Concept

The Transregional Collaborative Research Center TRR 54, entitled “Growth and Survival, Plasticity and Cellular Interactivity in Lymphoid Malignancies”, started in 2008 to dissect “the multiple dimensions of lymphoma biology”, focusing on a tumor type with features reminiscent of leukemias on one hand and solid tumors on the other hand, suggesting that fundamental pathogenetic principles of lymphomagenesis may apply, at least to some extent, to other cancer entities as well. The central scientific aim of the TRR 54 is the mechanistic and functional exploration of pathogenetic complexities that relate to cellular failsafe programs (such as apoptosis and senescence), aberrant differentiation and reprogramming, and the network of interactions lymphoma cells engage in. Accordingly, the “multiple dimensions of lymphoma biology” were broken down into three major areas of research: cellular integrity, cellular plasticity, and cellular crosstalk. On the basis of a very productive first funding period (2008 – 2011), we now further approach these areas experimentally by utilizing particularly suitable, tractable mouse lymphoma models, tumor-stroma co-culture systems as well as primary human tumor samples, and by utilizing database information on functionally validated small compounds as a novel approach to unveil pathway liabilities in lymphoma samples, newest generation RNA interference technology, label-based proteomics, functional imaging and systems biology-driven mathematical modeling. In essence, the TRR 54 consortium seeks to identify essential pathogenetic principles of lymphomagenesis, ultimately leading to a refined understanding of lymphoma biology, and, thereby, to conceptually novel approaches to tackle cancer.