Experimental Pharmacology
Head of the group
Secretariat
The main area of investigations performed within the group Experimental Pharmacology concerns translational research and is focused on the definition of biomarkers for and testing of novel anticancer agents.
Several patient-derived xenografts of leukemias, sarcomas, breast, colon, ovarian and lung cancers were established and characterized regarding compliance with the clinical situation, histology and chemotherapeutic response. These models are further analyzed concerning the involvement of target molecules in the biology of tumors or treatment responses.
In vivo approaches are used as well to investigate the efficacy of a novel antimetastatic agent. This has been developed with the aim to influence the interaction of tumor cells with blood and endothelial cells by targeted liposomes. These were shown to stimulate the formation of platelet-tumor cell complexes in the vasculature and to influence the process of metastasis. Ongoing studies are aimed to elucidate the detailed mechanism of interference.
The in vivo situation also is a precondition for investigations concerning the engraftment and differentiation of human stem cells. Working with adult cord blood derived CD34-positive cells we could show that a differential distribution in immunodeficient mice was obtained by pre-treating the cells with selected cytokines or by direct cell-to-cell contact. An ongoing project especially focuses on the potential of adult and embryonic stem cells for liver regeneration.
An overview on methods and models available and used can additionally be found at http://www.epo-berlin.com