Our research focuses on the control of cell growth and proliferation and its deregulation in human tumors.

We study transcription factors such as Myc and SREBP proteins that control gene expression programs involved in central biological processes such as cell cycle progression, apoptosis, protein translation and metabolism.

Our work aims to understand how these factors work and how they are regulated and to use this knowledge for novel strategies for tumor therapy.

The department is part of the
CCCM
Comprehensive Cancer Center Mainfranken.

Mildred Scheel Junior Research Center
Ten million euros for cancer research
Broadcast by Bayrischer Rundfunk

Haikala,H., Anttila, J., Marques, E., Raatikainen, T., Ilander, M., Hakanen, H., Ala-Hongisto, H., Savelius, M., Balboa, D., von Eyss, B., Eskelinen, V., Munne, P., Nieminen, A., Otonkoski, T., Schüler, J., Laajala, T., Aittokallio, T., Sihto, H., Mattson, J., Heikkilä, P., Leidenius, M., Joensuu, H., Mustjoki, S., Kovanen, P., Eilers, M., Leverson, J., and Klefström, J. (2019) Pharmacological reactivation of MYC-dependent apoptosis induces susceptibility to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. Nat Commun 10: 620

Löffler, MC, Mayer, AE, Trujillo Viera, J, Loza Valdes, A, El-Merahbi, E, Ade, CP, Karwen, T, Schmitz, W, Slotta, A, Erk, M, Janaki-Raman, S, Matesanz, N, Torres, JL, Marcos, M, Sabio, G, Eilers, M, Schulze, A & Sumara G (2018) Protein kinase D1 deletion in adipocytes enhances energy dissipation and protects against adiposity. EMBO Journal, DOI 10.15252/embj.201899182

Yanku, Y., Bitman-Lotan, E., Zohar, Y., Kurant, E., Zilke, N., Eilers, M. and Orian, A. (2018) Drosophila HUWE1 ubiquitin ligase regulates endoreplication and antagonizes JNK signaling during salivary gland development. Cells 2018,7 151 doi:10.3390/cells7100151

Almut Schulze, Mariia Yuneva, Disease Models & Mechanisms 2018 11: dmm036673 doi: 10.1242/dmm.036673 Published 24 August 2018

Miess, H., Dankworth, B., Gouw, AM., Rosenfeldt, M., Schmitz, W., Jiang, M., Saunders, B., Howell, M., Downward, J., Felsher, DW., Peck, B. and Schulze, A. (2018) The glutathione redox system is essential to prevent ferroptosis caused by impaired lipid metabolism in clear cell renal cell carcinoma, Oncogene 2018 Oct;37(40):5435-5450. doi: 10.1038/s41388-018-0315-z.

Snaebjornsson MT, Schulze A. (2018) Non-canonical functions of enzymes facilitate cross-talk between cell metabolic and regulatory pathways, Exp Mol Med. 2018 Apr 16;50(4):34, doi: 10.1038/s12276-018-0065-6.

Pedrotti L, Weiste C, Nägele T, Wolf E, Lorenzin F, DietrichK, Mair A, Weckwerth W, Teige M, Baena-González E, Dröge-Laser W (2018) Snf1-RELATEDKINASE1-Controlled C/S1-bZIP Signaling Activates Alternative MitochondrialMetabolic Pathways to Ensure Plant Survival in Extended Darkness. The Plantcell Feb;30(2):495-509. doi: 10.1105/tpc.17.00414

Rickman,D. S., Schulte, J. H., Eilers,M. (2017) The expanding world of N-Myc driven tumors. Cancer Discovery, Feb;8(2):150-163. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-17-0273. Epub 2018 Jan 22.

Dejure,F.R., Eilers, M. (2017)MYC and tumor metabolism: chicken and egg. EMBO J. Nov 10. pii: e201796438.doi: 10.15252/embj.201796438. [Epub ahead of print] Review. PubMed PMID:29127156.

Büchel, G., Carstensen, A., Mak, K.Y., Roeschert, I., Leen, E., Sumara, O., Hofstetter, J., Herold, S., Kalb, J., Baluapuri, A., Poon, E., Kwok, C., Chesler, L., Maric H. M., Rickman, D. S., Wolf, E., Bayliss, R., Walz, S., Eilers, M. (2017) Association with Aurora-A controls N-MYC-dependent promoter escape and pause release of RNA polymerase II during cell cycle, Cell Reports Dec 19;21(12):3483-3497. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2017.11.090.