Investigating the Role of TRPA1 in Lung Cancer

Dr. Diarmuid O’Connor

Diarmuid O’Connor, Lecturer in Medicine at St. James’s Hospital – Trinity College Dublin, was awarded with a Breakthrough Cancer Research Innovation Grant 2024 in partnership with Royal London.

One of the earliest symptoms of lung cancer is a persistent cough. Coughing is a reflex caused by environmental and internal agents, such as smoke and inflammation. Despite constant coughing being a common symptom in lung cancer, cough receptors have not been thoroughly studied in this regard. This is despite some early research showing that some cough receptors, when expressed in lung cancer tumours, can be associated with worse outcomes.

The aim of this study is to better understand the role that cough receptors play in the cause and development of lung cancer and to investigate if a particular cough receptor, TRPA1, may be a potential target for treatment in the future.

Cough receptors may be a target for future treatments if enough quality research is performed to fully evaluate the roles they may play in lung cancer development. We propose to investigate one of these receptors, TRPA1, to determine its association to lung cancer. This will be investigated by using both tissue (lung tumour) samples from surgeries, and lung cancer cells that can be grown in the laboratory and checking if this cough receptor is present in these tumours. It will be also tested if a chemical known to stop TRPA1 working can kill the lung cancer cells that express TRPA1, or if these chemicals have any impact on survival of these cells.

This type of initial work can help to lay the foundations for better treatments for patients with lung cancer, which is our ultimate aim.