Principal Investigator:
Dietmar Herndler-Brandstetter Personal webpage
Institution:
Medical University of Vienna, Department of Medicine I
Project title:
Innate immune reprogramming to overcome therapy resistance in high-risk colorectal cancer
Collaborators:
Michael Bergmann (Medical University of Vienna, Department of Surgery) (Co-Principal Investigator) Personal webpage
Matthias Farlik-Födinger (Medical University of Vienna, Department of Dermatology) (Co-Principal Investigator)
Status:
Ongoing (01.12.2021 – 30.11.2024) 36 months
Funding volume:
€ 800,000

 
Abstract:

Despite advances in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), 5-year survival is only 14%. Cancer immunotherapy has provided significant clinical benefit but the use of currently available checkpoint inhibitors is limited to only 5% of mCRC patients. 95% of mCRC patients who have a pMMR/MSI-L phenotype show low or no T cell infiltration but are frequently infiltrated by myeloid cells, which drive immunosuppression and therapy resistance. Here we propose to identify and validate new immunomodulatory approaches for high-risk (HR) pMMR/MSI-L stage IV mCRC patients by reprogramming tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells using epigenetic modifiers and myeloid-specific checkpoint inhibitors. We propose to (1) define immunosuppressive myeloid cell landscapes for HR mCRC patient stratification using single-cell multi-omics profiling, (2) identify and validate epigenetic modifiers that reprogram immunosuppressive myeloid cells using a CRISPR screen with single cell phenotypic read-out, (3) generate patient-derived CRC xenografts and reconstruct the tumor-immune microenvironment in a novel MISTRG+ humanized mouse model, and (4) validate different myeloid-reprogramming therapies and combination strategies in CRC-PDX humanized MISTRG+ mice using a multi-omics approach defining the responsive subgroup. Altogether this strategy will provide clinicians with a framework for precision diagnostics and myeloid therapy including effective combination strategies for HR mCRC patients.

 
Scientific disciplines: 301902 - Immunology (50%) | 301904 - Cancer research (30%) | 102004 - Bioinformatics (20%)

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Click for details.