Benjamin Ruf receives Adolf-Kußmaul-Prize 2024

For his scientific work on the role of mucosa-associated invariant T cells in hepatocellular carcinoma, Dr. Benjamin Ruf, head of the Tumor-Immune-Microenvironment working group at the M3 Research Center (Malignancy, Metabolome and Microbiome) of the University Hospital of Tübingen and member of our Cluster, was awarded the Adolf Kussmaul Prize 2024. He accepted the prize, donated by the Falk Foundation e. V. and endowed with 5,000 euros, during the 34th Annual Meeting of the Southwest German Society for Gastroenterology in Stuttgart.

In a basic scientific study, Benjamin Ruf was able to clarify the role of MAIT cells in HCC. Using a combined approach consisting of single-cell RNA sequencing, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence imaging and a newly developed machine learning algorithm, samples from HCC patients were examined. It was shown that tumor-associated macrophages interact with MAIT cells, leading to dysfunction and a lack of infiltration capacity of the MAIT cells. To validate the finding, the functional analysis was further carried out in ex vivo co-cultures and in murine HCC models, where it was possible to restore the functionality of the MAIT cells. MAIT cells were also identified as potential targets for anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1-targeted immune checkpoint inhibitors in HCC. Therefore, this work not only expands the understanding of the role of MAIT cells in HCC, but also points to their potential use as a target for immunotherapies in both HCC and other tumor entities.