Unlocking the secrets of Royal Jelly: from recent breakthroughs to novel drugs targeting Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase

We propose to use the honeybee in vitro system to understand how multiple isoforms and altered expression of ALK affects critical signaling pathways, including insulin signaling, TOR and PI3K. We will combine RNAseq and methylomics with RNAi silencing and treatment with an ALK inhibitor Crizotinib to generate an unprecedented molecular portrait of gene expression resulting from deregulated ALK. In parallel, we will test fractionated components of royal jelly for putative inhibitors or neutralizers of ALK. This hard-core molecular project has the potential to open a new line of investigation that could lead to the design of powerful combination therapies