Titles and Affiliations
Instructor, Experimental Therapeutics
American Association for Cancer Research
Research Area
Targeting cancer-associated fibroblasts to improve outcomes for breast cancer patients.
Impact
Tumors are formed not only by cancer cells themselves but rather contain multiple cell types that support cancer growth and the spreading throughout the body, known as the tumor microenvironment. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are an abundant cell population of breast tumors that have a pro-tumorigenic function themselves, including sending signals to immune and vascular cells that sustain tumor progression. The focus of Dr. Kugeratski’s research is to understand the biology of CAFs and uncover potential treatment candidates to specifically target them.
What’s Next
In earlier work, Dr. Kugeratski and her team profiled the proteins released by CAFs under conditions that support their pro-tumorigenic activity. They discovered that a protein called LRRC17 is significantly increased in CAFs and could be a potential therapeutic target. Importantly, they discovered that LRRC17 regulates the levels of an important molecule that plays key roles in pathological blood vessel formation, immunosuppression, and resistance to anti-cancer therapies. Dr. Kugeratski aims to determine how LRRC17 affects the tumor microenvironment by studying tumor samples from a diverse cohort of breast cancer patients. The team will evaluate the types of cells surrounding LRRC17-positive CAFs and their functional states, with the ultimate goal of targeting those CAFs to modulate tumor activity and improve outcomes.
Biography
Fernanda Kugeratski, PhD is a cancer biologist specializing in cell-cell communication in breast cancer. She received her PhD in Cancer Sciences from the University of Glasgow and joined MDACC for her postdoctoral training in Cancer Biology and Immunology. Dr. Kugeratski’s work led to seminal discoveries in hypoxia-driven angiogenesis, characterization of the core proteome of exosomes, and utilization of engineered extracellular vesicles for cancer treatment. Dr. Kugeratski joined the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at MDACC as faculty in 2024. She combines model systems with spatial proteomics analysis of patient samples to define new functions of cancer-associated fibroblasts in immune regulation.
