AG Wiegering
Prof. Dr. Armin Wiegering
Lehrstuhl für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie
Biozentrum
Am Hubland
97074 Würzburg
Tel: 0931 31-88319
Fax: 0931 31-84113
wiegering_a@ukw.de
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common gastrointestinal malignancy. Currently, standard treatment is primary surgery and, depending on the tumor stage, additional chemotherapy. Due to the high recurrence rate vulnerabilities and prognostic markers specific for CRC need to be identified. One of those potential targets is the process of mRNA translation which is highly deregulated in many tumor entities including CRC. Therefore, tumors show different dependencies on translation factors, ribosomal proteins and rRNAs. Our group aims at investigating and exploiting these dependencies to identify new tumor-specific therapeutic options for CRC.
Research
Current projects:
1. Role of eIF3D in regulating MYC translation in CRC
2. The eIF2/eIF2B complex as potential therapeutic target in CRC
3. Mechanism of action of the cardiac glycoside cymarine in CRC
4. Function of the EWS/WT1 fusion protein in desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT)
5. Analysis of GNAS mutation as driver in intestinal cancers
6. Role of mRNA processing factors in transcription-replication conflicts in CRC
Publications
Latest:
Otto, C., Kastner, C., Schmidt, S., Uttinger, K., Baluapuri, A., Denk, S., Rosenfeldt, M. T., Rosenwald, A., Roehrig, F., Ade, C. P., Schuelein-Voelk, C., Diefenbacher, M. E., Germer, C. T., Wolf, E., Eilers, M., & Wiegering, A. (2022). RNA polymerase I inhibition induces terminal differentiation, growth arrest, and vulnerability to senolytics in colorectal cancer cells. Molecular oncology, 16(15), 2788–2809. https://doi.org/10.1002/1878-0261.13265
Kastner, C., Hendricks, A., Deinlein, H., Hankir, M., Germer, C. T., Schmidt, S., & Wiegering, A. (2021). Organoid Models for Cancer Research-From Bed to Bench Side and Back. Cancers, 13(19), 4812. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13194812
Denk, S., Schmidt, S., Schurr, Y., Schwarz, G., Schote, F., Diefenbacher, M., Armendariz, C., Dejure, F., Eilers, M., & Wiegering, A. (2021). CIP2A regulates MYC translation (via its 5'UTR) in colorectal cancer. International journal of colorectal disease, 36(5), 911–918. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00384-020-03772-y
Schmidt, S., Denk, S., & Wiegering, A. (2020). Targeting Protein Synthesis in Colorectal Cancer. Cancers, 12(5), 1298. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers12051298
Schmidt, S., Gay, D., Uthe, F. W., Denk, S., Paauwe, M., Matthes, N., Diefenbacher, M. E., Bryson, S., Warrander, F. C., Erhard, F., Ade, C. P., Baluapuri, A., Walz, S., Jackstadt, R., Ford, C., Vlachogiannis, G., Valeri, N., Otto, C., Schülein-Völk, C., Maurus, K., … Wiegering, A. (2019). A MYC-GCN2-eIF2α negative feedback loop limits protein synthesis to prevent MYC-dependent apoptosis in colorectal cancer. Nature cell biology, 21(11), 1413–1424. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-019-0408-0