This project is part of the DFG funded Special research focus area SPP 2322 on Soil Systems aiming to study the systems ecology of soil (coordination: Sören Thiele-Bruhn, Trier university). We have joined this SPP in the second funding phase in a project together with Dr. Steffen Schweizer und Prof. Dr. Mirjana Minceva, both from the TUM School of Life Sciences. 

Whether or not soil microbes can access organic carbon (OC) is critical for OC decomposition and serves as an unresolved boundary condition for energy dynamics in soil systems. The heterogeneous arrangement of OC and mineral particles in the soil structure provides a diverse OC accessibility , modulated by adsorption and aggregation. A cross disciplinary combination of novel experimental approaches, spatial biogeochemical mapping, and a thermodynamic framework will enable novel insights. Our overarching goal is to improve the mechanistic understanding of how distinct microscale spots regulate energy and OC dynamics in soils, depending on OC accessibility. In our subproject, Dr. Lieby Zborovsky will specifically focus on the spatial mapping of necromass and low molecular weight compound hotspots and link their spatial distribution with macroscale heat flow.

Start: 01.05.2025, Duration: 36 months

Co-PIs: Dr. Steffen Schweizer und Prof. Dr. Mirjana Minceva 

Small molecule anti-cancer therapies generally have a well understood mechanism of action. Still, they are frequently plagued by poor efficacy and high rates of treatment resistance, especially in the context of pancreatic cancer. One potentially targetable route of therapy resistance is intratumoral drug inactivation through members of the tumour microenvironment (TME) such as the tumour-associated microbiome.
With the CITE project, I aim to develop novel analytical technologies that enable us to study drug-TME interaction in situ and in isolation from systemic drug metabolism and provide a novel platform for selectively studying the contribution of the TME to drug resistance mechanisms. We will develop a spatial pharmacometabolomics approach using Laser Desorption coupled to Rapid Evaporative Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (LD-REIMS). First, a novel and sensitive source setup will be developed, followed by instrumental setups for imaging applications and high throughput acquisition of cell lines and bacteria. We will further develop organotypic culture (3D-OTC, slice culture) models of pancreatic cancer to study isolated, intratumoral drug metabolism in a controlled environment while still using relevant clinical material to assess intratumoral metabolism of 4 FDA approved small molecule systemic and targeted chemotherapies. 

This project was awarded in the ERC Starting grant round of 2024. In total, 4 researchers will be hired on this project: 3 PhD students and one postdoctoral researcher wth focus on bioinformatics. The first two students have started in 2025, Patricia Taborda and Jiahao Li. While Patricia is working on generating a spectral database of cellular profiles for mapping cells in the tissue microenvironment, Jiahao is leading the instrumentation development for LD-REIMS-based high-throughput cellular profiling and high-resolution imaging. This work will be performed on our Waters Select MRT platform which we were able to purchase using this funding. 

Start: 01.12.2024, Duration: 60 months

This project is part of the DFG-funded Research Unit FOR5560 on B cell signalling and metabolism (speaker: Prof. Dr. Julia Jellusova, TUM). We combine expertise in immunology with analytical chemistry with the aim to develop novel methods to analyse how the CBM complex controls metabolic reprogramming in pathological B cells, integrating standard immunological techniques with mass spectrometry-based metabolomics and imaging mass spectrometry.

CARD11 gain-of-function mutations are found in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and a deeper understanding of how metabolism is controlled in these cells could help to identify new vulnerabilities amenable for medical intervention. We seek to not only study intracellular changes in metabolite levels but to extend our studies to the microenvironment. How activated B cells alter their microenvironment is currently poorly understood but could have broad implications for the function of other tissue resident cells as well. We seek to test the hypothesis that these highly proliferating B cells impact the metabolic composition of the surrounding tissue by consuming nutrients as well as through the secretion of metabolic waste products through multimodal imaging. Wei Chen is supporting this project through spatial metabolomics measurements, imaging mass cytometry as well as cell-based metabolomics screening experiments.

Start: 01.10.2023, Duration: 48 months

Co-PI: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Ruland