The role of primary-CRC-derived adaptive immune cells in anti-metastasis immunity
Research Focus
P16 will examine a possible interconnection of the TME of a primary tumor and its metastases and assess whether adaptive immune cells such as B and T cells can shuttle and differentiate between a primary tumor and its metastases. Employing immunoinformatic data integration of transcriptome profiles and adaptive immune receptor sequences, the clonal relationship of different phenotypes of B and T cells will be characterized and will be linked to spatial transcriptomic and proteomic analyses to determine whether tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in metastatic tissue may hold the potential to protect from metastasis.
Main Collaborations
- P02 Büttner/Flinner: Multi modal prediction of therapy response for rectal cancer patients:
- P03 Briquez/Fichtner-Feigl/Reuten: Metastasis predisposing extracellular matrix architecture in colorectal cancer:
- P10 Bengsch/Feuerstein: Targeting the intra-metastatic microbiome in colorectal cancer:
- P13 Müller/Zundler: Modulation of CRC development and progression by GPR15L-dependent effects on lymphocyte infiltration and the intestinal microbiota:
- P14 Kesselring/Minguet: The role of γδ T cells in the tumor microenvironment of colorectal cancer:
- P18 Buchholz/Farin: Identifying and overcoming CAR T cell barriers in the colorectal carcinoma microenvironment:
- P19 Wiegering: Targeting colorectal liver metastasis by overcoming MYC-induced immune evasion:
- S02 Reiss/Ritter: Spatial profiling of the tumor microenvironment in CRC:
- S03 Börries/Gupta: Research information infrastructure, data management and bioinformatics core:
Core Team
Publications
Fibroblast dynamics in colorectal cancer: stability, plasticity, and novel markers
Demmler R, Anchang CG, Yong Y, Ramming A, Rauber S, Schellerer VS, Schmid B, Hartmann A, Merkel S, Imkeller K, Naschberger E, Stürzl M.
Oncogene. 2026 Jul;45(24):2299-2312. doi: 10.1038/s41388-026-03809-6. Epub 2026 Apr 28. PMID: 42050076.
Spatial immune profiling defines a subset of human gliomas with functional tertiary lymphoid structures
Cakmak P, Lun JH, Singh A, Macas J, Schupp J, Schuck J, Mahmoud Z, Köhler M, Starzetz T, Burger MC, Steidl E, Hasse LM, Hattingen E, Plate KH, Reiss Y, Imkeller K.
Immunity. 2025 Oct 21:S1074-7613(25)00429-7. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2025.09.018.
Partial hepatectomy accelerates colorectal metastasis by priming an inflammatory premetastatic niche in the liver
Luenstedt J, Hoping F, Feuerstein R, Mauerer B, Berlin C, Rapp J, Marx L, Reichardt W, von Elverfeldt D, Ruess DA, Plundrich D, Laessle C, Jud A, Neeff HP, Holzner PA, Fichtner-Feigl S, Kesselring R.
Front Immunol. 2024 Jun 10;15:1388272. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1388272. eCollection 2024. PMID: 38919609
Glioma-associated tertiary lymphoid structures are sites of lymphocyte clonal expansion and plasma cell formation
Pinar Cakmak, Jennifer H. Lun, Aakanksha Singh, Jadranka Macas, Jonathan Schupp, Miriam Köhler, Tatjana Starzetz, Michael C. Burger, Eike Steidl, Lucie Marie Hasse, Elke Hattingen, Karl H. Plate, Yvonne Reiss, Katharina Imkeller
Single-cell deconvolution reveals high lineage- and location-dependent heterogeneity in mesenchymal multivisceral stage 4 colorectal cancer
Berlin C, Mauerer B, Cauchy P, Luenstedt J, Sankowski R, Marx L, Feuerstein R, Schaefer L, Greten FR, Pesic M, Groß O, Prinz M, Ruehl N, Miketiuk L, Jauch D, Laessle C, Jud A, Biesel EA, Neeff H, Fichtner-Feigl S, Holzner PA, Kesselring R.
Clin Invest. 2023 Dec 28;134(5):e169576. doi: 10.1172/JCI169576. PMID: 38153787
T-cell exhaustion and residency dynamics inform clinical outcomes in hepatocellular carcinoma
Barsch M, Salié H, Schlaak AE, Zhang Z, Hess M, Mayer LS, Tauber C, Otto-Mora P, Ohtani T, Nilsson T, Wischer L, Winkler F, Manne S, Rech A, Schmitt-Graeff A, Bronsert P, Hofmann M, Neumann-Haefelin C, Boettler T, Fichtner-Feigl S, van Boemmel F, Berg T, Rimassa L, Di Tommaso L, Saeed A, D'Alessio A, Pinato DJ, Bettinger D, Binder H, John Wherry E, Schultheiss M, Thimme R, Bengsch B.
J Hepatol. 2022 Aug;77(2):397-409. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2022.02.032. Epub 2022 Apr 1. PMID: 35367533