Live Webinar: 27 May 2021, 4 pm CET
Organised by ECTS
Date & Time: 27 May 2021, 4 pm CET
Featuring Matthias Hackl, and moderated by Maria-Bernadette Madel
Costs: Live webinar is free for ECTS members and non-members, but a registration is required. Recordings are accessible to ECTS members only.
Format:
- 5 min welcome & introductions
- 35 min presentation
- 20 min Q&A
Learning Objectives:
- What are the characteristics of microRNAs, which make them suitable candidates as biomarkers and drug targets?
- How can we reliable quantify microRNAs in biofluids and extracellular vesicles, and what technologies can we use for “drugging” microRNAs?
- Where do we stand with the discovery and validation of microRNA biomarkers and drug targets for bone diseases?
Additional Live Coffee Shop: 27 May 2021, 5 pm CET
ECTS is pleased to invite you for an additional “Coffee Shop” informal discussion at 5 pm CET, right after the live webinar, in order to meet friends and colleagues with an interest in the bone field for a topical chat. If you are interested in this networking opportunity, please click on the button below to register for the Coffee Shop.
Featuring Dr. Matthias Hackl
Dr. Matthias Hackl is the co-founder and CEO of TAmiRNA GmbH, which was founded in 2013 in Vienna, Austria. He holds a Ph.D. in biotechnology and, before co-founding TAmiRNA, led several genomic research projects in academia, including fellowships at the University of Minnesota and University Bielefeld to decipher the non-coding RNA transcriptome in mammalian cell lines. He has several years of experience in in-vitro diagnostics development with a focus on microRNA biomarkers in liquid biopsies.
At TAmiRNA Dr. Hackl and his team are currently developing applications of microRNA biomarkers in the area of bone, cardiovascular, and liver disease, toxicology, and cellular senescence. Dr. Hackl has received Young Investigator Awards from ASBMR and ECTS for work on microRNA biomarkers discovery and validation in osteoporosis and has received several national entrepreneurship awards.
Moderated by Maria-Bernadette Madel
After her studies in Molecular Medicine at the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria, Maria-Bernadette Madel completed her PhD in Osteoimmunology at the University of Côte d’Azur in Nice, France, under the supervision of Dr. Claudine Blin. During her PhD studies, Maria was focusing on osteoclast heterogeneity and the characterization of inflammatory osteoclasts in order to understand how they contribute to different inflammatory processes and how they could be targeted to limit inflammatory bone destruction. She recently joined the team of Dr. Florent Elefteriou at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, USA, where her current focus is on identifying the role of the autonomic nervous system in age-related bone loss. Maria has received several awards for her work, including the ECTS New Investigator Award and the ASBMR Young Investigator Award.
Abstract
Breast cancer cells frequently disseminate to the bone marrow, where they may either enter a dormant state or colonize the bone and induce osteolysis. The mechanisms that regulate tumor cell entry and exit from dormancy in the bone are not well understood, but several factors have been identified. Previous work from our group found that leukemia inhibitory factor receptor (LIFR) promotes tumor dormancy when expressed on bone-disseminated tumor cells and that loss of LIFR enables otherwise dormant tumor cells to colonize the bone. Our lab has therefore examined how LIFR expression is regulated in breast cancer cells, with the hope that understanding its regulation might provide novel avenues to therapeutically target dormant disseminated tumor cells. Through these efforts we have found that LIFR is epigenetically regulated, and that histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, which are FDA-approved for several blood cancers, stimulate LIFR expression on breast cancer cells from all subtypes. This finding presents an interesting therapeutic opportunity to explore whether HDAC inhibitors may be used to promote a chronic state of tumor dormancy and prevent recurrence in bone. Our findings suggest that this may be feasible, but that the effects of histone deacetylase inhibitors on bone remodeling profoundly impact tumor colonization and must be combined with appropriate anti-resorptive therapies.