My project focuses on understanding the role of the putative tumour suppressor PTPRK in colorectal cancer. PTPRK is a cell surface protein that can mediate cell-cell communication through its phosphatase domain – an enzyme that can remove phosphate groups from other proteins to influence cell behaviour. It was recently identified as part of a cancer-causing gene fusion in a subset of colorectal cancer patients, yet is very poorly characterised. To discover the role of PTPRK in these cancers I will be using a range of approaches including cell biology, mouse genetics and 3D miniaturised models of the intestine known as organoids. Learning more about both the basic biology of PTPRK and its role in cancer could reveal new approaches to alter cancer growth through the manipulation of receptor tyrosine phosphatases.