Guest seminar by Dr Guillermo Velasco, 23.05.16

Title: "Towards the utilization of cannabinoids as anticancer agents...and other stories inspired by cannabis"
Dr Guillermo Velasco, Madrid Complutense University, Spain
Time: Monday, May 23, 2016, at 15:00
Place: The Estonian Biocentre, Riia 23B, room 105
Additional information: Tõnis Örd (tord@ebc.ee)

Summary
A large body of evidence shows that cannabinoids, in addition to their well-known palliative effects on some cancer-associated symptoms, can reduce tumour growth in animal models of cancer and specifically in gliomas. The mechanism of cannabinoid anticancer action relies, at least largely, on the ability of these agents to stimulate an Endoplasmic reticulum stress-related pathway that leads to the up-regulation of Tribbles pseudokinase 3 and the subsequent stimulation of autophagy-mediated cancer cell death. Research conducted in our group has also led to the identification of mechanisms of resistance to cannabinoid anticancer action. In this presentation, I will summarize the molecular bases of the anticancer activity of cannabinoids and the evidences supporting that cannabinoid-based combinational therapies are a promising strategy to target Gliomas. In addition, I will also discuss some of our recent findings on the molecular bases for the dual role of autophagy and the pseudokinases Tribbles in cancer.