Cellular Differentiation and Therapy

Stem cell research

The central human stem cell culture and sorter laboratory of the faculty is situated in the department as a service facility to support stem cell research in somatic and embryonic stem cell research in close collaboration with several groups working in the faculty as well as the Max-Planck-Institute. Projects of the group focus on the role of TGFß in stem cell differentiation by using adenoviral transfection strategies with deletion vectors, the immunogenicity of embryonic stem cell derived hemopoietic precurso cells and the utilization of mesenchymal stem cells from human tissue and their differentiation capacity.

Immunotherapy and allogeneic vaccination strategies

T- and NK-cell based therapeutic strategies are being tested in murine models of leukaemia and lymphoma. Within a national research network, the resistence of NK cells to apoptosis in the allogeneic or xenogenic is being investigated. In cooperation with the department of immunology, vaccination strategies with lymphoma antigens are being investigated in a murine model of myeloma. The aim is to transfer this principle to the clinic by using allogeneic ex vivo strategies of adoptive immunotherapy in leukaemia and lymphoma utilizing idiotypic or leukaemia-specific antigens. The animal models provide a basis for the examination of proteomics based strategies to investigate mechanisms of apoptosis and resistance in this form of immunotherapy. The group participates in national and European trials of allogeneic stem cell therapy in lymphoma that will provide a basis for these vaccination strategies.