Thanks to the equipment available in CMRI’s Imaging Facility, Dr Noa Lamm-Shalem was able to make an unexpected discovery about cancer cells, published in Nature Cell Biology. Dr Lamm-Shalem found that when cancer cells encounter problems replicating their DNA, actin cables form inside the nucleus. This allows the nucleus to change shape and increases the ability of the cancer cell to repair its DNA and restart the replication process. Using advanced super resolution microscopy, she and her collaborators showed that damaged DNA slides along the actin network to move to areas in the nucleus where repair occurs most efficiently. Critically, this novel work demonstrated that actin performed these unexpected functions in response to treatment with chemotherapy and helped cancer cells resist the treatment.

In 2023, Dr Lamm-Shalem established the Nuclear Dynamics Group at CMRI where she will lead a team focused on understanding what is happening inside the nucleus of cancer cells and using this information to find vulnerabilities that can become targets for new cancer treatments.

Read the full research article* here. For more information on the range and capabilities of microscopes available at CMRI’s Imaging facility please contact Will Hughes (whughes@cmri.org.au) or Josh Studdert (researchfacilities@cmri.org.au).