Detail

Keywords

Calcinosis; Carcinoma, Basal Cell; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Chemokines; Fibroblasts; Fibrosis; Melanoma; Neutrophils

Research group(s)

• Lichtenberger Lab
  Members:
  Agnes Forsthuber

Research interests

Agnes Forsthuber, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher at the Medical University of Vienna, Department of Dermatology. Her research focus is on skin fibroblasts in both mouse and human dermis. She uses different mouse models and samples of healthy and diseased human skin to investigate the diversity and functions of skin fibroblasts in development, homeostasis, and diseases such as skin cancer, fibrosis, and calcinosis.

Techniques, methods & infrastructure

Single cell RNA sequencing analysis (in R) , Skin fibroblast lineage tracing mouse models, Skin cancer mouse models, Flow cytometry, Qualitative and quantitative methods in protein biochemistry and molecular biology, Cell and tissue culture, Transfection of cells, Histology and immuno-histochemistry, RNAScope

Grants

• Cancer-associated fibroblasts in skin cancer form a protective barrier to prevent infiltrative tumor progression (2025)
  Source of Funding: City of Vienna, Hochschuljubiläumsfond
  Principal Investigator
• Immunomodulatory mechanisms of fibroblasts in skin cancer (2019)
  Source of Funding: City of Vienna, Hochschuljubiläumsfond
  Principal Investigator

Selected publications

1. Forsthuber A, Aschenbrenner B, Korosec A et. al., Cancer-associated fibroblast subtypes modulate the tumor-immune microenvironment and are associated with skin cancer malignancy. Nat Commun. 2024 Nov 8;15(1):9678. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-53908-9.
2. Frech, S. and Forsthuber, A. et al., 2021. Hedgehog Signaling in Papillary Fibroblasts Is Essential for Hair Follicle Regeneration during Wound Healing
3. Forsthuber, A. et al., 2018. CXCL5 as Regulator of Neutrophil Function in Cutaneous Melanoma. Journal of Investigative Dermatology. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jid.2018.07.006.
4. Soler-Cardona, A. and Forsthuber, A. et al., 2018. CXCL5 Facilitates Melanoma Cell-Neutrophil Interaction and Lymph Node Metastasis. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 138(7), pp.1627-1635. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jid.2018.01.035.
5. Forsthuber, A. and Lichtenberger, B.M. (2024) ‘Matrix matters’, British Journal of Dermatology, 191(5), pp. 657–658. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjd/ljae301.