Our research aims at developing novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of patients with adult or pediatric neuro-oncological diseases. The main focus of our group is on studying a malignant brain tumor termed glioblastoma. 

We are trying to better understand the biology of malignant brain tumors and to develop concepts to overcome therapeutic resistance. 

The diversity of different dysregulated tumor-driving pathways within the same tumor - intratumoral heterogeneity - and the plasticity of the microenvironment surrounding and interacting with the tumor represent central characteristics responsible for the fact that brain tumors are so difficult to treat.

Considering these premises, we concentrate our efforts on exploring combinatorial and multi-modal therapeutic approaches which include the following main interests: 

• Tumor cell metabolism
• Tumor-Treating Fields
• Drug repurposing
• Intelligent implants

With our work, we are striving to contribute to more efficient therapies that may ultimately allow for a better tumor control and eventually even to overcome these diseases. 

• Prof. Dr. Georg Karpel-Massler
  Principal investigator
• Annika Hajosch 
  Research technician
• Christopher Löhmann
  Graduate student (MD program)
• Antonia Spilz
  Graduate student (MD program)
• Dott. Davide Tosin
  Neurosurgery resident
• Qiyu Cao
  Neurosurgery resident
• Carolin Golla
  Urology resident
• Frau Raghad Alshadidi
  Master’s student (Molecular and translational neuroscience program)

Alumni

• Dr. med. Ziad Elshaer
• Dr. med. Maximilian Pruss
• Dr. med. dent. Jenson Anthonymuthu

Cao Q, Hajosch A, Kast RE, Loehmann C, Hlavac M, Fischer-Posovszky P, Strobel H, Westhoff MA, Siegelin MD, Wirtz CR, Halatsch ME, Karpel-Massler G. Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) combined with the drug repurposing approach CUSP9v3 induce metabolic reprogramming and synergistic anti-glioblastoma activity in vitro. Br J Cancer. 2024 Feb 23. doi: 10.1038/s41416-024-02608-8. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38396172.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41416-024-02608-8

Dwucet, A., Pruss, M., Cao, Q., Tanriover, M., Prabhu, V. V., Allen, J. E., Peraud, A., Westhoff, M. A., Siegelin, M. D., Wirtz, C. R., & Karpel-Massler, G. (2021). ONC201/TIC10 Is Empowered by 2-Deoxyglucose and Causes Metabolic Reprogramming in Medulloblastoma Cells in Vitro Independent of C-Myc Expression. Frontiers in cell and developmental biology, 9, 734699.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2021.734699

Golla, C., Bilal, M., Dwucet, A., Bader, N., Anthonymuthu, J., Heiland, T., Pruss, M., Westhoff, M. A., Siegelin, M. D., Capanni, F., Wirtz, C. R., Kast, R. E., Halatsch, M. E., & Karpel-Massler, G. (2021). Photodynamic Therapy Combined with Bcl-2/Bcl-xL Inhibition Increases the Noxa/Mcl-1 Ratio Independent of Usp9X and Synergistically Enhances Apoptosis in Glioblastoma. Cancers, 13(16), 4123.

https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13164123

Pruss, M., Dwucet, A., Tanriover, M., Hlavac, M., Kast, R. E., Debatin, K. M., Wirtz, C. R., Halatsch, M. E., Siegelin, M. D., Westhoff, M. A., & Karpel-Massler, G. (2020). Dual metabolic reprogramming by ONC201/TIC10 and 2-Deoxyglucose induces energy depletion and synergistic anti-cancer activity in glioblastoma. British journal of cancer, 122(8), 1146–1157.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-020-0759-0

Karpel-Massler, G., Nguyen, T. T. T., Shang, E., & Siegelin, M. D. (2019). Novel IDH1-Targeted Glioma Therapies. CNS drugs, 33(12), 1155–1166. 

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40263-019-00684-6

Siegelin, M. D., Schneider, E., Westhoff, M. A., Wirtz, C. R., & Karpel-Massler, G. (2021). Current state and future perspective of drug repurposing in malignant glioma. Seminars in cancer biology, 68, 92–104. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcancer.2019.10.018

Halatsch, M. E., Kast, R. E., Dwucet, A., Hlavac, M., Heiland, T., Westhoff, M. A., Debatin, K. M., Wirtz, C. R., Siegelin, M. D., & Karpel-Massler, G. (2019). Bcl-2/Bcl-xL inhibition predominantly synergistically enhances the anti-neoplastic activity of a low-dose CUSP9 repurposed drug regime against glioblastoma. British journal of pharmacology, 176(18), 3681–3694.

https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.14773

Hlavac, M., Dwucet, A., Kast, R. E., Engelke, J., Westhoff, M. A., Siegelin, M. D., Debatin, K. M., Wirtz, C. R., Halatsch, M. E., & Karpel-Massler, G. (2019). Combined inhibition of RAC1 and Bcl-2/Bcl-xL synergistically induces glioblastoma cell death through down-regulation of the Usp9X/Mcl-1 axis. Cellular oncology (Dordrecht), 42(3), 287–301. 

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13402-019-00425-3

Extended list of publications: PubMed

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=karpel-massler+g&sort=date