Modulating CAF plasticity to enable immunotherapy of colorectal cancer

P01 aims to examine the central role of CAFs during CRC therapy. Organoids with different mutations are either resistant or sensitive to irradiation therapy while being associated with a different CAF profile. A positive therapy response is associated with an increased lymphocyte infiltration. Surprisingly, sensitivity to irradiation depends on the presence of T cells. This project now aims to decipher the molecular crosstalk between tumor cells, CAFs and T lymphocyte education to examine whether interference with CAF polarization could be therapeutically used to enhance T cell recruitment and activation.