ZMB member Basant Kumar Thakur

ZMB Member
Basant Kumar Thakur

Next Member
Basant Kumar Thakur portrait
© UDE/UKE

Prof. Dr. Basant Kumar Thakur

Group head of

Exosome Research Lab (ERL)

Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Transplant Medicine
University Hospital Essen
Hufelandstr. 55
45122 Essen

Research Overview

Our research focuses on deciphering the diagnostic and functional roles of sEVs in acute liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma. We investigate (1) disease‑specific EV cargo as early indicators of liver injury and tumor progression, (2) the mechanistic impact of EV-mediated communication on stromal and immune cells within the liver microenvironment, and (3) the development of engineered EVs and hybrid EV‑liposome nanoparticles for targeted therapeutic delivery. By integrating proteomics, miRNA profiling, ex vivo liver perfusion models, and single‑molecule imaging with advanced nanotechnology, our work aims to uncover key EV-driven biological signals and translate them into diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic strategies for liver disease and cancer.

Basant Kumar Thakur research
© B.K. Thakur
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Selected Publications

    Journal articles

  • Asad Pour, Ommolbanin; Opazo, Felipe; Rostamzadeh, Jalal; Ghanam, Jamal; Chetty, Venkatesh Kumar; Hila, Anisa; Neumann, Ulf; Hetze, Susann; Barthel, Lennart; Best, Jan; Schmidt, Hartmut H; Thakur, Basant Kumar
    Combinational CSF1R/PD-L1 targeting by BM-MSC-derived exosome–liposome hybrid orchestrates tumor-associated macrophage phagocytosis in an in vitro tumor-microenvironment-dependent manner
    In: Cancer Nanotechnology, Vol. 17, 2026, Nr. 1, 33
    DOI (Open Access)
  • Mroczek, Magdalena; Preusse, Corinna; Hentschel, Andreas; Chrościńska-Krawczyk, Magdalena; Bielak, Michał; Sobolewska, Adela; Della Marina, Adela; Hila, Anisa; Iyadurai, Stanley; Kraft, Florian; Chetty, Venkatesh Kumar; Muhmann, David; Ruck, Tobias; Goebel, Hans-Hilmar; Schara-Schmidt, Ulrike; Dobelmann, Vera; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Stenzel, Werner; Roos, Andreas
    Exploring molecular signatures in PURA syndrome using muscle proteomics and serum biomarkers
    In: Journal of Neurology, Vol. 273, 2026, Nr. 2, 94
    DOI (Open Access)
  • Saoub, Stefanie; Metzen, Eric; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Henning, Yoshiyuki; Schild, Yves; Leu, Tristan; Fandrey, Joachim; Wrobeln, Anna
    P53 : a new player in the metabolic adaptation of colorectal carcinoma cells under hypoxia
    In: BMC Cancer, Vol. 26, 2026, Nr. 1, 628
    DOI (Open Access)
  • Zhu, Xingfu; Chetty, Venkatesh Kumar; Ghanam, Jamal; Hila, Anisa; Yang, Qiqi; Strickfaden, Hilmar; Bonn, Mischa; Cremer, Christoph; Hoyer, Peter Friedrich; Liu, Xiaomin; Thakur, Basant Kumar
    Single-molecule localization microscopy imaging of extracellular vesicle DNA in recipient cells
    In: Journal of Translational Medicine, Vol. 24, 2026, Nr. 1, 130
    DOI (Open Access)
  • Della Marina, Adela; Koutsoulidou, Andrie; Natera-de Benito, Daniel; Tykocinski, Lars-Oliver; Tomazou, Marios; Georgiou, Kristia; Laner, Andreas; Kölbel, Heike; Nascimento, Andres; Ortez, Carlos; Abicht, Angela; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Lochmüller, Hanns; Phylactou, Leonidas A.; Ruck, Tobias; Schara-Schmidt, Ulrike; Kale, Dipali; Hentschel, Andreas; Roos, Andreas
    Blood biomarker fingerprints in a cohort of patients with CHRNE-related congenital myasthenic syndrome
    In: Acta Neuropathologica Communications, Vol. 13, 2025, Nr. 1, 29
    DOI, Online Full Text (Open Access)
  • Reetz, Laura; Ghanam, Jamal; Chetty, Venkatesh K.; Barthel, Lennart; Tippelt, Stephan; Fleischhack, Gudrun; Böckmann, Marie; Reinhardt, Katarina; Thakur, Basant Kumar
    Cerebrospinal Fluid-Derived Small Extracellular Vesicles May Better Reflect Medulloblastoma Proteomes than Those from Blood Plasma
    In: International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS), Vol. 26, 2025, Nr. 19, 9279
    DOI (Open Access)
  • Patnam, Sreekanth; Singh, Anula Divyash; Ali, Mohammad Sadik; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Rengan, Aravind Kumar; Manda, Sasidhar Venkata
    Development and In Vitro Characterization of Milk-Derived Extracellular Vesicle-Mithramycin Formulations for Potential Glioma Therapy
    In: Molecular Pharmaceutics, Vol. 22, 2025, Nr. 6, pp. 2881 – 2894
    DOI
  • Pantel, Klaus; Alix-Panabières, Catherine; Hofman, Paul; Stoecklein, Nikolas H.; Lu, Yong-Jie; Lianidou, Evi; Giacomini, Patrizio; Koch, Claudia; de Jager, Vincent; Deans, Zandra C.; Fairley, Jennifer; Patton, Simon J.; Toledo, Rodrigo A.; Schuuring, Ed; Heitzer, Ellen; Hendrix, An; Ricklefs, Franz Lennard; Thakur, Basant Kumar; von Bubnoff, Nikolas; Pierga, Jean-Yves; Gebhardt, Christoffer; Andersen, Claus Lindbjerg; Fijneman, Remond; Malats, Núria; Hallermayr, Ariane; Chelala, Claude; Joosse, Simon A.; Ciliberto, Gennaro
    Fostering the implementation of liquid biopsy in clinical practice : Meeting report 2024 of the European Liquid Biopsy Society (ELBS)
    In: Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, Vol. 44, 2025, Nr. 1, 156
    DOI (Open Access)
  • Sarwareddy, Kartik Kumar; Singh, Anula Divyash; Patnam, Sreekanth; Sesuraj, Babiola Annes; Ponamgi, spd; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Manda, Venkata Sasidhar
    Harnessing tomato-derived small extracellular vesicles as drug delivery system for cancer therapy
    In: Future Science OA, Vol. 11, 2025, Nr. 1, 2461956
    DOI (Open Access)
  • Ghanam, Jamal; Lichá, Kristína; Chetty, Venkatesh Kumar; Pour, Ommolbanin Asad; Reinhardt, Dirk; Tamášová, Barbora; Hoyer, Peter Friedrich; Lötvall, Jan; Thakur, Basant Kumar
    Unravelling the Significance of Extracellular Vesicle-Associated DNA in Cancer Biology and Its Potential Clinical Applications
    In: Journal of Extracellular Vesicles (JEV), Vol. 14, 2025, Nr. 3, e70047
    DOI, Online Full Text (Open Access)
  • Zhu, Xingfu; Chen, Qiang; Zhao, Hao; Yang, Qiqi; Goudappagouda, None; Gelléri, Márton; Ritz, Sandra; Ng, David; Koynov, Kaloian; Parekh, Sapun H.; Chetty, Venkatesh Kumar; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Cremer, Christoph; Landfester, Katharina; Müllen, Klaus; Terenzio, Marco; Bonn, Mischa; Narita, Akimitsu; Liu, Xiaomin
    Intrinsic Burst-Blinking Nanographenes for Super-Resolution Bioimaging
    In: Journal of the American Chemical Society: JACS, Vol. 146, 2024, Nr. 8, pp. 5195 – 5203
    DOI (Open Access)
  • Wortzel, Inbal; Seo, Yura; Akano, Ife; Shaashua, Lee; Tobias, Gabriel Cardial; Hebert, Jakob; Kim, Kyung-A; Kim, DooA; Dror, Shani; Liu, Yanshen; Azrak, Griffin Campbell; Cioffi, Michele; Johnson, Kofi Ennu; Hennika, Tammy; Twerski, Meshulam Zisha; Kushner, Alexis; Math, Robert; Han, Yoon Dae; Han, Dai Hoon; Jung, Minsun; Park, Juyeong; Paik, Soonmyung; Shin, Jeon-Soo; Lee, Min Goo; Russo, Marco Vincenzo; Zakheim, Daniel; Barnes, Jesse; Mehta, Sunjoy; Manova, Katia; Schwartz, Robert E.; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Boudreau, Nancy; Matei, Irina; Zhang, Haiying; Sidoli, Simone; Bromberg, Jacqueline; David, Yael; Kim, Han Sang; Lyden, David
    Unique structural configuration of EV-DNA primes Kupffer cell-mediated antitumor immunity to prevent metastatic progression
    In: Nature Cancer, Vol. 5, 2024, Nr. 12, pp. 1815 – 1833
    DOI, Online Full Text (Open Access)
  • Chetty, Venkatesh Kumar; Ghanam, Jamal; Lichá, Kristína; Brenzel, Alexandra; Reinhardt, Dirk; Thakur, Basant Kumar
    Y-box binding protein 1 in small extracellular vesicles reduces mesenchymal stem cell differentiation to osteoblasts : implications for acute myeloid leukaemia
    In: Journal of Extracellular Vesicles (JEV), Vol. 13, 2024, Nr. 3, e12417
    DOI, Online Full Text (Open Access)
  • Ghanam, Jamal; Chetty, Venkatesh Kumar; Anchan, Srishti; Reetz, Laura; Yang, Qiqi; Rideau, Emeline; Liu, Xiaomin; Lieberwirth, Ingo; Wrobeln, Anna; Hoyer, Peter; Reinhardt, Dirk; Thakur, Basant Kumar
    Extracellular vesicles transfer chromatin-like structures that induce non-mutational dysfunction of p53 in bone marrow stem cells
    In: Cell Discovery, Vol. 9, 2023, Nr. 1, 12
    DOI (Open Access)
  • Ghanam, Jamal; Chetty, Venkatesh Kumar; Zhu, Xingfu; Liu, Xiaomin; Gelléri, Márton; Barthel, Lennart; Reinhardt, Dirk; Cremer, Christoph; Thakur, Basant Kumar
    Single Molecule Localization Microscopy for Studying Small Extracellular Vesicles
    In: Small, Vol. 19, 2023, Nr. 12, 2205030
    DOI (Open Access)
  • Jennrich, Sara; Pelzer, Martin; Tertel, Tobias; Koska, Benjamin; Vüllings, Melanie; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Jendrossek, Verena; Timmermann, Beate; Giebel, Bernd; Rudner, Justine
    CD9- and CD81-positive extracellular vesicles provide a marker to monitor glioblastoma cell response to photon-based and proton-based radiotherapy
    In: Frontiers in Oncology, Vol. 12, 2022, 947439
    DOI, Online Full Text (Open Access)
  • Ghanam, Jamal; Chetty, Venkatesh Kumar; Barthel, Lennart; Reinhardt, Dirk; Hoyer, Peter Friedrich; Thakur, Basant Kumar
    DNA in extracellular vesicles : From evolution to its current application in health and disease
    In: Cell and Bioscience, Vol. 12, 2022, Nr. 1, 37
    DOI, Online Full Text (Open Access)
  • Chetty, Venkatesh Kumar; Ghanam, Jamal; Anchan, Srishti; Reinhardt, Katarina; Brenzel, Alexandra; Gelléri, Márton; Cremer, Christoph; Grueso-Navarro, Elena; Schneider, Markus; von Neuhoff, Nils; Reinhardt, Dirk; Jablonska, Jadwiga; Nazarenko, Irina; Thakur, Basant Kumar
    Efficient Small Extracellular Vesicles (EV) Isolation Method and Evaluation of EV-Associated DNA Role in Cell–Cell Communication in Cancer
    In: Cancers, Vol. 14, 2022, Nr. 9, 2068
    DOI (Open Access)
  • Jablonska, Jadwiga; Rist, Malwina; Spyra, Ilona; Tengler, Luisa; Domnich, Maksim; Kansy, Benjamin; Giebel, Bernd; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Rotter, Nicole; Lang, Stephan; Ludwig, Sonja
    Evaluation of Immunoregulatory Biomarkers on Plasma Small Extracellular Vesicles for Disease Progression and Early Therapeutic Response in Head and Neck Cancer
    In: Cells, Vol. 11, 2022, Nr. 5, 902
    DOI, Online Full Text (Open Access)
  • Barthel, Lennart; Hadamitzky, Martin; Dammann, Philipp; Schedlowski, Manfred; Sure, Ulrich; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Hetze, Susann
    Glioma : molecular signature and crossroads with tumor microenvironment
    In: Cancer and Metastasis Reviews, Vol. 41, 2022, pp. 53 – 75
    DOI (Open Access)
  • Droste, Marvin; Tertel, Tobias; Jeruschke, Stefanie; Dittrich, Robin; Kontopoulou, Evangelia; Walkenfort, Bernd; Börger, Verena; Hoyer, Peter Friedrich; Büscher (A.), Anja; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Giebel, Bernd
    Single extracellular vesicle analysis performed by imaging flow cytometry and nanoparticle tracking analysis evaluate the accuracy of urinary extracellular vesicle preparation techniques differently
    In: International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS), Vol. 22, 2021, Nr. 22, 12436
    DOI, Online Full Text (Open Access)
  • Kontopoulou, Evangelia; Strachan, Sarah; Reinhardt, Katarina; Kunz, Fabienne; Walter, Christiane; Walkenfort, Bernd; Jastrow, Holger; Hasenberg, Mike; Giebel, Bernd; von Neuhoff, Nils; Reinhardt, Dirk; Thakur, Basant Kumar
    Evaluation of dsDNA from extracellular vesicles (EVs) in pediatric AML diagnostics
    In: Annals of Hematology, Vol. 99, 2020, Nr. 3, pp. 459 – 475
    DOI
  • Bruer, Marius; Reinhardt, Dirk; Welte, Karl; Thakur, Basant Kumar
    Insights into the limitations of transient expression systems for the functional study of p53 acetylation site and oncogenic mutants
    In: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (BBRC), Vol. 524, 2020, Nr. 4, pp. 990 – 995
    DOI
  • Droste, Marvin; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Eliceiri, Brian P.
    Tumor-Derived Extracellular Vesicles and the Immune System : Lessons From Immune-Competent Mouse-Tumor Models
    In: Frontiers in Immunology, Vol. 11, 2020, pp. 606859
    DOI (Open Access)
  • Kosnopfel, Corinna; Sinnberg, Tobias; Sauer, Birgit; Niessner, Heike; Muenchow, Alina; Fehrenbacher, Birgit; Schaller, Martin; Mertens, Peter R.; Garbe, Claus; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Schittek, Birgit
    Tumour progression stage-dependent secretion of yb-1 stimulates melanoma cell migration and invasion
    In: Cancers, Vol. 12, 2020, Nr. 8, pp. 1 – 17
    DOI (Open Access)
  • Jablonska, Jadwiga; Pietrowska, Monika; Ludwig, Sonja; Lang, Stephan; Thakur, Basant Kumar
    Challenges in the Isolation and Proteomic Analysis of Cancer Exosomes : Implications for Translational Research
    In: Proteomes, Vol. 7, 2019, Nr. 2, 22
    DOI, Online Full Text (Open Access)
  • Kunz, Fabienne; Kontopoulou, Evangelia; Reinhardt, Katarina; Soldierer, Maren; Strachan, Sarah; Reinhardt, Dirk; Thakur, Basant Kumar
    Detection of AML-specific mutations in pediatric patient plasma using extracellular vesicle–derived RNA
    In: Annals of Hematology, Vol. 98, 2019, Nr. 3, pp. 595 – 603
    DOI
  • Jennrich, S.; Kontopoulou, E.; Vullings, M.; Koska, B.; Timmermann, Beate; Jendrossek, Verena; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Rudner, Justine
    Effects of Irradiation with Protons and Photons on the Survival of Glioblastoma Cell Lines and the Secretion of Exosomes in vitro
    In: Strahlentherapie und Onkologie: Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, Vol. 195, 2019, Nr. Suppl. 1, pp. 173
  • Pylaeva, Ekaterina; Harati, Mozhgan Dehghan; Spyra, Ilona; Bordbari, Sharareh; Strachan, Sarah; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Höing, Benedikt; Franklin, Cindy; Skokowa, Julia; Welte, Karl; Schadendorf, Dirk; Bankfalvi, Agnes; Brandau, Sven; Lang, Stephan; Jablonska, Jadwiga
    NAMPT signaling is critical for the proangiogenic activity of tumor-associated neutrophils
    In: International Journal of Cancer, Vol. 144, 2019, Nr. 1, pp. 136 – 149
    DOI
  • Sansone, Pasquale; Savini, Claudia; Kurelac, Ivana; Chang, Qing; Amato, Laura Benedetta; Strillacci, Antonio; Stepanova, Anna; Iommarini, Luisa; Mastroleo, Chiara; Daly, Laura; Galkin, Alexander; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Soplop, Nadine; Uryu, Kunihiro; Hoshinob, Ayuko; Norton, Larry; Bonafé, Massimiliano; Cricca, Monica; Gasparre, Giuseppe; Lyden, David; Bromberg, Jacqueline
    Packaging and transfer of mitochondrial DNA via exosomes regulate escape from dormancy in hormonal therapy-resistant breast cancer
    In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), Vol. 114, 2017, Nr. 43, pp. E9066 – E9075
    DOI
  • Becker, Annette; Thakur, Basant Kumar; Weiss, Joshua Mitchell; Kim, Han Sang; Peinado, Héctor; Lyden, David
    Extracellular Vesicles in Cancer : Cell-to-Cell Mediators of Metastasis
    In: Cancer Cell, Vol. 30, 2016, Nr. 6, pp. 836 – 848
    DOI, Online Full Text (Open Access)
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