Research

A long term project has been on the in vivo interaction between collagen binding integrins, in particular α11β1 and the αVβ3 which is a non-collagen binding integrin, and which seems to take over the role of the collagen binding β1-integrins. These studies demonstrate that both the matrix and the specific cell lines will affect tumor properties. 

A particular feature of the group is the use of hyperbaric oxygen on experimental tumors as well as treatment modality for injury after irradiation injury.

We have demonstrated that hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) attenuates tumor growth in different breast cancer models (DMBA-induced mammary tumors, MDA-MB-231, BT-474, 4T1) and shifts the phenotype from mesenchymal to epithelial (MET). Notably, HBOT also reduced the number and area of metastatic lesions in the triple negative model MDA-MB-231.

We have also studied if different factors (hypoxia, Transforming Growth Factor -β1 or Jagged-1) can induce epithelial-to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in four breast cancer cell lines with different hormone status. The conclusion was that single factors can induce mesenchymal-like morphology, but not promote full EMT.