Gilead is a research-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of innovative medicines. Each year Gilead supports biomedical researchers through the Gilead grants for Biomedical Projects.

Gael Roué, leader of the translational lymphoma research group of the Josep Carreras Institute, has been awarded a Gilead grant to study the Modulation of the lymphoid microenvironment by intrinsic protein homeostasis in aggressive B-cell lymphoma.

“Despite a recent upturn in the literature, proteomic profiling of patients with aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) hasn't improved the clinical management of these patients. Previous studies from our lab have validated the use of specific ubiquitin traps, associated to tandem mass spectrometry, to predict response to different classes of drugs, targeting protein homeostasis in cultured cells in the lab, as well as in mice models with aggressive B-NHL, such as mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). We want to elucidate the role of protein homeostasis in lymphomagenesis and discover new potential therapeutic targets.

With this aim, we will evaluate in preclinical trials the modulation of immune effectors by adaptive protein homeostasis in malignant B cells, in two of the most aggressive subtypes of B-NHL, namely MCL and diffuse large B cell lymphoma, considering the main components of the lymphoid tumor microenvironment.”