Edinburgh Cancer Research

Alan Serrels

Tumour Immune Environment

A.Serrels
Dr Alan Serrels - Research Fellow

Research in a Nutshell

The focus of our lab is to understanding how cancer cells contribute to regulating the composition of the tumour immune environment to promote evasion of the anti-tumour immune response. In this context, we recently identified a new role for the adhesion linked kinase Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) in regulating chemokine and cytokine expression in cancer cells, resulting in elevated levels of intra-tumoural Tregs and suppression of the CD8 T-cell anti-tumour immune response. Our current aim is to understand in greater detail the extent of FAKs immuno-modulatory activity, and to identify optimal combinations with current / emerging immunotherapies for translation to the clinic.

 

Research Programme

 

People

 
Alan Serrels

Principal Investigator and Research Fellow

Catherine Davidson ECAT Fellow
Marta Canel Postdoc

Scientific Themes

Cancer, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Adaptive Immunity, Immunomodulation, T cells, Tregs, Focal Adhesion Kinase

Technology Expertise

Genome editing, gene expression analysis, proteomics, flow cytometry, advanced intra-vital imaging