Supervisors: Dr Noor Gammoh, Dr Natividad Gomez-Roman & Dr Sourav Banerjee Dr Noor Gammoh, Noor.gammoh@ed.ac.ukDr Natividad Gomez-Roman, natividad.gomez-roman@strath.ac.ukDr Sourav Banerjee, s.y.banerjee@dundee.ac.ukApplication deadline30th June 2025Funding information (students eligible to apply) UK & International studentsThe CRUK Scotland Centre studentships are for 4 years and provide an annual tax-free stipend of £22,113 + 1.75% indexation in Year 2,3&4, university tuition fees and a consumables budget. Students will be registered for their degree at either the University of Glasgow or Edinburgh, depending on the project they apply for. This scheme is open to both UK and international applicants. https://www.crukscotlandcentre.ac.uk/training/phd-studentshipsProject descriptionGlioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and devastating form of brain cancer in adults. Recent studies are starting to demonstrate an association between GBM incidence/prognosis and socioeconomic status (SES). Understanding the underlying molecular risk would be crucial to mitigate such societal disparities. One possible risk is obesity, which is influenced by the SES. Interestingly, recent studies have shown that obesity correlates with GBM incidence and aggressiveness.High fat diets are a major causative factor of obesity. Understanding the relationship between fatty acid availability and GBM survival could help improve GBM response to treatment. Unpublished findings from the lab demonstrate that the availability of fatty acids in cells can compromise cell health. We observed that targeting fatty acid synthesis with small molecules enhanced cell death in GBM cells treated withtemozolomide, a chemotherapeutic agent frequently used in the clinic. Mechanistically, suppressing fatty acid synthesis inhibited autophagy, a lysosomal degradation pathway that acts as a survival mechanism in GBM. In addition, fatty acid synthase inhibitors elicited an ER stress response suggesting that cellular homeostasis is compromised in the absence of fatty acid synthesis. Altogether, these findings suggest an important crosstalk between fatty acid availability and cell survival.This project aims to further understand the underlying molecular mechanisms by which obesity and fatty acid availability can influence cell survival and investigate the use of fatty acid synthase inhibitors (frequently used as appetite suppressants) in suppressing GBM growth. The project combines basic cell biology approaches with animal modelling and drug treatment. More specifically, the project aims to:-Understand the molecular changes as a result of modulating lipid synthesis which inhibit autophagy and elicits ER stress in cells (Edinburgh).- Evaluate the effects of modulating lipid synthesis and availability in enhancing the sensitivity of cultured GBM cells to treatment (Strathclyde).- Investigate the effects of fatty acid availability and obesity on GBM growth using mouse models (Edinburgh).Overall, findings from this project will provide a wide range of training opportunities to the PhD candidate and may have translational potential in future studies.Biological SciencesBacteriology; Behavioural Biology; Biochemistry; Biodiversity; Bioinformatics; Biophysics; Biotechnology; Cancer Biology; Cell Biology; Developmental Biology; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Entomology; Environmental Biology; Evolution; Genetic Engineering; Genetics; Genomics; Human Genetics; Immunology; Marine Biology; Microbiology; Molecular Biology; Molecular Genetics; Neuroscience; Other; Parasitology; Plant Biology; Plant Cell Biology; Reproductive Biology; Structural Biology; Systematic Biology; Virology; ZoologyChemistryAnalytical Chemistry; Applied Chemistry; Computational Chemistry; Environmental Chemistry; Industrial Chemistry; Inorganic Chemistry; Organic Chemistry; Other; Petrochemical Chemistry; Pharmaceutical Chemistry; Physical Chemistry; Polymer Chemistry; Structural Chemistry; Synthetic ChemistryComputer ScienceArtificial Intelligence; Computer Architectures; Computer Graphics; Computer Vision; Cyber Security; Data Science; Human Computer Interaction; Internet of Things; Machine Learning; Networks; Other; Quantum Computing; Software Engineering; VideogamesMathematicsApplied Mathematics; Applied Statistics; Computational Mathematics; Data Analysis; Engineering Mathematics; Mathematical Modelling; Medical Statistics; Operational Research; Other; Probability; Pure Mathematics; Statistics; Stochastic ProcessesMedicineAnatomy; Audiology; Biomechanics; Cardiology; Complementary Medicine; Dentristry; Endocrinology; Epidemiology; Neural Engineering; Neurology; Nutrition; Ophthalmology; Optometry; Other; Pathology; Pharmacology; Pharmacy; Physiology; Physiotherapy; Podiatry; Radiology; Speech Science; Tissue Engineering; ToxicologyPhysicsAcoustics; Astronomy; Astrophysics; Chemical Physics; Computational Physics; Electromagnetism; Environmental Physics; Experimental Physics; Medical Physics; Nuclear Physics; Optical Physics; Other; Particle Physics; Quantum Mechanics; Semiconductors; Solid State Physics; Space Science; Theoretical Physics This article was published on 2025-05-21
