With the coveted Consolidator Grants totalling two million euros, the European Research Council (ERC) supports outstanding scientists whose work promises further top achievements. José Pedro Friedmann Angeli, Professor of Translational Cell Biology at Rudolf Virchow Centre – Centre for Integrative and Translational Bioimaging at Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg, now belongs to this group.
The prize winner is a pioneer in the field of ferroptosis. This special form of cell death is triggered by the accumulation of oxidised lipids and is associated with many pathological conditions, including cancer and neurodegeneration.
Recent studies have shown that inducing ferroptosis in cells can be an effective strategy against neuroblastomas and other difficult-to-treat tumours. This can be achieved by influencing key metabolic pathways regulating ferroptosis.”
José Pedro Friedmann Angeli, Professor of Translational Cell Biology at Rudolf Virchow Centre – Centre for Integrative and Translational Bioimaging, Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg
Neuroblastomas are malignant tumors that occur in children.
Closing critical gaps in knowledge about ferroptosis
However, therapeutic breakthroughs are difficult to achieve in this way. “This is because we don’t yet understand well enough the factors that control the process of ferroptosis,” explains the JMU researcher. He wants to close these critical knowledge gaps with his ERC project DeciFERR (Deciphering and exploiting ferroptosis regulatory mechanism in cancer).
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The project is based on the pioneering work carried out by Friedmann Angeli’s group. Among other things, his team has identified two important systems involved in the regulation of ferroptosis: the enzyme glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4)