2025
"Research is the distance between an idea and its realization."
- David Sarnoff
Elucidating the Role of Ceramide Kinase in Cancer Cell-Macrophage Cross-talk in Tumor Microenvironment and Build New Therapeutics Strategies for Breast and Oral Cancer Treatment
This project focuses on understanding how lipid signalling regulates communication between cancer cells and immune cells within the tumour microenvironment, with a particular emphasis on ceramide kinase (CERK). Ceramide kinase plays a critical role in lipid metabolism by converting ceramide into ceramide-1-phosphate, a bioactive lipid that promotes cell survival, inflammation, and migration.
It is assumed that dysregulation of CERK in cancer cells can deeply influence tumour progression and immune responses. By studying breast and oral cancer models, this project aims to understand how CERK-mediated lipid signals shape macrophage function, contribute to an immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment, support cancer progression and whether targeting CERK can disrupt cancer–immune cell communication. Ultimately, this work seeks to identify ceramide kinase as a novel therapeutic target and to develop new lipid-based therapeutic strategies, either alone or in combination with existing chemotherapy or immunotherapy approaches. Insights gained from this study have the potential to improve therapeutic outcomes for patients with breast and oral cancers.
