Helin V. Norberg

Project summary

Can the cell’s natural autophagy process be harnessed to treat cancer?

Helin Vakifahmetoglu Norberg’s research focuses on autophagy, a natural process through which cellular components are broken down. The aim is to determine the role of autophagy in cancer, which could open up new possibilities for both diagnosis and treatment.

 

Helin Vakifahmetoglu Norberg studies chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), a natural process for the degradation of cellular components. In her research project, she aims to identify which proteins are specifically degraded through CMA, both under normal conditions and in disease.

 

CMA has been shown to play an important role in the development of diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Helin aims to investigate the significance of this process in cancer and has already demonstrated that activating CMA causes cancer cells to die while normal cells survive. She therefore seeks to determine whether CMA can be activated as a novel strategy for cancer treatment.