Cellular Cancer Biology Imaging Research (CCBIR)

Publication Highlights

The University of Minnesota CCBIR Center developed a computational platform called TME-CARTographer (TME_CART), which combines live-tumor multiphoton imaging with graph theory, custom tracking algorithms, and deep learning, to quantitatively decode the T cell dynamics in the tumor microenvironment (TME). The authors of the study describe this new technology as "a discovery platform for interpreting complex 4D data to enhance the understanding and design of immunotherapies."

The Northwestern University CCBIR Center found that pyrimidine synthesis is a vulnerability in treatment-resistant ovarian cancer cells. They also showed that targeting this pathway using Brequinar (BRQ) promotes cancer cell death and inhibits ovarian tumor growth.

The Johns Hopkins CCBIR Center extended their existing CODA imaging software to combine standard tissue staining with immune cell markers, enabling the generation of 3D maps of immune cells in over 1,000 precancerous lesions. They identified localized immunosuppressive "niches" that could serve as early markers or targets for intercepting pancreatic cancer before it fully develops.

Using advanced light-sheet microscopy, the UTSW CCBIR Center found that cell-shape changes caused by oncogenic RAS actively amplify RAS's cancer-promoting signals. The findings suggest that the physical shape-changing behavior of cancer cells is not just an output of RAS mutation but an active driver of tumor growth. 

For additional information about the CCBIR, please contact Dr. Cindy Kyi.