Seminar abstract:

Cell migration plays a pivotal role in various biological processes including cancer dissemination and successful metastasis, where the role of mechanical signals is increasingly acknowledged. My talk will focus on the intricate mechanisms through which disseminating cancer cells coordinate actomyosin dynamics together with organelle adaptations in response to the extracellular matrix (ECM).

Specifically, the nucleus, mitochondria and secretory machinery emerge as pivotal mediators in this process.

These organelles serve as sensors, translating mechanical stimuli into rapid metabolic alterations that sustain cell migration. Importantly, prolonged exposure to such stimuli can induce transcriptional or epigenetic changes, ultimately enhancing metastatic traits.

Deciphering the intricate interplay between ECM properties, organelle adaptations and cytoskeletal dynamics holds promise for the development of innovative anti-metastatic therapeutic strategies.

Biosketch: Victoria Sanz-Moreno received a degree in chemistry and later in biochemistry (University of Oviedo, Spain) followed by a PhD in chemical sciences studying Ras-MAPK signalling (University of Cantabria). She then joined Professor Chris Marshall’s lab at The Institute of Cancer Research in London as a Marie Curie Intra-European Postdoctoral Fellow. In 2008, she received the Applied Biosystems and EACR 40th Anniversary Research Award for her work on Rho GTPase signalling during cancer dissemination.

In 2011, Victoria started her independent group and received a CRUK Career Development Fellowship at King's College London to study transcriptional programs driving metastasis. In 2015, she was highly commended as CRUK Communications and Brand Ambassador. In 2017, she was awarded the BSCB Women in Cell Biology Early Career Award Medal and she received a CRUK Senior Fellowship to study the role of Rho kinase in cancer progression and therapy responses. In 2017-2018, she was featured by Journal of Cell Science as “Cell Scientist to Watch” and by Journal of Cell Biology for her work on Rho GTPases.

In 2018, Victoria joined Barts Cancer Institute (Queen Mary University of London) as Professor of Cancer Cell Biology to study how cytoskeletal dynamics in metastatic cancer cells alter the tumour microenvironment. In 2021, she was elected to be part of “Ruta de las Cientificas”- an App celebrating the achievements of 9 women in STEM. In 2022 she received the Estela Medrano Memorial Award from the Society for Melanoma Research, the VP Award for Research Excellence from Queen Mary's Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and the Research Impact Award at Barts Cancer Institute. In September 2023, Victoria’s lab moved to the Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research. Combining cell biology, OMICs, mouse models, patient material and digital pathology, Victoria’s lab works on understanding how cytoskeletal dynamics in cancer cells control local invasion, dissemination, survival and outgrowth at the secondary site. Her lab is interested in deciphering how metastatic cancer cells interact with their microenvironment while evading anti-cancer therapies while the ultimate goal is to find anti-metastasis therapies.

She is passionate about science communication and promoting diversity in science.