My Way

Since 2012, I continued my research at the Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa. The current study focuses on cellular mechanisms of cancer resistance of an important Evolutionary Biology animal: the subterranean blind mole rat Spalax, belonging to a rodent group living underground in sealed dark tunnel systems, and adapted to fluctuating hypoxia. When I joined to “Spalax group” of the Institute of Evolution, the study of Spalax resistance to chemically-induced cancer had been initiated by Research Prof. A. Avivi and Dr I. Shams. I decided to concentrate my investigation on the cellular mechanisms involved in this phenomenon by using co-culturing of primary fibroblasts isolated from Spalax with cancer cells, both human and rodent-derived. The result exceeded all expectations: primary fibroblasts isolated from Spalax inhibited cancer cell growth, suppressed cell cycle progression and migration and finally, induced cell death (Manov et al., BMC Biology, 2013). The second research project of my initial work in Institute of Evolution was the iron-rich ferritin in Spalax tissues and the pathways of its internalization [in collaboration with Prof. Iancu (Iancu at al., Journal of Structural Biology, 2014)]. In subsequent years, my research focused on the mechanisms of cellular senescence in Spalax and the tumor suppressive role of the microenvironment.