Can we discover new cures for skin cancer?

What is the science behind this project?

On the surface of your skin cells you have receptors which act like a tiny radio aerials, receiving signals from the outside world and transmitting this signal inside the cell. These receptors ultimately help your cells to react, and respond to things that are happening around them. Dr Sigismund and her team believe that one of these receptors – called EGFR – is  key to healthy skin cells turning into cancer.
Much like the way we react to a song on the radio, the team have found that skin cells react in different ways when EGFR transmits signals - depending on how loud and long these signals last. They have also found tantalising hints that EGFR signals regulate a specific system inside cells, that could be involved in both wound healing, and cancer.

So now, with your help, the team will use several state-of-the-art technologies to find out exactly what happens when EGFR is activated in skin cells. They will collaborate with other experts to perfect several different 2D and 3D skin cell models which mimic healthy and cancerous skin, and then compare how each cell type responds to EGFR signals.