Research Focus Area
Tumor Biology, Infection and Immunity
The task of the Research Focus Area Tumor Biology, Infection and Immunity at the Faculty of Medicine is to investigate molecular mechanisms for the defense against tumors and microorganisms, which enables innovative approaches to be developed for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases in cancer and infection medicine.
The combination of oncological and infectious diseases research opens up a fascinating and promising field of research with many common interfaces: For example, chronic inflammation caused by infections are risk factors for the development of certain cancer entities. Research into common risk factors therefore enables a holistic approach to prevention and therapy. Furthermore, similar biological mechanisms play a crucial role in both cancer and infectious diseases. In particular, interactions between the immune system, malignant cells and pathogenic infectious agents show many parallels. Immunotherapy has also established itself as a promising strategy in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases.
By bringing together expertise from the fields of oncology and infectious diseases in this interdisciplinary Research Focus Area, synergistic research programs are developed that form a dynamic research platform with the common goal of developing new international standards for the treatment of tumor and infectious diseases through groundbreaking science.
Research in the field of cancer biology and therapy has expanded from innovative clinical research to the development of personalized approaches. The close integration of preclinical and clinical research follows a clearly defined strategy that ranges from basic genetic and cell biological discovery to preclinical testing and further validation in practice-changing clinical trials.
The focus in the field of infection and immunology is on research into fundamental molecular mechanisms of host-pathogen interaction and the resulting development of new therapeutic approaches. In particular, immune-mediated therapeutic approaches and new effective strategies for the treatment of fungal diseases and infections with multi-resistant pathogens are being developed at the site.
Synergies in the Research Focus Area "Tumor Biology, Infection and Immunity" arise from the understanding of the evolution of tumor cells and infectious agents, the use of the same principles of drug therapy, including personalized medicine and immunotherapies.
Institutions involved
- Department for Translational Genomics
- Center for Infectious Diseases (CIM)
- Center for Integrated Oncology (CIO) / NCT West
- Cologne Excellence Cluster for Aging and Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD)
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF)
- Institute for Biomedical Informatics
- Institut for Biochemistry I / Centre for Cell Death, Cancer and Inflammation
- Clinic of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
- Institute for Genetics
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene (IMMIH)
- Institute for Molecular Immunology
- Institute for Pathology
- Institut for Translationalö Research (CECAD)
- Institute for Translational Immuno-Oncology
- Institute for Virology
- Clinic I of Internal Medicine
- Clinic for Urology, Uro-Oncology, special Urological and Roboter-Assisted Surgery
- Clinic of General, Visceral and Cancer Surgery
- Clinic and Polyclinic of Dermatology and Venereology
- Clinic and Polyclinic of Otorhinolaryngology
- Clinic and Polyclinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Clinic and Polyclinic for Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing
- Max-Planck-Institut for Metabolism Research
- Center for Familial Breast and Ovarian Cancer
- Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC)
Publikationshighlights
Highlights from the field of Tumor Biology:
- Flümann R, Hansen J, Meinel J, Pfeiffer P, Goldfarb Wittkopf H, Lütz A, Wirtz J, Möllmann M, Zhou T, Tabatabai A, Lohmann T, Jauch M, Beleggia F, Pelzer B, Ullrich F, Höfmann S, Arora A, Persigehl T, Büttner R, von Tresckow B, Klein S, Jachimowicz RD, Reinhardt HC, Knittel G. An inducible Cd79b mutation confers ibrutinib sensitivity in mouse models of Myd88-driven diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Blood Adv. 2024; 8(5):1063-1074. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2023011213.
- Heger JM, Mattlener J, Schneider J, Gödel P, Sieg N, Ullrich F, Lewis R, Bucaciuc-Mracica T, Schwarz RF, Rueß D, Ruge MI, Montesinos-Rongen M, Deckert M, Blau T, Kutsch N, Balke-Want H, Weiss J, Becker K, Reinhardt HC, Hallek M, Borchmann P, von Tresckow B, Borchmann S. Entirely noninvasive outcome prediction in central nervous system lymphomas using circulating tumor DNA. Blood. 2024; 143(6):522-534. doi: 10.1182/blood.2023022020.
- Malchers F, Nogova L, van Attekum MH, Maas L, Brägelmann J, Bartenhagen C, Girard L, Bosco G, Dahmen I, Michels S, Weeden CE, Scheel AH, Meder L, Golfmann K, Schuldt P, Siemanowski J, Rehker J, Merkelbach-Bruse S, Menon R, Gautschi O, Heuckmann JM, Brambilla E, Asselin-Labat ML, Persigehl T, Minna JD, Walczak H, Ullrich RT, Fischer M, Reinhardt HC, Wolf J, Büttner R, Peifer M, George J, Thomas RK. Somatic rearrangements causing oncogenic ectodomain deletions of FGFR1 in squamous cell lung cancer. J Clin Invest. 2023; 133(21):e170217. doi: 10.1172/JCI170217.
- Eichhorst B, Niemann CU, Kater AP, Fürstenau M, von Tresckow J, Zhang C, Robrecht S, Gregor M, Juliusson G, Thornton P, Staber PB, Tadmor T, Lindström V, da Cunha-Bang C, Schneider C, Poulsen CB, Illmer T, Schöttker B, Nösslinger T, Janssens A, Christiansen I, Baumann M, Frederiksen H, van der Klift M, Jäger U, Leys MBL, Hoogendoorn M, Lotfi K, Hebart H, Gaska T, Koene H, Enggaard L, Goede J, Regelink JC, Widmer A, Simon F, De Silva N, Fink AM, Bahlo J, Fischer K, Wendtner CM, Kreuzer KA, Ritgen M, Brüggemann M, Tausch E, Levin MD, van Oers M, Geisler C, Stilgenbauer S, Hallek M; GCLLSG, the HOVON and Nordic CLL Study Groups, the SAKK, the Israeli CLL Association, and Cancer Trials Ireland. First-Line Venetoclax Combinations in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. N Engl J Med. 2023; 388(19):1739-1754. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2213093.
- Vom Stein AF, Rebollido-Rios R, Lukas A, Koch M, von Lom A, Reinartz S, Bachurski D, Rose F, Bozek K, Abdallah AT, Kohlhas V, Saggau J, Zölzer R, Zhao Y, Bruns C, Bröckelmann PJ, Lohneis P, Büttner R, Häupl B, Oellerich T, Nguyen PH, Hallek M. LYN kinase programs stromal fibroblasts to facilitate leukemic survival via regulation of c-JUN and THBS1. Nat Commun. 2023; 14(1):1330. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-36824-2.
- Thomalla D, Beckmann L, Grimm C, Oliverio M, Meder L, Herling CD, Nieper P, Feldmann T, Merkel O, Lorsy E, da Palma Guerreiro A, von Jan J, Kisis I, Wasserburger E, Claasen J, Faitschuk-Meyer E, Altmüller J, Nürnberg P, Yang TP, Lienhard M, Herwig R, Kreuzer KA, Pallasch CP, Büttner R, Schäfer SC, Hartley J, Abken H, Peifer M, Kashkar H, Knittel G, Eichhorst B, Ullrich RT, Herling M, Reinhardt HC, Hallek M, Schweiger MR, Frenzel LP. Deregulation and epigenetic modification of BCL2-family genes cause resistance to venetoclax in hematologic malignancies. Blood. 2022; 140(20):2113-2126. doi: 10.1182/blood.2021014304.
- Izquierdo E, Vorholt D, Blakemore S, Sackey B, Nolte JL, Barbarino V, Schmitz J, Nickel N, Bachurski D, Lobastova L, Nikolic M, Michalik M, Brinker R, Merkel O, Franitza M, Georgomanolis T, Neuhaus R, Koch M, Nasada N, Knittel G, Chapuy B, Ludwig N, Meese E, Frenzel L, Reinhardt HC, Peifer M, Rebollido-Rios R, Bruns H, Krüger M, Hallek M, Pallasch CP. Extracellular vesicles and PD-L1 suppress macrophages, inducing therapy resistance in TP53-deficient B-cell malignancies. Blood. 2022; 139(25):3617-3629. doi: 10.1182/blood.2021014007.
- Cramer P, Tausch E, von Tresckow J, Giza A, Robrecht S, Schneider C, Fürstenau M, Langerbeins P, Al-Sawaf O, Pelzer BW, Fink AM, Fischer K, Wendtner CM, Eichhorst B, Kneba M, Stilgenbauer S, Hallek M. Durable remissions following combined targeted therapy in patients with CLL harboring TP53 deletions and/or mutations. Blood. 2021; 138(19):1805-1816. doi: 10.1182/blood.2020010484.
- Schiffmann LM, Werthenbach JP, Heintges-Kleinhofer F, Seeger JM, Fritsch M, Günther SD, Willenborg S, Brodesser S, Lucas C, Jüngst C, Albert MC, Schorn F, Witt A, Moraes CT, Bruns CJ, Pasparakis M, Krönke M, Eming SA, Coutelle O, Kashkar H. Mitochondrial respiration controls neoangiogenesis during wound healing and tumour growth. Nat Commun. 2020; 11(1):3653. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17472-2.
- Jachimowicz RD, Beleggia F, Isensee J, Velpula BB, Goergens J, Bustos MA, Doll MA, Shenoy A, Checa-Rodriguez C, Wiederstein JL, Baranes-Bachar K, Bartenhagen C, Hertwig F, Teper N, Nishi T, Schmitt A, Distelmaier F, Lüdecke HJ, Albrecht B, Krüger M, Schumacher B, Geiger T, Hoon DSB, Huertas P, Fischer M, Hucho T, Peifer M, Ziv Y, Reinhardt HC, Wieczorek D, Shiloh Y. UBQLN4 Represses Homologous Recombination and Is Overexpressed in Aggressive Tumors. Cell. 2019; 176(3):505-519.e22. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.11.024.
Highlights from the field of Infection and Immunity:
- Seidel D, Wurster S, Jenks JD, Sati H, Gangneux JP, Egger M, Alastruey-Izquierdo A, Ford NP, Chowdhary A, Sprute R, Cornely O, Thompson GR 3rd, Hoenigl M, Kontoyiannis DP. Impact of climate change and natural disasters on fungal infections. Lancet Microbe. 2024: S2666-5247(24)00039-9. doi: 10.1016/S2666-5247(24)00039-9.
- Salmanton-García J, Wipfler P, Leckler J, Nauclér P, Mallon PW, Bruijning-Verhagen PCJL, Schmitt HJ, Bethe U, Olesen OF, Stewart FA, Albus K, Cornely OA; VACCELERATE Consortium. Predicting the next pandemic: VACCELERATE ranking of the WorldHealth Organization's Blueprint forAction toPreventEpidemics. Travel Med Infect Dis. 2024; 57:102676. doi: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2023.102676.
- Schommers P, Kim DS, Schlotz M, Kreer C, Eggeling R, Hake A, Stecher M, Park J, Radford CE, Dingens AS, Ercanoglu MS, Gruell H, Odidika S, Dahlhaus M, Gieselmann L, Ahmadov E, Lawong RY, Heger E, Knops E, Wyen C, Kümmerle T, Römer K, Scholten S, Wolf T, Stephan C, Suárez I, Raju N, Adhikari A, Esser S, Streeck H, Duerr R, Nanfack AJ, Zolla-Pazner S, Geldmacher C, Geisenberger O, Kroidl A, William W, Maganga L, Ntinginya NE, Georgiev IS, Vehreschild JJ, Hoelscher M, Fätkenheuer G, Lavinder JJ, Bloom JD, Seaman MS, Lehmann C, Pfeifer N, Georgiou G, Klein F. Dynamics and durability of HIV-1 neutralization are determined by viral replication. Nat Med. 2023; 29(11):2763-2774. doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02582-3.
- Simonis A, Kreer C, Albus A, Rox K, Yuan B, Holzmann D, Wilms JA, Zuber S, Kottege L, Winter S, Meyer M, Schmitt K, Gruell H, Theobald SJ, Hellmann AM, Meyer C, Ercanoglu MS, Cramer N, Munder A, Hallek M, Fätkenheuer G, Koch M, Seifert H, Rietschel E, Marlovits TC, van Koningsbruggen-Rietschel S, Klein F, Rybniker J. Discovery of highly neutralizing human antibodies targeting Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Cell. 2023; 186(23):5098-5113.e19. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.10.002.
- Zehner M, Alt M, Ashurov A, Goldsmith JA, Spies R, Weiler N, Lerma J, Gieselmann L, Stöhr D, Gruell H, Schultz EP, Kreer C, Schlachter L, Janicki H, Laib Sampaio K, Stegmann C, Nemetchek MD, Dähling S, Ullrich L, Dittmer U, Witzke O, Koch M, Ryckman BJ, Lotfi R, McLellan JS, Krawczyk A, Sinzger C, Klein F. Single-cell analysis of memory B cells from top neutralizers reveals multiple sites of vulnerability within HCMV Trimer and Pentamer. Immunity. 2023; 56(11):2602-2620.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2023.10.009.
- Müller DN, Geisberger S, Kleinewietfeld M, Jantsch J. Salt sensitivity includes effects on immune cell signalling and metabolism. Nat Rev Immunol. 2023; 23(6):341-342. doi: 10.1038/s41577-023-00881-x.
- Theobald SJ, Simonis A, Mudler JM, Göbel U, Acton R, Kohlhas V, Albert MC, Hellmann AM, Malin JJ, Winter S, Hallek M, Walczak H, Nguyen PH, Koch M, Rybniker J. Spleen tyrosine kinase mediates innate and adaptive immune crosstalk in SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination. EMBO Mol Med. 2022; 14(8):e15888. doi: 10.15252/emmm.202215888.
- Kreer C, Zehner M, Weber T, Ercanoglu MS, Gieselmann L, Rohde C, Halwe S, Korenkov M, Schommers P, Vanshylla K, Di Cristanziano V, Janicki H, Brinker R, Ashurov A, Krähling V, Kupke A, Cohen-Dvashi H, Koch M, Eckert JM, Lederer S, Pfeifer N, Wolf T, Vehreschild MJGT, Wendtner C, Diskin R, Gruell H, Becker S, Klein F. Longitudinal Isolation of Potent Near-Germline SARS-CoV-2-Neutralizing Antibodies from COVID-19 Patients. Cell. 2020; 182(4):843-854.e12. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.06.044.
- Schommers P, Gruell H, Abernathy ME, Tran MK, Dingens AS, Gristick HB, Barnes CO, Schoofs T, Schlotz M, Vanshylla K, Kreer C, Weiland D, Holtick U, Scheid C, Valter MM, van Gils MJ, Sanders RW, Vehreschild JJ, Cornely OA, Lehmann C, Fätkenheuer G, Seaman MS, Bloom JD, Bjorkman PJ, Klein F. Restriction of HIV-1 Escape by a Highly Broad and Potent Neutralizing Antibody. Cell. 2020; 180(3):471-489.e22. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.01.010.
- Fritsch M, Günther SD, Schwarzer R, Albert MC, Schorn F, Werthenbach JP, Schiffmann LM, Stair N, Stocks H, Seeger JM, Lamkanfi M, Krönke M, Pasparakis M, Kashkar H. Caspase-8 is the molecular switch for apoptosis, necroptosis and pyroptosis. Nature. 2019; 575(7784):683-687. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1770-6.
Funding received (selection)
