Doctoral defence 27.9.2024: Taru Knuutinen
Doctoral defence on Friday 27.9.2024 at 13:15-17:00
Taru Knuutinen: The importance of calcium channels in thyroid cancer.
Auditorium Argentum, Aurum, Henrikinkatu 2, Turku
Taru Knuutinen (neé Lassila), M.Sc., defends her Doctoral Thesis Friday 27.9. at 1 pm in the Auditorium Argentum in the Aurum building in Turku. The title of the Thesis is “The importance of calcium channels in thyroid cancer”.
The incidence of thyroid cancer has steadily increased, and the most aggressive forms lack effective treatments. In the Thesis the importance of both sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P)- and calcium signalling in thyroid cancer, and how this signalling affects the expression and function of several factors which are of importance for thyroid cancer progression, i.e. proliferation, migration, and invasion. S1P is a lipid that functions as a signalling substance, and thus regulates several important cellular processes, i.e. proliferation and migration. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are enzymes that break down the extracellular matrix in cells. cancer, the levels of MMP2 and MMP9 are increased, which enhance invasion and metastasis. In the present study it was shown that S1P decreases the expression of MMP2 and MMP9 in anaplastic thyroid cancer cells, and that this, at least in part, decreases the migratory and invasive potential of the cells.
Stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1) is a protein, which participates in the regulation of cellular calcium signalling. In the present study, it was shown that the expressional level of STIM1 is increased in thyroid cancer. Silencing of STIM1, and thus blocking calcium entry, increased the sensitivity of follicular thyroid cancer cells to chemotherapy and decreased both proliferation and migration of the cell. In addition, it was shown that the thyroid hormone receptor b1 (TRb1) is downregulated and that the runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) is upregulated in several different thyroid cancer cell lines. In addition, when calcium entry was blocked in follicular thyroid cancer cells, the expression of TRb1 was increased, whereas that of RUNX2 was decreased. Furthermore, when (TRb1) was overexpressed, or RUNX2 silenced, both proliferation and migration of the cells was attenuated.
In summary, all the mentioned proteins are important regulators of thyroid cancer, and thus may be potential therapeutic targets in the treatment of thyroid cancer.
Taru Knuutinen, M.Sc., studied cell biology at Åbo Akademi University and obtained her M.Sc. degree in 2018. The investigations have been performed at the Faculty of Science and Engineering (Cell biology) at Åbo Akademi University and at the Minerva Foundation Institute for Medical Research (Biomedicum, Helsingfors). The opponent is Professor Catharina Larsson (Karolinska Institutes, Stockholm, Sweden) and Associate professor Diana Toivola (Cell biology, Åbo akadem University) acts as kustos. The Thesis was supervised by Professor Kid Törnquist (Cell biology, Åbo Akademi University; Minerva Foundation Institute for Medical Research, Helsingfors) and Associate professor Diana Toivola (Cell biology, Åbo akadem University). Dr Mohammad Yasir Asghar (Cell biology, Åbo Akademi University; Minerva Foundation Institute for Medical Research, Helsingfors) acted as co-supervisor.