Research group for Cancer evolution

We study structural aspects of cancer proteins that make them targets for disease-causing mutations as well as their function in cancer cells. We also study how cellular interactions in micro-environments affect the functional adaptation of cancer proteins.

Cancer is an evolutionary disease. Disease-causing genetic or epigenetic changes often alter the functional characteristics of regulatory proteins leading to survival and proliferation of cancer cells at the expense of normal cells. The cancer-driving properties of cancer cells are selected for in specific cellular micro-environments by Darwinian natural selection. We study structural aspects of cancer proteins that make them targets for disease-causing mutations as well as their function in cancer cells. We also study how cellular interactions in micro-environments affect the function of cancer proteins. The work is relevant for understanding cancer development as well as development of resistance to chemotherapy. The work is focused on cancers involving blood cells.

Research group leader Anthony Wright

Anthony Wright

Professor
H5 Department of Laboratory Medicine

Group members

Research techniques

  • Molecular cell biology
  • Cell culture
  • Genomics
  • Bioinformatics

External funding

Cancerfonden

Selected publications

Association between Predicted Effects of TP53 Missense Variants on Protein Conformation and Their Phenotypic Presentation as Li-Fraumeni Syndrome or Hereditary Breast Cancer.
Liu Y, Axell O, van Leeuwen T, Konrat R, Kharaziha P, Larsson C, Wright APH, Bajalica-Lagercrantz S
Int J Mol Sci 2021 Jun;22(12):

Differential Transcriptional Reprogramming by Wild Type and Lymphoma-Associated Mutant MYC Proteins as B-Cells Convert to a Lymphoma Phenotype.
Mahani A, Arvidsson G, Sadeghi L, Grandien A, Wright APH
Cancers (Basel) 2021 Dec;13(23):

Differential B-Cell Receptor Signaling Requirement for Adhesion of Mantle Cell Lymphoma Cells to Stromal Cells.
Sadeghi L, Arvidsson G, Merrien M, M Wasik A, Görgens A, Smith CIE, Sander B, Wright AP
Cancers (Basel) 2020 May;12(5):

A subset of functional adaptation mutations alter propensity for α-helical conformation in the intrinsically disordered glucocorticoid receptor tau1core activation domain.
Salamanova E, Costeira-Paulo J, Han KH, Kim DH, Nilsson L, Wright APH
Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj 2018 06;1862(6):1452-1461

Mixed-species RNAseq analysis of human lymphoma cells adhering to mouse stromal cells identifies a core gene set that is also differentially expressed in the lymph node microenvironment of mantle cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients.
Arvidsson G, Henriksson J, Sander B, Wright AP
Haematologica 2018 04;103(4):666-678