Camels, antibodies and cancer cells
We have joined forces with the Bradley Lowery Foundation to provide funding of £153,369 to the Laman group. With this research grant, Dr Heike Laman and her team (including Dr Andrei Smid as a Neuroblastoma UK-funded post-doctoral research fellow) hope to develop a new approach in targeting the protein N-Myc, a well known cause of some of the worst neuroblastomas.
Dr Heike Laman
Meet Dr Heike Laman, University of Cambridge
Dr Heike Laman is the lead researcher at The Laman Lab and is based in Cambridge.
Dr Laman answers our questions about her role, her team and how camels may help get us a step closer to a cure for neuroblastoma.
Why have you chosen to research neuroblastoma?
Neuroblastoma is a cancer of children, and anything to do with children getting sick with cancer both frightens and distresses me, especially since I became a parent.
Neuroblastoma, in particular, seems to be waving a big red flag with its high levels of expression of the N-Myc oncogene, offering a clue on its causes how to treat it. I thought there might be a different way to investigate its biology and treatment, so I just started working on my idea for that one day.
What motivates you in your role?
A fascination with biology in all its wondrous diversity and elegance. Every day I get up hoping to discover something even more interesting than the day before. And I’m surrounded by passionate scientists and motivated scientists, who are fun to work with.
Andrei Smid, Neuroblastoma UK-funded post-doctoral research fellow
Tell us a little about your team
Our team is comprised of a group of eight talented, enthusiastic and committed individuals. We also enjoy good food and letting our hair down after a long day in the lab!
Dr Andrei Smid recently joined our lab in September 2019 as our Neuroblastoma UK-funded post-doctoral research fellow to work on this nanobody project.
What does this research grant mean to you and your team?
It really means the world to us. This is an ambitious project and it’s wonderful that Neuroblastoma UK and the Bradley Lowery Foundation have chosen to back us. We are so grateful to everyone who has donated to the charities to help make this happen.
There are still no therapies that specifically target the function of N-Myc, so if it works, our approach could be used for many other Myc-driven cancers. That’s up to 70% of cancers, so we may well discover applications for cancer in adults. Like I said, ambitious!
Why do camels feature in your research?
It’s a curious fact that camelids, such as camels and alpacas, make tiny antibodies, known as nanobodies, as part of their normal immune response. (The other animals that make these special antibodies are sharks, but for obvious reasons, we chose not to work with them!)
Because of their small size, nano bodies can be delivered more easily into cancer cells and made to target specific genes. Having sifted through many possibilities to discover nanobodies that target N-Myc, our team will use these nanobodies to track and investigate the function of N-Myc within neuroblastoma cells.
The Laman group aims to discover how N-Myc regulates particular sets of genes to convert cells from normal to cancerous. Our ambition is that using nanobodies will lead to a successful new approach to targeting N-Myc in neuroblastoma patients.
What do you hope your research will lead to?
We want to be able to use our tools to get a step closer to a cure for neuroblastoma. That is a tall order, but I do believe that it may be possible. At least, we expect to get a better understanding of the biology of N-Myc in neuroblastoma cells and why it is a cancer-causing gene.
Our research funding
Neuroblastoma UK is supporting nine new research studies in 2019, with a total funding of £1.177 million.