iBET and ITQB Researcher, Ana Barbas is one of the two Terry Fox Grants 2012 awardees for Cancer Research

This award derives from a joint initiative from the Embassy of Canada in Portugal and the Núcleo Sul da Liga Portuguesa contra o Cancro. The award ceremony took place today at Instituto Português de Oncologia in Lisbon. With her grant, Ana Barbas intends to unravel the specific role of one of Notch1 ligands – Delta-like-1, envisioning its blockage as a potential therapeutic in the treatment of breast cancer. Studies have shown that Delta-like-1 expression is undetectable in normal breast tissues, but moderate to high expression has been detected in breast cancer. In this study, the team coordinated by Ana Barbas aims to generate function blocking anti-human Delta-like-1 (Dll1) antibodies to inhibit the Notch1 signalling pathway, using phage-display technology. By generating highly specific anti-Dll1 antibodies, Ana Barbas and her team aim at preventing the Dll1 ligation to the Notch 1 receptor, and as a consequence, expect to be inhibiting Tumor Necrosis Factor a (TNF-α) stimulation and consequently interleukin 6 (IL6) release leading to tumor regression. The anti-Dll1 antibodies will be extensively characterized in vitro as well as in an in vivo model of breast cancer. The anti-Dll1 antibodies can be the basis for further development of a biopharmaceutical in collaboration with a Biotech company.