Function of Protein Arginine Methyltransferases in Tumor-Stroma Interactions of PDAC

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Detlef Klaus Bartsch; Professorin Dr. Uta-Maria Bauer
• Subject Area: Gastroenterology ; Hematology, Oncology
• Term: since 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 329116008

Our data from the first funding period reveal that PRMT1 is indicative for clinical prognosis and chemotherapy response of pancreatic tumor cells and that PRMT1 as well as PRMT4 are highly expressed in tumor-infiltrating immune cells (T cells, macrophages) and fibroblasts. In the next funding period we plan to (i) investigate the cell-autonomous tumor-suppressive function of PRMT1 in PDAC tumor cells and the synergism between PRMT1 and conventional chemotherapy in vivo, (ii) to determine the effects of PRMT1 and PRMT4 on immune cell / stromal cell functions and validate options for immunotherapy and (iii) to establish the detection of PRMT1-dependent PDAC biomarkers.

• DFG Programme: Clinical Research Units
• Subproject of: KFO 325: Clinical relevance of tumor-microenvironment interactions in pancreatic cancer