Ruth Eichner - Solute Carriers in Cancer
Research Focus
Solute Carrier proteins (SLCs) are the largest family of membrane transporters in the human genome. They mediate the import and export of nutrients and metabolites and therefore play a key role in cellular metabolism and growth. In cancer, SLCs are frequently overexpressed to meet the increased metabolic needs of malignant cells. Next to their potential as therapeutic targets, they also play important roles as drug transporters and in the context of drug resistance.
Our lab focuses primarily on nutrient transporting SLCs in different cancer entities, including hematological malignancies such as leukemia but also solid tumors. We are interested in elucidating the drivers of SLC expression in cancer, with a focus on proteostatic and metabolic regulation and aim to investigate the impact of aberrant SLC expression on metabolism, differentiation, proliferation and progression. Moreover, we are investigating, to which extent post-translational modifications such as glycosylation affect SLC function and their targetability. Based on these mechanistic insights, we aim to establish respective SLCs as biomarkers and therapeutic targets alone or as part of combinatorial approaches to improve diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities. To achieve this, we combine various approaches from genetic screens via proteomics and metabolomics analyses to imaging studies, protein biochemistry and cell biological methods. Analyses of patient-derived primary material and preclinical mouse models complement the experimental spectrum and strengthen the translational impact.
Ruth Eichner studied medicine in Munich, Zurich, and New York and obtained a Master's in molecular oncology in Toulouse, France. In 2011, she started her clinical training in hematology and oncology at the Department of Internal Medicine III at the Klinikum rechts der Isar in Munich. In parallel, she enrolled in the TUM Ph.D. Program Molecular Life Science and Technology and obtained her Ph.D. in 2016 on the project “Functional characterization of Cereblon, the molecular target of immunomodulatory drugs” in the lab of Florian Bassermann. For her postdoctoral studies, she joined the lab of Giulio Superti-Furga at the Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) in Vienna from 2017-2020, where she studied the multilayered regulation of solute carrier proteins in cancer. After her return to TUM in 2020 and parental leave, she continued her clinical training at the Department of Internal Medicine III. She started her junior research group at TranslaTUM in 2022.
- Protected Research Time for female Clinician Scientists, Medical School TUM (2022)
- EMBO Longterm Fellowship (2017)
- DKTK (German Cancer Consortium) Fellowship for Clinician Scientists (2016)
- Research Award of the Walter Schulz Foundation (2016)
- KKF Research Fellowship for Clinician Scientists, Medical School TUM (2014)
- PhD Scholarship, Medical School TUM (2012)
- Fellowship Award of the European School of Oncology (2009)
- Carl Duisberg Scholarship, Bayer Science and Education Foundation (2008)
- Scholarship of the Max-Weber-Program / Elite Network of Bavaria (2003)
Stroh, J., Seckinger, A., Heider, M., Rudelius, M., Eichner, R., Schick, M., Slawska, J., Emde, M., Salwender, H., Bertsch, U., et al. (2022). MCT1 is a predictive marker for lenalidomide maintenance therapy in multiple myeloma. Blood Adv. 6(2):515-520.
Kornauth, C., Pemovska, T.,Vladimer, G.I., Bayer, G., Bergmann, M., Eder, S., Eichner, R., Erl, M., Esterbauer, H., Exner, R., et al. (2022). Functional precision medicine provides clinical benefit in advanced aggressive hematological cancers and identifies exceptional responders. Cancer Discov. 12(2):372-387.
Heider, M., Eichner, R., Stroh, J., Morath, V., Kuisl, A., Zecha, J., Lawatscheck, J., Baek, K., Garz, A.-K., Rudelius, M., et al. (2021). The IMiD target CRBN determines HSP90 activity toward transmembrane proteins essential in multiple myeloma. Mol. Cell 81, 1170–1186.e10.
Sedlyarov, V.*, Eichner, R.*, Girardi, E., Essletzbichler, P., Goldmann, U., Nunes-Hasler, P., Srndic, I., Moskovskich, A., Heinz, L.X., Kartnig, F., et al. (2018). The bicarbonate transporter SLC4A7 plays a key role in macrophage phagosome acidification. Cell Host Microbe 23, 766–774.e5. * equal contribution
Hashimoto, M., Girardi, E., Eichner, R., and Superti-Furga, G. (2018). Detection of chemical engagement of solute carrier proteins by a cellular thermal shift assay. ACS Chem. Biol. 13, 1480–1486.
Eichner, R., Heider, M., Fernández-Sáiz, V., van Bebber, F., Garz, A.-K., Lemeer, S., Rudelius, M., Targosz, B.-S., Jacobs, L., Knorn, A.-M., et al. (2016). Immunomodulatory drugs disrupt the cereblon-CD147-MCT1 axis to exert antitumor activity and teratogenicity. Nat. Med. 22, 735–743.
Bassermann, F., Eichner, R., and Pagano, M. (2014). The ubiquitin proteasome system - implications for cell cycle control and the targeted treatment of cancer. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1843, 150–162. (Review)
Fernández-Sáiz, V., Targosz, B.-S., Lemeer, S., Eichner, R., Langer, C., Bullinger, L., Reiter, C., Slotta-Huspenina, J., Schroeder, S., Knorn, A.-M., et al. (2013). SCFFbxo9 and CK2 direct the cellular response to growth factor withdrawal via Tel2/Tti1 degradation and promote survival in multiple myeloma. Nat. Cell Biol. 15, 72–81.
Puissegur, M.P.*, Eichner, R.*, Quelen, C., Coyaud, E., Mari, B., Lebrigand, K., Broccardo, C., Nguyen-Khac, F., Bousquet, M., and Brousset, P. (2012). B-cell regulator of immunoglobulin heavy-chain transcription (Bright)/ARID3a is a direct target of the oncomir microRNA-125b in progenitor B-cells. Leukemia 26, 2224–2232. * equal contribution
Coyaud, E., Struski, S., Prade, N., Familiades, J., Eichner, R., Quelen, C., Bousquet, M., Mugneret, F., Talmant, P., Pages, M.-P., et al. (2010). Wide diversity of PAX5 alterations in B-ALL: a Groupe Francophone de Cytogenetique Hematologique study. Blood 115, 3089–3097.
Dr. Ruth Eichner, PhD
Technical University of Munich
School of Medicine
Clinic and Polyclinic for Internal Medicine III
Phone: +49 89 4140 8860