Detail

Keywords

Prostate; Transcription Factor AP-1; Translational Medical Research

Research interests

• AP-1 and JAK-STAT signaling and core cancer pathways
• Basic and translational cancer research with a main focus on comparative pathology in human patient samples compared to gene targeted mouse models to explore new diagnostic approaches facilitating digital pathology procedures for establishing new therapies

Techniques, methods & infrastructure

Tissue micro arrays (TMA) of human patient samples, digital pathology, laboratory animal and translational pathology, transgenic mouse modelling, patient-derived grafts (PDX), organoid-derived grafts (ODX), CRISPR-Cas9, RNA knock-down strategies. 

Molecular pathology methods (protein DNA and RNA analysis), in-vitro cell culture methods.

Grants

• CORE-LAB 2 for Target Identification and Probe Development (TIP) (2016)
  Source of Funding: FFG (Austrian Research Promotion Agency), COMET: K1-Centres
  Principal Investigator
• PDGFRB function in lymphoma progression (2016)
  Source of Funding: FWF (Austrian Science Fund), Stand alone projects
  Principal Investigator
• The European Research Initiative on Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK)-related malignancies (2015)
  Source of Funding: EU, H2020-MSCA-ITN-2015
  Coordinator of the collaborative project
• Genetic dissection of IL-6 signalling in prostate tumourigenesis (2013)
  Source of Funding: FWF (Austrian Science Fund), Stand alone projects
  Principal Investigator
• Basic Funding of the LBI Cancer Research (2005)
  Source of Funding: LBG (Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft),
  Principal Investigator

Selected publications

1. Pencik, J. et al., 2015. STAT3 regulated ARF expression suppresses prostate cancer metastasis. Nature Communications, 6, p.7736. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8736.
2. Merkel, O. et al., 2015. Oncogenic role of miR-155 in anaplastic large cell lymphoma lacking the t(2;5) translocation. The Journal of Pathology, 236(4), pp.445-456. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/path.4539.
3. Laimer, D. et al., 2012. PDGFR blockade is a rational and effective therapy for NPM-ALK-driven lymphomas. Nature Medicine, 18(11), pp.1699-1704. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nm.2966.
4. Merkel, O. et al., 2010. Identification of differential and functionally active miRNAs in both anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)+ and ALK- anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(37), pp.16228-16233. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1009719107.
5. Pflegerl, P. et al., 2009. Epidermal loss of JunB leads to a SLE phenotype due to hyper IL-6 signaling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(48), pp.20423-20428. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0910371106.