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Cancer Glicobiology

Department of Biomedicine - University of Basel, Switzerland

Heinz Läubli

OUR VISION

We study how glycans and their receptors, especially Siglecs, influence immune responses in cancer. By targeting glycan-mediated pathways, our objective is to enhance the efficacy of immunotherapies, such as checkpoint inhibitors and adoptive T cell therapies. Our work bridges basic glycoimmunology with translational approaches to improve patient outcomes.

OUR PROJECTS

1

Glycosylation in the Cancer-Immunity Axis

Glycans can mediate important interactions between cancer cells and immune cells. Our goal is to manipulate glycans and glycan-binding receptors to boost anti-tumor immune reactions.

2

Glycans in Metastasis

Aberrant glycosylation on the tumor cell surface is known to contribute to immune evasion and metastasis. We want to investigate the roles of glycan structures in the context of circulating tumor cells and their interaction with immune cells. 

3

Cellular Immunotherapy in Cancer

Clinical trials with tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies in solid tumors have shown that a substantial number of patients do not experience a therapeutic benefit. We intend to  improve adoptive cell transfer transfer, based on improvement of CAR constructs or enhancement of T cell dynamics to boost anti-tumoral responses.

Targeting cancer glycosylation repolarizes tumor-associated macrophages allowing effective immune checkpoint blockade

Tumor hypersialylation drives immune escape and cancer progression. Targeting this particular type of glycosylation with a tumor-specific antibody-sialidase conjugate improved antitumor immune responses that were further enhanced by combining immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). Thus, tumor-targeted desialylation may be an effective approach to augment ICB.

Cover illustration by Lynn Bonetti ©

Photo by Natalie Kohler © DBM Communication Department

Cancer Immunotherapy Lab | Universitätsspital Basel | Department of Biomedicine

Hebelstrasse 20 | CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland

heinz.laeubli@unibas.ch

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