A team of biophysicists are swapping the cleanliness of the lab for lashings of mud at Hammersmith Race for Life Pretty Muddy. The Imperial College London scientists are studying ways to boost the immune system against cancer, which could help develop more effective treatments in future. But they’ll be ditching their lab coats to take on Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life Pretty Muddy at Wormwood Scrubs Park on Wednesday 13th July and raise money to help beat cancer sooner. This is the third time the group has signed up for the women-only, non-competitive obstacle course.
Dr Doryen Bubeck, a Cancer Research UK research training fellow, has led the team at the South Kensington campus for the last three years. The lab uses cutting-edge electron microscopes to image the membrane attack complex (MAC), a fundamental part of our immune system and a critical player in our response to infection. When pathogens are detected, a collection of signalling proteins known as ‘complement’ are activated and this process triggers the assembly of the MAC. The MAC is a huge pore made from a set of proteins that literally punches holes in the wall of bacteria to kill them. Although the lesions made by this fascinating protein complex were first noted in 1964, the actual structure of the MAC was unknown until recently when the team solved its three-dimensional structure (published in Nature Communications).
The role of the MAC is not just limited to fighting bacteria; it also features in the fight against cancer. Some immunotherapies, such as rituximab, activate the complement pathway to kill cancer cells; however, certain types of leukaemic cells can overexpress a receptor, known as CD59, which protects them from the effects of complement and MAC. Dr Bubeck explained: “By figuring out how MAC functions, it is hoped that we could make an adjuvant therapy to enhance the effects of rituximab”.
