Group Egle

Supervisor: PD Dr. Alexander Egle

CLL is a tumor that originates from an outgrowth of immune cells in the body. Similar to normal immune cells, CLL cells are part of a complex relationship composed of other immune cells and tissues components, which is of high importance for the development and progression of the disease. The study of this interplay in patient derived cancer cells has technical limitations as it is not possible to design in vitro experiments and cell culture models that are able to simulate its full complexity. Therefore, in addition to the analysis of human CLL samples, the group develops mouse models to study lymphoma development in vivo. These murine models are used to analyze the disease in its natural surrounding including all possible interaction partners, thus resembling the complexity of the human disease in an appropriate way.

The transplantation model allows to test pharmacological substances and to analyze potential survival benefits:

+ Splenocytes of a transgenic mouse which has developed a CLL-like disease are withdrawn and injected into a healthy, non-transgenic mouse. In this transplanted mouse, a very aggressive leukemia develops, which fully resembles the disease originated in the donor mouse, but has a tumor onset of a few months only. This rapid tumor development makes it possible to test and to analyze pharmacological substances and study whether a certain therapy is able to defeat CLL in the living organisms or at least delay disease progression.

Our laboratory mice are maintained at the central laboratory animal facility (ZTH) of the PLUS.

For more information please visit the hompage of the ZTH: https://www.plus.ac.at/zth

“The complexity of the disease can be mimicked in the murine model. In this system we are analyzing the effect of novel therapy concepts and the communication of leukemic cells with the immune system.”

Priv. Doz. OA Dr. Alexander Egle
(Supervisor)

Dr. Daniela Asslaber
(Post-Doc)

Jennifer Forster, MSc
(PhD Student)