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New DFG research group FOR 5628 with our participation
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The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is establishing eight new research groups. One of these groups is FOR 5628: "Multiscale magnetic resonance elastography in cancer: The mechanical niche of tumor formation and metastatic spread – towards an improved diagnosis of cancer through mechanical imaging". The speaker and initiator is Prof. Ingolf Sack.

During the development of a tumour, the tissue changes its shape, e.g., alternating between hard and fluidic states. For this, cells exert forces and are simultaneously influenced by forces. This research group is investigating which mechanical-physical processes are behind this. How do tumours and metastases develop? What makes them resistant to therapy? The team is investigating these questions using magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) – a new clinical procedure that can be used to record the mechanical properties of body tissue. The goal is to be able to better diagnose tumours.
Dr. Karl Hillebrandt and Prof. Dr. Igor Sauer are part of the research group as PI in three projects:
  • A03 Cancer cell unjamming and jamming as prerequisites for the formation of primary and metastatic tumors
  • B03 Scaffold composition and fluid pressure in recellularized hepatic and pancreatic tumors
  • C01 Multiscale mechanical properties of tumors and tumor environment – from tissue specimens to patients

Was are happy to be part of this exzellent team!
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Our manuscript "Depletion of donor dendritic cells ameliorates immunogenicity of both skin and hind limb transplants" has been accepted for publication in Frontiers in Immunology, section Alloimmunity and Transplantation. Authors are Muhammad Imtiaz Ashraf, Joerg Mengwasser, Anja Reutzel-Selke, Dietrich Polenz, Kirsten Führer, Steffen Lippert, Peter Tang, Edward Michaelis, Rusan Catar, Johann Pratschke, Christian Witzel, Igor M. Sauer, Stefan G. Tullius, and Barbara Kern.

Acute cellular rejection remains a significant obstacle affecting successful outcomes of organ transplantation including vascularized composite tissue allografts (VCA). Donor antigen presenting cells (APC), particularly dendritic cells (DC), orchestrate early alloimmune responses by activating recipient effector T cells. Employing a targeted approach, we investigated the impact of donor-derived conventional DC (cDC) and APC on the immunogenicity of skin and skin-containing VCA grafts, using mouse models of skin and hind limb transplantation.
By post-transplantation day 6, skin grafts demonstrated severe rejections, characterized by predominance of recipient CD4 T cells. In contrast, hind limb grafts showed moderate rejection, primarily infiltrated by CD8 T cells. While donor depletion of cDC and APC reduced frequencies, maturation, and activation of DC in all analysed tissues of skin transplant recipients, reduction in DC activities was only observed in the spleen of hind limb recipients. Donor cDC and APC depletion did not impact all lymphocyte compartments but significantly affected CD8 T cells and activated CD4 T in lymph nodes of skin recipients. Moreover, both donor APC and cDC depletion attenuated the Th17 immune response, evident by significantly reduced Th17 (CD4+IL-17+) cells in the spleen of skin recipients and reduced levels of IL-17E and lymphotoxin-α in the serum samples of both skin and hind limb recipients. In conclusion, our findings underscore the highly immunogenic nature of skin component in VCA. The depletion of donor APC and cDC mitigates the immunogenicity of skin grafts while exerting minimal impact on VCA.

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