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Tumors can evade immune surveillance by employing different escape mechanisms. Several immunotherapies can block relevant elements in these escape mechanisms and enable an immune response attacking tumor cells. This therapeutic strategy has proven to be effective in multiple tumor entities, however not in pancreatic cancer. A detailed understanding of the complex immunological  processes in pancreatic cancer is therefore urgently needed. The metabolic requirements of tumor and immune cells have a critical influence on the response to immunotherapy. The research project led by PD Dr.

Autophagy is an intracellular process to break down defective proteins, pathogens or damaged cell constituents and reuse the respective materials. It takes place in all cells of the body and helps to renew cellular components.  In the event of nutrient deficiency this process also serves for energy production. Autophagy is impaired in many diseases such as cancer, as well as cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, metabolic and other diseases.

This doctoral program aims to inspire medical students to pursue an academic career during their studies by introducing them to science in a structured way and allowing them to experience the fascination of biomedical research at first hand. The aim is to identify the molecular determinants of the age-specificity of immune-mediated diseases, to better understand the causes of age-specific differences in disease progression and to develop new therapeutic strageies on this basis.

Changes in Na+ and Ca2+ metabolism play a crucial role in numerous diseases.  Interestingly, ion dysregulation is often based on similar mechanisms, which should be studied on an interdisciplinary basis. The Fakultät für Medizin together with the Fakultät für Biologie und Vorklinische Medizin 

Klonale Hämatopoese bezeichnet das Auftreten von Leukämie-assoziierten Mutationen im Blut von Individuen ohne Hinweis für eine Blutkrebs-Erkrankung. Dieses erst seit wenigen Jahren bekannte Phänomen tritt in altersabhängiger Häufigkeit auf und läßt sich in ca. einem Drittel der Bevölkerung ab 65 Jahren nachweisen. Betroffene Individuen leiden vermehrt an kardiovaskulären und bösartigen Erkrankungen, ihr Gesamtüberleben ist meist verkürzt.

The immune system, and in particular T cells, fight cancer by recognizing certain peptides presented by so-called human leukocyte antigens (HLA) on tumour cells. This is the basis for advances in cancer immunotherapy. Research has so far focused on HLA molecules and their peptides on the cell surface, whereases soluble HLA molecules (sHLA) in body fluids have received less attention. However, these sHLA molecules also carry peptides and could thus play a crucial role in the immune response to cancer.

Glioblastome sind die häufigste maligne Krebserkrankung des Gehirns. Selbst unter maximaler Therapie führen sie innerhalb von ein bis zwei Jahren zum Tod. Leider sind Immuntherapien, die bei anderen Tumorentitäten effektiv sind, bei Glioblastomen bisher nicht wirksam. Einer der möglichen Erklärungsansätze liegt in der Beobachtung, dass Glioblastome ein Milieu aufweisen, das das Immunsystem unterdrückt. Im Rahmen des vorliegenden Projekts soll durch eine gezielte Aktivierung von repetitiven Genomsequenzen das Immunsystem in einem Mausmodell für Glioblastome aktiviert werden.