NWO Vidi grant for Sebastiaan van Heesch

Dr. Sebastiaan van Heesch and his group are investigating the role of small proteins, also called 'micro-proteins', in childhood cancer. Micro-proteins are a new and previously invisible and unknown group of proteins with an important role in the human body and diseases such as cancer. In previous research, currently under peer review, Van Heesch saw evidence that disabling some of these microproteins may have an effect on cancer cell division.

Brain tumors and microproteins

Thanks to the grant, Van Heesch can now focus on the role of these small proteins in a still hard-to-treat brain tumor, a form of ependymoma, posterior fossa ependymoma type A (PFA). An ependymoma is a tumor in the brain or spinal cord, with PFA occurring specifically in the posterior part of the brain. In the Netherlands, about 10-15 children develop ependymoma each year.

Van Heesch: 'We focus specifically on so-called early brain tumors, such as PFA. We do this because we know that micro-proteins are present during early brain development. And therefore also in tumors that arise during this phase of embryonic development. After the child is born, microproteins are often no longer present in healthy brain cells. Therefore, we do not know what they do and whether they are important for brain cancer in children, but we suspect that they may play a role in the development and degree of aggressiveness of the tumor.' In the project, Van Heesch is investigating which microproteins are involved, their exact function and what happens when they are deactivated. 'If we see that this has an effect, that would be a fantastic new and previously unknown target for new treatments.'

Evolutionary innovation

Most microproteins have not been found in the human body for very long: 'young' proteins emerged late in human evolution. However, they can play an important role by binding to 'older' proteins, initiating or inhibiting processes. Van Heesch: 'We call this evolutionary innovation: every species of animal, and therefore also man, develops new proteins that bring with them new functions. For example, we suspect that some micro-proteins played an important role in the very rapid growth of the human brain, which is much larger than the brain in other humanoid ape species. The property of growing faster and larger is also a property of cancer cells. So the special thing about this research is that we are going to see if there is a relationship between evolutionary innovation of our brains, the role of microproteins, and the development of childhood cancer.'

Grateful and honored

Van Heesch is honored by the Vidi grant, but especially grateful: 'I am enormously grateful to the fellow researchers who helped me in the preparation, especially the young, enthusiastic researchers in my group. Their work is inseparable from the recognition we receive in the form of this Vidi grant. It ensures that we can expand our research activities and thus dive even deeper into the role of microproteins within childhood cancer.'

With the Vidi grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), Van Heesch will receive €800,000 in research funding. These will be used to conduct experiments, advanced data analysis, and attract new scientific talent.