Postdoctoral researcher
Dr. Tetje van der Sluis
Research
Despite recent improvements in cancer therapy, metastatic disease remains the major cause of cancer related death. In the majority of the patients, heterogeneity of therapeutic responses of individual metastasis is observed upon therapy. To get a better understanding of why one tumor lesion responds differently to therapy than the other, my research focuses on tumor infiltrating T cells. I specifically focus on understanding the role of chemokine networks in stimulating the infiltration of tumor reactive T cells upon immunotherapy. Using this knowledge I aim to optimize tumor-specific immunity by (co-)targeting chemokine networks. Ultimately, this knowledge should contribute to the development of therapy combinations specifically designed to target metastatic cancer.
Curriculum vitae
I completed my PhD in tumor immunology at the LUMC studying how chemotherapy and immunotherapy can synergize to target tumor cells. Next, I moved to Germany where I joined the lab of Thomas Tüting to study the effect of small molecule inhibitors on migration and metastasis of tumor cells. Furthermore, I worked on optimizing CD4 T cell-based immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma. In the fall of 2018 I joined the group of Ramon Arens to study fundamental mechanisms of T cell expansion and effector function.In 2019 I obtained the Gisela Thier Fellowship, which enabled me to start a new research line that aims to improve T cell immunity in the metastatic tumor environment.
Publications
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OX40 agonism enhances PD-L1 checkpoint blockade by shifting the cytotoxic T cell differentiation spectrum
van der Sluis TC, Beyrend G, van der Gracht ET, Abdelaal T, Jochems SP, Belderbos RA, Wesselink TH, van Duikeren S, Haften FJ, Redeker A, ...Ossendorp F, Arens R.
Cell Rep Med. 2023; 100939. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.100939
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Delayed vaccine-induced CD8+ T cell expansion by topoisomerase I inhibition mediates enhanced CD70-dependent tumor eradication.
van der Sluis TC, Beyrend G, van der Gracht ET, Abdelaal T, Jochems SP, Belderbos RA, Wesselink TH, van Duikeren S, Haften FJ, Redeker A, ...Ossendorp F, Arens R.
J Immunother Cancer. 2023. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2023-007158
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A third vaccination with a single T cell epitope confers protection in a murine model of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Pardieck IN, van der Sluis TC, van der Gracht ET, Veerkamp DM, Behr FM, van Duikeren S, Beyrend G, Rip J, Nadafi R, Beyranvand Nejad E, Mülling N, ....Arens, R.
Nat Commun. 2022; 13(1):3966
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