Tumor Immunology • Cancer and Immune Cell Metabolism • Leukemia • Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation • Graft-versus-host disease • Immunotherapy

The mission of our research group is to advance the understanding of blood cancer biology and contribute to improved therapy strategies. We are particularly interested in immunotherapies, such as allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and adoptive T cell transfer. To achieve our goal, we explore how cancer and immune cell metabolism orchestrate tumor progression and the tumor-immune cell crosstalk. We believe that identifying and exploiting metabolic vulnerabilities in cancer will become a powerful therapeutic approach. Furthermore, we leverage (patho-)physiological metabolic processes to improve the safety of tumor immunotherapies. We are an international and interdisciplinary team uniting physicians and life scientists with diverse backgrounds. Besides cutting-edge research, we are committed to creating a stimulating and supportive environment for training and professional growth.

Cancer and Immunometabolism

Cellular metabolism fulfills diverse essential functions for cell survival, proliferation, differentiation, and functions. Some examples are the cell supply with energy, the synthesis of structural compounds for proliferation, the organization of cell-cell communication, and many more. Importantly, metabolic processes are not just the consequence of a certain cell activation status. Rather, metabolism is a driver of cell fate, and failure to engage essential metabolic pathways results in dysfunction and cell death. Our recent work showed that CD8⁺ T cells rewired their lipid metabolism upon activation and accumulate saturated phosphoinositides (PI), unlike unactivated T cells, which were rich in polyunsaturated PI. Saturated PI were essential to sustain effector T cell signaling and function by providing the substrate for efficient generation of second messengers. We found that in patients with melanoma, immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment resulted in accumulation of saturated PI in circulating CD8⁺ T cells, which was associated with clinical response (Edwards-Hicks and Apostolova et al., Nat Immunol 2023).

Our research group is now dedicated to understanding how tumor and immune cell metabolism supports tumor immune evasion. We are specifically interested in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive malignant disease of the bone marrow with dismal outcomes. AML can be cured by allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), an immunotherapeutic treatment modality in which the transferred foreign donor immune system eliminates residual malignant cells in the patient. However, tumor cells employ diverse mechanisms of immune escape leading to relapse. We aim to explore how metabolism of AML cells and T cells contributes to immune evasion. We believe that defining such metabolic vulnerabilities will lay the groundwork for translational studies to boost the anti-tumor immune response in patients receiving cellular immunotherapies for leukemia.

Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

The second focus area is understanding the biology of immunological complications of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Our past work has investigated the role of metabolic and cell stress reactions in graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a frequent and severe complication of allo-HSCT (Figure 3). We identified that the ectonucleotidase CD73 reduced the severity of GVHD by generating the anti-inflammatory mediator adenosine and thus inhibiting alloreactive T cell proliferation, migration, and cytokine production (Tsukamoto and Apostolova et al, Blood 2012). Furthermore, we discovered that the bile acid tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) reduced intestinal antigen presentation and immune cell activity, and directly protected intestinal epithelial cells from tissue damage. TUDCA improved significantly GVHD outcomes in preclinical models without impairing the anti-tumor immunity (Haring and Uhl et al, Haematologica 2021). Moreover, we found elevated activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) in tissues of mice and patients with GVHD. Inhibiting the UPR-driven IRE1a cascade improved GVHD outcomes in preclinical models (Haring et al, Haematologica 2022). In our future work, we aim to define novel mechanisms contributing to GVHD development with the ultimate goal to increase the safety and applicability of allo-HSCT.

AML relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

We recently reported the results of a phase II investigator-initiated trial on the efficacy and safety of checkpoint inhibitors with hypomethylating agents in patients with AML relapse after allo-HSCT (Apostolova et al, BJH 2023). We found an overall response rate of 25% with long-term remissions in individual patients. By performing correlative immune phenotyping and experimental studies, we are now working towards identifying the mechanisms of resistance to checkpoint inhibitor treatment.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced adverse events

Checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized the treatment of patients with solid cancers, inducing long-term remissions in previously incurable diseases. However, checkpoint inhibition can lead to severe immune-related adverse events (irAE). We identified extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) as an efficient therapeutic approach for patients with adverse events induced by checkpoint inhibitors (Apostolova et al., New Engl J Med 2020). This discovery led to the initiation of a phase I clinical trial (NCT05414552). We hope that our future efforts will establish ECP as an efficient and safe treatment for patients with irAE.