Understanding and Targeting the Chemokine System in health and disease

My group is mainly focusing on:

• Identifying novel chemokine receptor ligands that modulate immune responses.
• Function of these ligands in inflammation, infection, trauma, and cancer.
• Developing targeted strategies for the treatment of inflammation and cancer.

The chemokine system in health and disease. The chemokine system plays a crucial role in immune cell migration, a fundamental process in both inflammation and infection. Chemokines serve as signaling molecules that direct immune cells to sites of inflammation, ensuring an effective immune response. This mechanism is also critical after tissue trauma, which can alter immune cell recruitment and the response to subsequent infections.  Additionally, in cancer, the chemokine system is often hijacked by tumor cells to promote survival, resistance to chemotherapy, and metastasis.

One focus of my group is the chemokine receptor CXCR4, which plays a pivotal role in immune cell trafficking and tissue homeostasis. While its primary endogenous ligand is CXCL12, our research has identified additional ligands, including polyamines (Harms et al., Science Advances, 2023), the chemokine-like protein GPR15LG (Albers et al., BioRxviv, 2025), and the endogenous CXCR4 inhibitor EPI-X4. These molecules have the potential to modulate immune function and cellular behavior, influencing disease progression and treatment outcomes.

Targeting the Chemokine System for Drug Development. Another key objective of my group is the development of peptide-based therapeutics targeting the chemokine system. We have successfully engineered EPI-X4-derived peptides with high affinity for CXCR4, demonstrating their potential as therapeutic agents (Sokkar et al., Commun. Biol., 2021). In preclinical models, these peptides have shown efficacy in reducing inflammation in diseases such as atopic dermatitis and asthma (Harms et al., Acta Pharm. Sin. B., 2021), and cancer.

To enhance clinical applicability, we are currently designing optimized peptide derivatives with improved stability and extended systemic half-lives. These advancements aim to facilitate the systemic application of CXCR4-targeting peptides for the treatment of cancer and chronic inflammatory conditions (Harms et al., J Controlled Release, 2024).

Through our research, we strive to uncover novel therapeutic avenues that leverage the chemokine system for disease intervention, ultimately translating our findings into innovative treatments that improve patient outcomes.

Group Members

Alumni