Institut für Pathologie
Trogerstrasse 18
D-81675 München
Welcome to the lab page of Professor Karl-Friedrich Becker
Technische Universität München - Institute of Pathology
(Director: Prof. Dr. Heinz Höfler)
Klinikum rechts der Isar, Munich, Germany
Karl-Friedrich Becker
last update:
December 10th, 2008
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Our aims
Better understanding of defective cell adhesion molecules in tumors
Development of novel tools for molecular pathology
Identification of novel drug targets
Clinical use of these targets for improved diagnosis and therapy of cancer
Our strategy
Using innovative technologies, we analyze tissue samples from the clinic at the molecular level to identify critical gene alterations that may result in the identification of target genes that can be used to improve clinical interventions
Summary of our research
The principle aim of our research is the identification and characterization of molecular events involved in multistage tumorigenesis, cancer cell invasion and metastasis with special emphasis on calcium dependent cell adhesion molecules. We demonstrated frequent gene mutations of the homophilic cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin in gastric and breast cancer.
Functional analysis of transfected cell lines revealed that mutant E-cadherin actively contributes to the malignant phenotype by trans-dominant negative mechanisms. In-house cDNA arrays are used to define E-cadherin dependent gene expression profiles. Monoclonal antibodies are available specifically targeting mutant E-cadherin that are currently used to develop novel diagnostics and therapeutics. We also focus on the analysis of epithelial mesenchymal transition regulators involved in downregulating E-cadherin in human cancers. Very recently we established a new technique for protein analysis in clinical tissue samples. Our program linking fundamental molecular understanding to approaches that permit optimal target selectivity may open new clinical avenues for a more specific diagnosis and therapy of cancer.
© 2003-2008 Prof. Dr. Karl-Friedrich Becker,
Institut für Pathologie, TU München
Tel.: +49 89 4140 4591
FAX:
+49 89 4140 4915
email
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Protein analysis of formalin fixed tissue samples
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