Cancer Immunotherapy group

Although immunotherapy became a first line treatment option for lung cancer patients, more than 75% of patients do not show any clinical benefit. Hence, there is an urgent need to study and identify novel Cytotoxic T-cell Resistance Mechanisms (CRMs), installed upon immunoediting. Therefore, we propose to develop a dynamic 3D CRM screening assay that combines tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T-cell killing with RNA sequencing (RNAseq) to enable RNAseq-directed CRISPR-Cas9 mediated functional CRM validation.

Tumor infiltrating myeloid cells have been shown to play crucial roles in lung tumor progression next to resistance to (immuno)therapy. Although the bone marrow niche (BMN) represents the main source of myeloid cells, it is heavily understudied in solid cancer patients. Via this interdisciplinary crosstalk (X-talk) project, we aspire to deliver crucial fundamental biological knowledge on the X-talk between progressing lung tumors and the BMN. More specifically, we aim to optimize and apply an innovative 3D platform to study murine, human, and patient-derived lung tumor – BMN X-talk on the single cell level.