This study identifies a diet-imprinted macrophage-tumor circuit driven by the CAMP-P2RX7 axis that promotes pancreatic cancer initiation, plasticity, and metastasis.

bioRxiv · Feb 14, 2026 · PreprintCancer Biology

c-Rel drives pancreatic cancer metastasis through Fibronectin-Integrin signaling-induced isolation stress resistance and EMT activation

D. Bakırdöğen, Kıvanç Görgülü, J. Xin, L. Richter, Sonia Alcalá, Laura Ruíz-Cañas, C. Dai, Katrin J. Frank, Nan Wu, Kalliope Nina Diakopoulos, H. Ozturk, Deniz Demircioğlu, Katja Peschke, R. Ranjan, Francesca Fusco, , Hana Algül

This study identifies c-Rel as a driver of pancreatic cancer metastasis by promoting EMT, ECM remodeling, and resistance to isolation stress through fibronectin-integrin signaling.

Molecular Cancer · Dec 15, 2025Peer-reviewedCancer Biology

Novel peptide targeting CXCR4 disrupt tumor-stroma crosstalk to eliminate migrating cancer stem cells

Kanishka Tiwary, Anton Lahusen, Syeda Inaas, Bastian Beitzinger, Roman Schmid, Mirja Harms, Stefanie Hauff, Frank Arnold, Karolin Walter, Sonia Alcalá, Stephan A. Hahn, Elisabeth Heßmann, Alexander Kleger, Ninel Azoitei, Thomas Theodor Werner Seufferlein, , Patrick Christian Hermann

This study identifies a CXCL12/CXCR4/BMI1 signaling axis that promotes metastasis in PDAC via tumor-stroma crosstalk and shows that JM#21, a CXCR4 inhibitor, suppresses miCSCs and enhances chemotherapy efficacy.

bioRxiv · Mar 3, 2025 · PreprintCancer Biology