About the Project
More than 10,000 patients in the UK and 74,000 patients in the US are diagnosed with bladder cancer each year. There are two patient groups with distinct prognoses and molecular profiles. Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer frequently recurs and requires long-term disease monitoring and repeated localized therapy. Muscle-invasive bladder cancer is life-threatening and requires radical treatment. Treatments have not advanced for decades and targeted approaches to both systemic and localized therapy are needed.
Genome sequencing and expression profiling has recently defined multiple molecular subtypes and identified a range of potential therapeutic targets, generating optimism that novel therapeutic approaches can now be developed. This will require both functional investigations and preclinical drug assessment, for which relevant disease models are essential. Preclinical drug evaluation commonly uses cell line xenografts and patient-derived xenograft models. This project aims to develop in vitro models for evaluation that can replace a major proportion of such animal use.
Studies of other tissue types demonstrate that normal and tumour-derived human cells can be maintained for long periods as three-dimensional organoids that are suitable for rapid in vitro drug screening and can be modified to provide paired isogenic lines for functional analyses.
Cellular progenitors of the two major bladder cancer clinical subgroups have been described and specific cell surface markers that allow their isolation have been identified and used to flow sort these cells. It has also been reported that such cells can generate 3-dimensional sphaeroids in culture, but culture conditions have not been optimized for long-term organoid maintenance and banking.
Project objectives:
• Optimization of conditions for tumour cell isolation, organoid culture and long-term maintenance. Fresh bladder tumour tissues will be used.
• Establishment of a frozen bank of organoids representing the range of bladder cancer molecular subtypes. Parallel stored tissues from successful cultures will be characterised as part of other work within the group.
• Development of microfluidics platform-based drug sensitivity analysis for rapid evaluation of patient samples.
A microfluidics platform (already available) that allows trapping of individual cells and exposure to drug profiles will be used to determine drug sensitivity to cytotoxic and cytostatic agents. Initial experiments will use a tumour cell line with known sensitivity to FGFR inhibitors and to cisplatin. Surface Acoustic Wave Dielectrophoresis (SAW-DEP) will be evaluated for separation of viable from non-viable cells, prior to the sensitivity testing. Both flow-sorted single cell populations from tumours and cells derived from organoids will be assessed. Recent advances in the integration of spheroid / organoid formation with microfluidic devices offer potential advantages in terms of improved screening capability and will be tested.
The project will use a wide range of methods, including tissue dissociation methods, organoid culture from tissue fragments and single cells, flow sorting, cell staining (immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence), light and fluorescence microscopy (including confocal) and drug sensitivity testing in 2D and 3D cultures and on the microfluidics platform.
Eligibility and How to Apply
You should have or expect to obtain a minimum of an upper second class degree in either a biological science, physics or biophysics, a strong motivation to develop multidisciplinary skills relevant to translational research and a commitment to the principles of the 3Rs.
The Faculty minimum requirements for candidates whose first language is not English are:
• British Council IELTS - score of 6.5 overall, with no element less than 6.0
• TOEFL iBT - overall score of 92 with the listening and reading element no less than 21, writing element no less than 22 and the speaking element no less than 23.
To apply for this scholarship applicants should complete a Faculty Scholarship Application form using the link below http://medhealth.leeds.ac.uk/download/2376/fmh_scholarship_application_16_17_entry and send this alongside a full academic CV, degree transcripts (or marks so far if still studying) and degree certificates to the Faculty Graduate School [Email Address Removed]
We also require 2 academic references to support your application. Please ask your referees to send these references on your behalf, directly to [Email Address Removed] by no later than Monday 20 February 2017.
If you have already applied for other scholarships using the Faculty Scholarship Application form you do not need to complete this form again. Instead you should email [Email Address Removed] to inform us you would like to be considered for this scholarship project.
Any queries regarding the application process should be directed to [Email Address Removed]
Interviews are expected to be held on Thursday 6 and Friday 7 July 2017.
Funding Notes
A full time NC3Rs-funded PhD studentship is available, to commence no later than 1 October 2017. We welcome applications from UK and EU applicants. The studentship will attract an annual tax-free stipend at Research Council rate (currently £14,296 per annum) for up to 3 years, subject to satisfactory progress and will cover the UK/EU tuition fees.
European Union applicants will be eligible for an award paying tuition fees only, except in exceptional circumstances, or where residency in the UK has been established for more than 3 years prior to the start of the course.
References
Knowles, M.A. & Hurst, C.D. Molecular biology of bladder cancer: new insights into pathogenesis and clinical diversity. Nature Reviews Cancer 15, 25-41 (2015).
Aine, M., Eriksson, P., Liedberg, F., Hoglund, M. & Sjodahl, G. On Molecular Classification of Bladder Cancer: Out of One, Many. Eur Urol 68, 921-923 (2015).
Clevers, H. Modeling Development and Disease with Organoids. Cell 165, 1586-1597 (2016).
van de Wetering, M. et al. Prospective derivation of a living organoid biobank of colorectal cancer patients. Cell 161, 933-945 (2015).
1Chan, K.S. et al. Identification, molecular characterization, clinical prognosis, and therapeutic targeting of human bladder tumor-initiating cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106, 14016-14021 (2009).
Volkmer, J.P. et al. Three differentiation states risk-stratify bladder cancer into distinct subtypes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109, 2078-2083 (2012).
Kwapiszewska, K., Michalczuk, A., Rybka, M., Kwapiszewski, R. & Brzózka, Z. A microfluidic-based platform for tumour spheroid culture, monitoring and drug screening. Lab Chip 14, 2096–2104 (2014).