Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to cordially invite you to the Nencki Institute Seminar, which will take place on 12 February at 3:00 PM in the CN Lecture Hall.

We will have the pleasure of hosting Prof. Anna Marusiak, head of the Laboratory of Molecular OncoSignalling at the International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IMoL).

Prof. Marusiak’s research focuses on aberrant cellular signaling pathways that drive tumor development, metastasis, and therapy resistance, with the overarching aim of identifying novel targets for cancer treatment. A major focus of her laboratory is oncogenic signaling mediated by MLK4 in breast cancer, where its upregulation promotes malignant progression and influences chemotherapy response, tumor–microenvironment interactions, and therapeutic vulnerability.

Prof. Marusiak will present a seminar entitled “Mixed-Lineage Kinases – from cellular signalling to therapeutic possibilities.”

Abstract
Dysregulated oncogenic signaling networks drive cancer progression, therapy resistance, and interactions with the tumor microenvironment. Understanding these signaling pathways is essential for the development of new therapeutic strategies. Our work focuses on the mixed-lineage kinase (MLK) family of serine/threonine kinases, which act as key signaling nodes activated by cytokines and growth factors and integrate inflammatory, stress, and growth signals in cancer.
A major focus of our work is MLK4, which we have established as a critical regulator of aggressive tumor behavior, particularly in triple-negative breast cancer. Our research explores how MLK4 contributes to resistance to chemotherapy and how it shapes tumor-microenvironment communication, including crosstalk with macrophages. By dissecting these pathways, we aim to understand how MLK4-driven signaling supports tumor survival under therapeutic pressure and promotes a pro-tumorigenic microenvironment.
In parallel, we investigate MLK3, a closely related family member, as a therapeutic target across cancer types. Using targeted protein degradation approaches, PROTAC technology, our lab develops selective MLK3 degraders to probe its oncogenic functions and evaluate new treatment strategies. This work has opened avenues to study MLK3 dependency beyond breast cancer, including its emerging role in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Together, our research integrates cancer cell-intrinsic signaling, tumor microenvironment interactions, and targeted protein degradation strategies to define the MLK family as promising and tractable targets in cancer therapy.
A get together reception will follow the lecture.

We warmly encourage you to attend.

With best wishes
Aleksandra Pękowska