Experimental Immunology

Our lab investigates how the immune system functions in health and diseases such as cancer and viral infections, with a particular focus on understanding the spatial organization, cellular dynamics, and molecular determinants of immune responses in tumors and barrier tissues. We aim to decipher how immune cells act and cooperate within these complex environments, how their function is shaped by local tissue signals and the interaction with immune and non-immune cells, and how tumors exploit these mechanisms to evade immune attack.

To achieve these aims, we integrate advanced immunological approaches, high-resolution imaging, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics and computational modelling into our work. We collaborate closely with an interdisciplinary network of researchers at the University of Tübingen and international partners, combining expertise from oncology, immunology, bioinformatics, and systems biology to drive biological discoveries and therapy invention. Our aim is that our work will help to identify new strategies and molecular targets for better cancer therapies and vaccines, and to identify new avenues to prevent and control immunopathologies.

Dr. Jan Böttcher

Head of the research group

Jan Böttcher is a senior research group leader at the M3 Research Center and head of the Department of Experimental Immunology at the Institute of Immunology of the University of Tübingen. He is also Professor of Experimental Immunology at the Medical Faculty of the University of Tübingen.

Jan studied Molecular Biomedicine at the University of Bonn until 2008 and subsequently obtained a PhD in Immunology in 2013, focusing on anti-viral T cell immunity and memory development. He subsequently joined the CRUK London Research Institute and later the Francis Crick Institute in London, UK, for his postdoctoral research on cancer immunity, under the supervision of Caetano Reis e Sousa. In 2018, he returned to Germany and established his own lab at the Institute of Immunology at TU Munich, supported by an International Junior Research Group Grant from the Elite Network of Bavaria. He joined the University of Tübingen in 2025.
His research activities focus on understanding how immune responses are organized in tissues, identifying molecular mechanisms decisive for immunity to cancer and infection, and exploring ways of how to use this knowledge for immunotherapy invention. His contributions have been widely recognized and have been honored with multiple awards, including the Georges-Köhler Prize from the German Society of Immunology (2024), the Fleur Hiege-Gedächtnispreis (2024) and the Fritz-und-Ursula-Melchers Prize (2018) from the German Society of Immunology.

Department of Experimental Immunology, Institute of Immunology, University of Tübingen
Institute of Molecular Immunology, TUM University Hospital, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany

Bastian Kruse

Postdoctoral researcher

Personenprofil: Mehr zur Person

Selected publications

Open positions

Immunity

in cancer and infection

Molecular mechanisms

determining immune cell function

Spatial organization

and dynamics of immune networks in tissues

Selected publications

Elewaut, A., Estivill G., Bayerl F., Castillon L., Novatchkova M., Pottendorfer E., Hoffmann-Haas L., Schönlein M., Nguyen T.V., Lauss M., Andreatta F., Vulin M., Krecioch I., Bayerl J., Pedde A.-M., Fabre N., Holstein F., Cronin S.M., Rieser S., Laniti D.D., Barras D., Coukos G., Quek C., Bai X., i Ordoño M.M., Wiesner T., Zuber J., Jönsson G., Böttcher J.P., Vanharanta S., and Obenauf A.C. (2024). Cancer cells impair monocyte-mediated T cell stimulation to evade immunity. Nature.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08257-4
Donakonda S., Baumann T., Bayerl F., Meiser P., Hirschberger A., Klement C., Grassmann S., Öllinger R., Hüser N., Hartmann D., Laschinger M., Trapani J. A., Zippelius A., Bald T., Wiedemann G.M., Rad R., Sun J.C., Höchst B., and Böttcher J.P. (2024). Tissue-colonizing disseminated tumor cells secrete prostaglandin E2 to promote NK cell dysfunction and evade anti-metastatic immunity. Cell Reports. 43: 114855.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114855
Bosch M., Kallin N., Donakonda S., Zhang J.D., Wintersteller H., Hegenbarth S., Heim K., Ramirez, C., Fürst A., Lattouf E.I., Feuerherd M., Chattopadhyay S., Kumpesa N., Griesser V., Hoflack J.C., Siebourg-Polster J., Mogler C., Swadling L., Pallett L.J., Meiser P., Manske K., de Almeida, G.P., Kosinska A.D., Sandu I., Schneider S., Steinbacher V., Teng Y., Schnabel J., Theis F., Gehring A.J., Boonstra A., Janssen H., Vandenbosch M., Cuypers E., Öllinger R., ENgleitner T. Rad R., Steiger K., Oxenius A., Lo Wa.L., Klepsch V., Bayer G., Holzmann B., Maini M.K., Heeren R., Murray P.J., Thimme R., Herrmann C., Protzer U., Böttcher J.P., Zehn D., Wohlleber D., Mauer G.M., Hofmann M., Luangsay S. and Knolle P.A. (2024). A PKA-operated liver tissue-rheostat curbs TCR signalling and effector function of virus-specific CD8 T cells in chronic hepatitis B virus infection. Nature. 631, 867–875.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07630-7
Lacher S., Dörr J., de Almeida G.P., Hönninger J., Meiser P., Bayerl F., Hirschberger A., Pedde A.M., Meiser P., Ramsauer L., Rudolph T.J., Spranger N., Morotti M., Jarosch S., Gregors L., Oner A., Gregor L., Lesch S., Michaelides S., Fertig L., Briukhovetska D., Majed L., Stock S., Busch D.H., Buchholz V.R., Knolle P.A., Zehn D., Kobold S.* and Böttcher J.P.* (2024). PGE2 limits effector expansion of tumour-infiltrating stem-like CD8+ T cells. Nature. 629, 417–425. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07254-x
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07254-
Morotti M., Grimm A.J., Hope H., Arnaud M., Desbuisson M., Rayroux N., Barras D., Masid M., Murgues B., Chap B., Ongaro M., Rota I., Ronet C., Minasyan A., Ouchen K., Mjahed R-B., Benedetti F., Abdellaoui N., Turrini R., Gannon P., Zaman P., Mathevet P., Lelievre L., Crespo I., Conrad M., Verdeil G., Kandalaft L., Dagher J., Corria-Osorio J., Doucey M-A., Ho P-C., Harari A., Vannini N., Böttcher J.P., Dangaj Laniti D. and Coukos G. (2024). PGE2 inhibits TIL expansion by disrupting IL-2 signalling and metabolism. Nature. 629, 426–434.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07352-w
Meiser P., Knolle M., Hirschberger A., Gustavo P.A., Lacher S., Bayerl F., Pedde A.M., Flommersfeld S., Hönninger J., Stark L., Stögbauer F., Anton M., Wirth M., Wohlleber D., Steiger K., Buchholz V.R., Wollenberg B., Zielinski C.E., Braren R., Rückert D., Knolle P.A., Kaissis G.* and Böttcher J.P. * (2023). A distinct stimulatory cDC1 subpopulation amplifies CD8+ T cell responses in tumors for protective anti-cancer immunity. Cancer Cell. 41(8):1498-1515.e10.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2023.06.008
Bayerl F., Meiser P., Donakonda S., Hirschberger A., Lacher S., Pedde A.M., Hermann C.D., Knolle M., Rudolph T.J., Grassmann S., Öllinger R., Kirchhammer N., Trefny M., Elewaut A., Anton M., Wohlleber D., Höchst B., Zaremba A., Krüger A., Rad R., Obenauf A.C., Schadendorf D., Zippelius A., Buchholz V.R., Schraml B.U. and Böttcher J.P. (2023). Tumor-derived PGE2 programs cDC1 dysfunction to impair intratumoral orchestration of anti-cancer T cell responses. Immunity. 1341-2458. e11.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2023.05.011
Bayerl F., Bejarano D.A., Bertacchi G., Doffin A.-C., Gobbini E., Hubert M., Li L., Meiser P., Müller L., Pedde A.-M., Posch W., Schlitzer A., Schmitz M., Schraml B., Uderhardt S., Valladeau-Guilemond J., Wilflingseder D., Zaderer V. and Böttcher J.P. (2023). Guidelines for visualization and analysis of DC in tissues using multiparameter fluorescence microscopy imaging methods. Eur. J. Immunol. 2249923
https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.202249923
Flommersfeld S., Böttcher J.P., Ersching J., Flossdorf M., Meiser P., Pachmayr L.O., Leube J., Hensel I., Jarosch S., Zhang Q., Chaudhry M.Z., Andrae I., Schiemann M., Busch D.H., Cicin-Sain L., Sun J.C., Gasteiger G., Victora G.D., Höfer T., Buchholz V.R. and Grassmann S. (2021). Fate mapping of single NK cells identifies a type 1 innate lymphoid-like lineage that bridges innate and adaptive recognition of viral infection. Immunity. 54: 2288-2304.e7.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2021.08.002
Böttcher, J.P.†, Bonavita, E., Chakravarty, P., Blees, H., Cabeza-Cabrerizo, M., Sammicheli, S., Rogers, N.C., Sahai, E., Zelenay, S., Reis e Sousa, C†. (2018). NK Cells Stimulate Recruitment of cDC1 into the Tumor Microenvironment Promoting Cancer Immune Control. Cell 172: 1022–1037.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.01.004

The M3 Research Center
Malignome, Metabolome and Microbiome