Friborg researchers receive ERC funding to develop and test immunostimulatory drug candidates

With the Proof of Concept funding line, the ERC grants beneficiaries of ERC exploratory research funds (start-up, consolidation, advanced or synergy grants) 150,000 euros to develop promising ideas with commercial or societal potential at the proof stage. concept. Thanks to this funding, Olaf Groß and his team from the Metabolism and Inflammation Group at the Institute of Neuropathology at the Medical Center – University of Friborg will test whether a new class of immune-activating drugs they have discovered can enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapies. anti-cancer drugs or cancer vaccines. Infectious diseases.

Groß is studying a protein complex called an inflammasome in macrophages, specialized cells of the body’s defense system that patrol tissues for signs of danger. When their inflammasome is activated, macrophages sound the alarm by releasing powerful factors called cytokines. These cytokines alert other cells in the body, triggering an inflammatory response that helps other immune cells to attack cancer cells or infections, Groß explains. As part of his ERC Starting Grant, he and his team discovered a new class of small molecules that powerfully and specifically activate the inflammasome, acting as turbo-boosters for the immune system.

“There has been a lot of enthusiasm for the development of inflammasome inhibitors for the treatment of inflammatory diseases,” explains Groß. “But we believe that in the right clinical setting, inflammasome activators could be just as valuable,” he adds. During the proof of concept phase, Groß and his team will test whether its IMMUNOSTIM compounds improve the effectiveness of cancer treatment and vaccines.

We will also be looking for business partners to further develop this promising new class of immunotherapeutics. “

Olaf Groß, University of Friborg

Groß received his doctorate from the Technical University of Munich in 2008. After postdoctoral research at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, he established an independent research group focusing on inflammasome at the Klinikum rechts der Isar in Munich. Since 2017, Groß has been a professor at the University of Friborg at the Institute of Neuropathology of the University Medical Center. He is a lecturer in the emerging field of metabolism research at the University of Friborg and a member of the CIBSS cluster of excellence – the Center for Integrative Biological Signaling Studies. Within CIBSS, he studies the signaling mechanisms responsible for the activation of the inflammasome by IMMUNOSTIM compounds and researches new molecules that modulate metabolic and immune signaling processes.