back remains one of the most inspiring papers that I have ever read
2/2