Most cancer patients succumb to metastasis and not to the primary tumor. In order to develop new strategies for the treatment of metastatic disease it is mandatory to obtain more knowledge about the underlying mechanisms of metastasis biology.
The research group led by the biologist Prof. Achim Krüger investigates tumor-host interactions during metastasis. Specifically, this group analyses the role of endogenous proteinases and proteinase inhibitors, which are major determinants of the homeostasis in the microenvironment of tumors or future sites of metastasis in organs distant from the primary tumor. Both, proteinases and proteinase inhibitors enable tumor cells to migrate and invade through tissue and to disseminate to distant organs or increase the susceptibility of the target organs of metastasis to tumor cells. These molecules also emerged to decisively regulate or induce signal transduction in tumor and normal cells, which, in turn, determines the metastatic potential of tumor cells or the interaction of healthy tissue with invading cells.
The results of this research contribute to the understanding of the complex processes of metastasis formation and are the basis of new treatment approaches.
Anti-Proteolytic and Signaling Functions of Tissue Inhibitors of Metalloproteinases (TIMPs) and their Molecular Interaction Partners.
Role of TIMPs in Metastasis and the Creation of the Pre-Metastatic Niche.
Inter-Organ Communication During Metastasis (Liver-Bone Marrow-Spleen-Lungs).
Role of the Cell Adhesion Molecule L1CAM During Metastasis
Degradomic Analysis of Antibody-, siRNA, and Nanoparticle-Based New Cancer Therapies
Cloning of retroviral and adenoviral vectors.
Virus amplification and infection protocols.
Biochemical analysis of gene expression.
Flow cytometry, histology, immunohistochemistry.
Tissue culture, functional assays of migration and invasion.
Metastasis assays.
