Mike Berridge
Group Leader Malaghan Institute of Medical Research
Research interests
The main focus of my Cancer Cell & Molecular Biology research programme is to apply new knowledge and technologies to the treatment of human diseases with a particular emphasis on cancer and diseases involving altered energy metabolism.
The Malaghan Institute is a world leader in developing safe vaccination strategies for treating cancer and is trialling these in late stage melanoma and glioblastoma patients. Recently, highly targeted melanoma drugs against the mutant BRAF oncogene have shown dramatic early effects in the clinic and have been FDA approved for human use. Nevertheless, drug-resistant tumour cells persist, leading to recurrence.
We are working to combine highly targeted anticancer drugs that should not be immunosuppressive, with immunotherapy, with the aim of improving patient outcome. We have also developed models of childhood brain tumours and are working to improve treatment of these cancers through vaccination.
We are also investigating the role of intercellular mitochondrial trafficking in health and disease. Using mitochondrial genome knockout melanoma and breast cancer models that exhibit long lag periods to tumour growth, we have show that tumour growth is dependent on acquisition of a mitochondrially-encoded gene from the tumour microenvironment. This 'transforming' event also facilitates metastasis to the lung and is best explained by intercellular mitochondrial transfer via membrane nanotubes, a phenomenon previously described in vitro.
To further investigate the role of intercellular mitochondrial transfer in health and disease, we have initiated a collaboration to build a synthetic mitochondrial genome encoding a fluorescent marker protein that will be transfected into tumour cells, and embryonic stem cells depleted of their mitochondrial genome, to generate mice with fluorescently-labelled mitochondria. This new technology will be applied not only to tumour biology but also to the mitochondriopathies, to degenerative muscle, brain and cardiovascular disease, and to normal and ageing physiology.
Visit my Cancer Cell and Molecular Biology research group webpage