Clinical Lecturer Mr Roland Aldridge Honorary Specialty Registrar in General Surgery Contact details Email: r.aldridge@ed.ac.uk Project Title The impact of CDK11 dysregulation on autophagy and other cancer phenotypes. Project Summary Autophagy is a catabolic process through which cellular proteins and organelles are sequestered in double-membrane vesicles (autophagosomes) and targeted to lysosomes for degradation. Its role in tumour biology is increasingly apparent with defective autophagy implicated in tumorigenesis. However its functions in cancer cells appear at times disparate with autophagy also believed to promote cancer cell survival following chemotherapy. Study of these pathways may provide insight into autophagy’s differing roles in tumour formation and propogation. Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 11 (CDK11), a putative tumour suppressor, is known to promote mitosis however novel data indicates it is also a mediator of autophagy in tumour cells. This project aims to examine the role of CDK11 in tumorigenesis, dissecting the contributions of autophagy regulation and other described functions. Elucidating these pathways may provide further insight into selective autophagy and the mechanisms of its differential effects in tumour cells. Supervisor Professor Margaret Frame, Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre. Funding Wellcome Trust funded ECAT Fellow. Qualifications MBChB Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (2006) University of Birmingham MSc Master of Science (2005) University of Birmingham MRCS Diploma of Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons MRCP Diploma of Membership of the Royal College of Physicians This article was published on 2024-02-06
