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Axel Behrens

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Axel Behrens
Alma mater
Known forCancer stem cell biology
Scientific career
Institutions
Websitewww.convergencesciencecentre.ac.uk

Axel Behrens is a German-British molecular biologist and an expert in cancer stem cell biology.[1] He is the Scientific Director of the Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre[2] in London, a senior group leader at the Institute of Cancer Research and a professor at Imperial College London.

Education and early life

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Behrens was educated at schools in Germany and Austria. He studied Molecular Genetics in Austria at the University of Innsbruck and University of Vienna. He followed this up with postgraduate research at The Institute of Molecular Pathology, University of Vienna[3] and was awarded a PhD in 1998 for research on c-Jun/JNK signalling in cancer, supervised by Professor Erwin Wagner.[3]

Career and research

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After his PhD, Behrens pursued postdoctoral research in Switzerland at the University of Zurich[2] with Adriano Aguzzi.[3] In 2001 he joined the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute (which became part of the Francis Crick Institute in 2015.[4]) to head up the Adult Stem Cell Laboratory.[3] In 2020, Prof Behrens became the inaugural Scientific Director of the Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre,[2][5] a collaborative partnership between Cancer Research UK, The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and Imperial College London with the aim to develop innovative multi-disciplinary solutions for key problems in cancer research and cancer treatment.[6] In 2020 he was also appointed as Head of the Adult Stem Cell laboratory at the ICR in London[5] and Professor of cancer biology at Imperial.

Behrens is a well-known international expert in cancer stem cell biology[7][1] with significant contributions in the field.[8] From research it has become clear that tumours are organised in a cellular hierarchy, with the so-called cancer stem cells (CSC), also called tumour initiating cells (TICs), being at the apex.[9] It is believed that CSCs mediate tumour growth, precipitate tumour relapse after treatment, and are responsible for metastasis formation.[10][9] Among Behrens' laboratory discoveries is the characterisation of CSC populations in breast cancer[11][12] and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC),[13][14] and based on this work novel cancer therapeutics targeting CSCs are currently being developed. Additionally, the Behrens laboratory invented a 3D imaging technology termed Fast Light microscopic Analysis of antibody Stained wHole organs (FLASH)[15][16] that provides unprecedented capabilities to visualise large tissues at single cell resolution. The Behrens lab used FLASH to for the first time provide a 3-dimensional description of the origin of pancreatic cancer[17][18]

Awards and honours

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References

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  1. ^ a b ICR. "Professor Axel Behrens". Retrieved 26 Mar 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Convergence Science Centre. "Scientific Director". Retrieved 26 Mar 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d The Francis Crick Institute. "Axel Behrens visiting scientist". Retrieved 26 Mar 2021.
  4. ^ Knightlab. "London Research Institute: A timeline". Retrieved 14 Jun 2021.
  5. ^ a b ICR. "Professor Axel Behrens, Team Leader". Retrieved 1 Apr 2021.
  6. ^ Convergence Science Centre. "Convergence Science Centre, Our Mission". Retrieved 8 Apr 2021.
  7. ^ Andrea McConnell. "Prof Axel Behrens is new Scientific Director of CRUK Convergence Science Centre". Retrieved 14 Jun 2021.
  8. ^ Tom Bawden. "Pancreatic cancer: New hope for effective treatment after scientific breakthrough in identifying causes". Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  9. ^ a b ICR. "Research overview". Retrieved 15 Jun 2021.
  10. ^ The Francis Crick Institute. "Axel Behrens Adult stem cell laboratory". Retrieved 29 Mar 2021.
  11. ^ The Francis Crick Institute. "Axel Behrens- Lgr6 marks a cancer stem cell population of luminal breast cancer". Retrieved 29 Mar 2021.
  12. ^ Blaas, Leander; Pucci, Fabio; Messal, Hendrik A.; Andersson, Agneta B.; Ruiz, Josue; Gerling, Marco; Douagi, Iyadh; Spencer-Dene, Bradley; Musch, Alexandra; Mitter, Richard; Bhaw, Leena; Stone, Richard; Bornhorst, Dorothee; Sesay, Abdul K.; Jonkers, Jos; Stamp, Gordon; Malanchi, Ilaria; Toftgard, Rune; Behrens, Axel (2016). "Lgr6 labels a rare population of mammary gland progenitor cells that are able to originate luminal mammary tumours". Nature Cell Biology. 18 (12): 1346–1356. doi:10.1038/ncb3434. PMC 5812439. PMID 27798604.
  13. ^ Wang, Victoria M.-Y.; Ferreira, Rute M.M.; Almagro, Jorge; Evan, Theodore; Legrave, Nathalie; Zaw Thin, May; Frith, David; Carvalho, Joana; Barry, David J.; Snijders, Ambrosius P.; Herbert, Eleanor; Nye, Emma L.; MacRae, James I.; Behrens, Axel (2019). "CD9 identifies pancreatic cancer stem cells and modulates glutamine metabolism to fuel tumour growth". Nature Cell Biology. 21 (11): 1425–1435. doi:10.1038/s41556-019-0407-1. PMC 6944508. PMID 31685994.
  14. ^ ICR. "Professor Axel Behrens". Retrieved 29 Mar 2021.
  15. ^ The Francis Crick Institute, News (27 Nov 2020). "Scientists capture 3D images of tumours in subcellular resolution". The Francis Crick Institute. Retrieved 7 Apr 2021.
  16. ^ Messal, Hendrik A.; Almagro, Jorge; Zaw Thin, May; Tedeschi, Antonio; Ciccarelli, Alessandro; Blackie, Laura; Anderson, Kurt I.; Miguel-Aliaga, Irene; van Rheenen, Jacco; Behrens, Axel (2020). "Antigen retrieval and clearing for whole-organ immunofluorescence by FLASH". Nature Protocols. 16 (1): 239–262. doi:10.1038/s41596-020-00414-z. hdl:10044/1/88849. PMID 33247285. S2CID 227191423. Retrieved 7 Apr 2021.
  17. ^ Science Daily, Sources from The Francis Crick Institute (30 Jan 2019). "New 3D imaging technique reveals how pancreatic cancers start". Science Daily. Retrieved 29 Mar 2021.
  18. ^ Messal, Hendrik A.; Alt, Silvanus; Ferreira, Rute M.M.; Gribben, Christopher; Min-Yi Wang, Victoria; Cotoi, Corina G.; Salbreux, Guillaume; Behrens, Axel (2019). "Tissue curvature and apicobasal mechanical tension imbalance instruct cancer morphogenesis". Nature. 566 (7742): 126–130. Bibcode:2019Natur.566..126M. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-0891-2. PMC 7025886. PMID 30700911.
  19. ^ a b c The Academy of Europe. "Axel Behrens". Retrieved 30 Mar 2021.
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