With the researchers in his department at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) in Heidelberg, Aurelio Teleman is studying metabolic processes and how their dysfunction plays a role in cancer. Recently, Teleman and his co-workers identified a new signaling pathway in the cell. They discovered that a fatty acid (stearic acid) that had previously been considered to be a simple metabolic product also has signaling functions, thus regulating biochemical processes in the cell.
Teleman and his team demonstrated in flies as well as in cancer cells that stearic acid regulates the performance of mitochondria. These organelles serve as powerhouses that supply the cell with vital biochemical energy. When the researches added stearic acid to fly food, the animals' mitochondria performed better; when they kept fatty acid levels low, the organelles fragmented. A protein called transferrin receptor was identified as a key player in this mechanism.
Teleman plans to use the funds from the Consolidator Grant to investigate whether and how stearic acid that is ingested with the diet also influences other cellular functions. His hypothesis is well grounded: Using a newly developed method, his team demonstrated that stearic acid binds not only to the transferrin receptor but also to 30 other cellular proteins. These include a remarkable number of proteins that are involved in growth-promoting signaling pathways.
Teleman now plans to examine how the binding of stearic acid affects the function of these proteins and what happens in the absence of the fatty acid as a binding partner. “Stearic acid is part of our diet; it is present in ample quantities in animal fats and cocoa butter,“ said Teleman. “Therefore, our research is ultimately about how a dietary component influences cellular growth – both in the healthy state and in dysfunctional states that can lead to cancer and other serious diseases.“
Born in the United States, Aurelio Teleman studied biochemistry at Harvard University, where he graduated in 1998. For his PhD studies, he moved to London Imperial College and subsequently to EMBL in Heidelberg, where he earned his PhD in 2004 and continued his research work for another three years. Starting from 2007, Teleman headed a junior research group at the DKFZ; since 2012, he has been a research department head.
In 2010, the ERC already supported Teleman's research with a Starting Grant comprising €1.5 million. In 2016, he was honored for his research with the Johann Georg Zimmermann Prize.
The European Research Council awarded 314 Consolidator Grants in 2016; 50 of these were given to German scientists.
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