[01.07.2026]  The Functional Biochemistry junior research group, led by Dr. Mike Blüggel, has secured significant external funding for the research project "TaNdem – Taspase1-Nanobody Dual Engagement Mechanism." The Dr. Rolf M. Schwiete Foundation is supporting the project for a 24-month period starting in October 2026.

The project focuses on the protease Taspase1; originally discovered in the context of leukemia, it has since been identified as a biologically relevant factor in numerous solid tumors. The biological significance of Taspase1 is well-established—particularly in glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive brain tumor types that has proven difficult to treat—yet this knowledge has not yet been systematically translated into therapeutic strategies for this specific tumor entity.

"With TaNdem, we are targeting a biologically crucial node that was originally identified in leukemia research but holds significance far beyond that," explains Dr. Blüggel. "We see a largely untapped therapeutic opportunity here, especially regarding glioblastoma."

The project employs a novel, modular approach that combines two functional principles: an established nanobody that binds to Taspase1 and modulates its activity, and a cellular degradation pathway that additionally removes the protein from the cellular system. This combination allows for the investigation of biological effects on two complementary levels. A key innovative aspect is the integration, for the first time in this specific experimental context, of the TRIM21-mediated degradation pathway. While the research group has already successfully implemented comparable research approaches in other tumor types such as leukemias or using alternative E3 ligase systems, this project adopts a deliberately novel mechanistic strategy and applies it to a tumor type that has hitherto been underrepresented in this context.

In its early stages, the project received seed funding from the Lörcher Foundation for Medical Research. This support enabled initial experimental work as well as the development of key molecular biological tools and constructs. Due to the limited scope of the initial funding, only a preliminary phase of the project could be carried out. The funding now granted by the Dr. Rolf M. Schwiete Foundation builds directly upon this foundation, enabling a systematic investigation of the approach in glioblastoma models for the first time. Furthermore, it allows for the direct comparison of different system design variants, facilitating a significant advancement of the concept based on a broad experimental scope. In the long term, TaNdem aims to further develop modular principles of protein modulation and apply them to other disease-relevant proteins in cancer biology that have previously proven difficult to target.

Zur UDE Pressemitteilung

More Information:
Dr. Mike Blüggel

University of Duisburg-Essen
Center of Medical Biotechnology
 mike.blueggel@uni-due.de