Prof. Dr. med. Il-Kang Na

Scientific Scope

We investigate defects and dysfunctions of the immune system in cancer patients. Focus are disease- and therapy-induced effects on immune cells, tumor cells and their interaction as well as the reconstitution of the immune system after treatment. We pursue a “next generation staging” in order to better understand the dynamic changes during conventional chemotherapy, targeted therapies, and immunotherapies. For this purpose, we longitudinally and comprehensively monitor dynamic modifications of the immune system, the tumor and the tumor microenvironment enforced by the chosen treatment. Aims are the gain of critical individualized information for tailored treatment approaches (combination strategies, patient selection, novel targets) and the development of novel strategies to restore the immune competence after treatment.

Please find more details here: https://www.mdc-berlin.de/de/na

Group Members

https://www.mdc-berlin.de/de/na#t-team

Selected References

• Herda, S., Heimann ,A., Obermayer, B., Ciraolo, E., Althoff, S., Ruß, J., Grunert, C., Busse, A., Bullinger, L., Pezzutto, A., Blankenstein, T., Beule, D., Na, I. K. (2021) " Long-term in vitro expansion ensures increased yield of central memory T cells as perspective for manufacturing challenges." Int J Cancer. 2021 Jun 15;148(12):3097-3110. 
• Szyska, M., Herda, S., Althoff, S., Heimann, A., Russ, J., D'Abundo, D., Dang, T. M., Durieux, I., Dörken, B., Blankenstein, T., & Na, I. K. (2018)  "A Transgenic Dual-Luciferase Reporter Mouse for Longitudinal and Functional Monitoring of T Cells In Vivo." Cancer immunology research, 6(1), 110–120.
• Mensen, A., Jöhrens, K., Anagnostopoulos, I., Demski, S., Oey, M., Stroux, A., Hemmati, P., Westermann, J., Blau, O., Wittenbecher, F., Movassaghi, K., Szyska, M., Thomas, S., Dörken, B., Scheibenbogen, C., Arnold, R., & Na, I. K. (2014) "Bone marrow T-cell infiltration during acute GVHD is associated with delayed B-cell recovery and function after HSC." Blood, 124(6), 963–972.
• Na, I. K., Markley, J. C., Tsai, J. J., Yim, N. L., Beattie, B. J., Klose, A. D., Holland, A. M., Ghosh, A., Rao, U. K., Stephan, M. T., Serganova, I., Santos, E. B., Brentjens, R. J., Blasberg, R. G., Sadelain, M., & van den Brink, M. R. (2010) "Concurrent visualization of trafficking, expansion, and activation of T lymphocytes and T-cell precursors in vivo." Blood, 116(11), e18–e25.
• Na, I. K., Lu, S. X., Yim, N. L., Goldberg, G. L., Tsai, J., Rao, U., Smith, O. M., King, C. G., Suh, D., Hirschhorn-Cymerman, D., Palomba, L., Penack, O., Holland, A. M., Jenq, R. R., Ghosh, A., Tran, H., Merghoub, T., Liu, C., Sempowski, G. D., Ventevogel, M., … van den Brink, M. R. (2010) "The cytolytic molecules Fas ligand and TRAIL are required for murine thymic graft-versus-host disease." The Journal of clinical investigation, 120(1), 343–356.