| Over the last year we have developed three different lines of research. The first invloves the serine protease inhibitor SPI-6, which inhibits SPI-6 and for which we have shown that it has an essential function in Dendritic cells. This project now involves a close homolog of SPI-6 called SPI-CI and its role in tumorbiology. The second line of research involves the TNF family member APRIL. Over the last year we have shown that APRIL is secreted by DC and delineated this regulation. Moreover, we have made significant progress on understanding the different regions in APRIL and their role in receptor stimulation both in tumours and in immune cells. We finally aslo coupled APRIL serum levels with disease stage in CLL patients. The third project revolves around cancer stem cells in colon carcinoma. We have shown that these cells can reconstitute a complete tumour even when a single cell is used. Moreover, we found that they specifically protect themseleves against therapy when using IL-4. |
