Abstract : Metastasis – the spread of cancer cells from one organ to another – remains an unsolved clinical challenge and causes above 90% of all cancer-related deaths. It is a highly dynamic process with extremely high attrition rates. Despite extensive ongoing efforts in cancer genomics, no unique genetic or mutational signature has emerged for metastasis. However, a hallmark that has been observed in metastasis is adaptability or phenotypic plasticity – the ability of a cell to reversibly switch among different phenotypes in response to various internal or external stimuli. How do cells switch their phenotypes reversibly? This talk will describe how mechanism-based mathematical models have helped identify the origins of phenotypic plasticity in cancer – the underlying multistability in biological networks driving cancer metastasis. Our results also suggest how perturbing these networks in specific ways can restrict multistability and consequently reduce phenotypic plasticity in cancer cells, thus providing a rational network-based approach for identifying therapeutic targets to potentially curb the metastatic load.
Biosketch : Mohit completed his B. Tech. and M. Tech. in Biological Sciences and Bioengineering from IIT Kanpur, and earned his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Rice University working at the interface of systems biology and cancer biology. After a short stint as an independent postdoctoral fellow in Computational Cancer Biology jointly at Rice University/MD Anderson Cancer Centre, he joined the Centre for BioSystems Science and Engineering at IISc Bangalore, as an Assistant Professor. His work focuses on integrating mechanism-based mathematical models with experiments and clinical data to elucidate the mechanisms of cancer metastasis and therapy resistance. His work has featured on the cover of Journal of Clinical Medicine, Cancer Research, and Molecular and Cellular Biology, and he won the 2016 iBiology Young Scientist Seminar Series – a coveted award for communicating one’s research to diverse audience.
This seminar is compulsory for students registered for course CL 702 or CL 704.