The role of LIFR signaling in CAFs in CRC (P05)

• Subject Area: Gastroenterology ; Immunology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 540805631

The project developed a comprehensive research program to decipher the exact role of LIF signaling in colorectal CAFs and its role in driving tumor expansion and metastasis. Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a pleiotropic cytokine that belongs to the IL-6 superfamily and which activates JAK/STAT3 as well as PI3K/AKT, ERK1/2 and mTOR signaling. LIF and LIFR expression will be determined in different molecular CRC subtypes and in vivo relevance will be evaluated using genetic models in primary tumors and metastases as well as by orthotopic transplantation of human tumor organoids in a humanized mouse model.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 417: Cellular Communication in the Stroma of Colorectal Cancer: From Pathophysiology to Clinical Translation
• Applicant Institution: Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
• Project Head: Professor Clemens Neufert, Ph.D.