Prof. Dr. Petya Apostolova

Kumar, Rajendra, Jonnatan, Sheila, Sanin, David E., Vakkala, Varsha, Kadam, Anoushka, Kumar, Shivani, Rosen, D Marc, Dalrymple, Susan L., Zhao, Liang, Foley, Jackson R., Holbert, Cassandra E., Nwafor, Ashley, Kittane, Srushti, Penner, Elizabeth, Apostolova, Petya, Warner, Samuel, Dang, Chi V., Toska, Eneda, Thompson, Elizabeth A., et al. (2026). Androgen Receptor Drives Polyamine Synthesis, Creating a Vulnerability for Prostate Cancer. Cancer Research, 86. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.can-25-1532

Fetsch, Viktor, Schwöbel, Lennard Frederik, Ozyerli-Goknar, Ezgi, Stell, Anna-Verena, Punta, Marco, Plenge, Thomas, Klaus, Tabea, Gupta, Manoj K., Andrieux, Geoffroy, Shoumariyeh, Khalid, Pfeiffer, Sophie, Corrales, Eyleen, Schlenke, Lina, Baniadam, Hosna, Brandl, Simon M., Andreis, Massimo, Remen, Michal, Hartmann, Alina, Grueter, Kathleen, et al. (2025). Menin inhibition enhances graft-versus-leukemia effects by T-cell activation and endogenous retrovirus induction in AML. Blood Journal. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2025029712

Apostolova, Petya. (2025). Time for iMDSCs: off-the-shelf MDSCs to control GVHD. Blood, 146, 2011–2012. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2025030529

Sangya Chatterjee, Tamina Rückert, Ina Martin, Elisa Michaeli, Joerg Buescher, Petya Apostolova, Daniel Erny, Maria-Eleni Lalioti, Francesca Biavasco, Alina Hartmann, Solveig Runge, Lukas Braun, Nana Talvard-Balland, Rachael Adams, Annette Schmitt-Graeff, James Cook, Valentin Wenger, Dimitrios Athanassopoulos, Dilara Hasavci, et al. (2025). Gut-microbiota derived N,N,N-trimethyl-5-aminovaleric acid is a modulator of acute CNS-GVHD. Journal of Experimental Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20242180

Haring, E., Buescher, J. M., & Apostolova, P. (2025). Metabolism in hematology: Technological advances open new perspectives on disease biology and treatment [Journal-article]. HemaSphere, 9(5). https://doi.org/10.1002/hem3.70134

Vorri, S. C., Holl, N. J., Leeming, M., Apostolova, P., Marple, A., Ravich, J. W., Canbaz, A., Rahnama, R., Choe, J., Modi, A., Fearnow, A. D., Walsh, S. T. R., Pearce, E. L., Varadhan, R., & Bonifant, C. L. (2025). Data from Activation of Cell-Intrinsic Signaling in CAR-T Cells via a Chimeric IL7R Domain [Posted-content]. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). https://doi.org/10.1158/2767-9764.c.7439354

Braun, Lukas M., Giesler, Sophie, Andrieux, Geoffroy, Riemer, Roxane, Talvard-Balland, Nana, Duquesne, Sandra, Rückert, Tamina, Unger, Susanne, Kreutmair, Stefanie, Zwick, Melissa, Follo, Marie, Hartmann, Alina, Osswald, Natascha, Melchinger, Wolfgang, Chapman, Stefanie, Hutchinson, James A., Haferkamp, Sebastian, Torster, Leopold, Kött, Julian, et al. (2025). Adiponectin reduces immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced inflammation without blocking anti-tumor immunity. Cancer Cell, 43, 269–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2025.01.004

Villa, M., Sanin, D. E., Apostolova, P., Corrado, M., Kabat, A. M., Cristinzio, C., Regina, A., Carrizo, G. E., Rana, N., Stanczak, M. A., Baixauli, F., Grzes, K. M., Cupovic, J., Solagna, F., Hackl, A., Globig, A.-M., Hässler, F., Puleston, D. J., Kelly, B., et al. (2024). Prostaglandin E2 controls the metabolic adaptation of T cells to the intestinal microenvironment. Nature Communications, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44689-2

Vorri, Stamatia C, Holl, Natalie J, Leeming, Michael, Apostolova, Petya, Marple, Andrew, Ravich, Jonas W, Canbaz, Ata, Rahnama, Ruyan, Choe, Jun, Modi, Arjun, Fearnow, Adam D, Walsh, Scott T. R., Pearce, Erika L, Varadhan, Ravi, & Bonifant, Challice L. (2024). Activation of Cell-Intrinsic Signaling in CAR-T Cells via a Chimeric IL7R Domain [Journal-article]. Cancer Research Communications, 4(9), 2359–2373. https://doi.org/10.1158/2767-9764.crc-24-0286

Apostolova, P. (2024). GVHD: bile duct stem cells under attack. Blood, 144(8), 805–807. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2024025790

Burk, Ann-Cathrin, & Apostolova, Petya. (2024). Metabolic instruction of the graft-versus-leukemia immunity. Frontiers in Immunology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1347492

Talvard-Balland, Nana, Braun, Lukas M., Dixon, Karen O., Zwick, Melissa, Engel, Helena, Hartmann, Alina, Duquesne, Sandra, Penter, Livius, Andrieux, Geoffroy, Rindlisbacher, Lukas, Acerbis, Andrea, Ehmann, Jule, Köllerer, Christoph, Ansuinelli, Michela, Rettig, Andres, Moschallski, Kevin, Apostolova, Petya, Brummer, Tilman, Illert, Anna L., et al. (2024). Oncogene-induced TIM-3 ligand expression dictates susceptibility to anti–TIM-3 therapy in mice [Journal-article]. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 134(16). https://doi.org/10.1172/jci177460

Apostolova, P., Kreutmair, S., Toffalori, C., Punta, M., Unger, S., Burk, A.-C., Wehr, C., Maas-Bauer, K., Melchinger, W., Haring, E., Hoefflin, R., Shoumariyeh, K., Hupfer, V., Lauer, E. M., Duquesne, S., Lowinus, T., Gonzalo Núñez, N., Alberti, C., da Costa Pereira, S., et al. (2023). Phase II trial of hypomethylating agent combined with nivolumab for acute myeloid leukaemia relapse after allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation—Immune signature correlates with response. British Journal of Haematology, 203(2), 264–281. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjh.19007

Apostolova, P. (2023). Allo-HCT: damaged T cells don’t bite. Blood, 141(13), 1507–1508. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2022019242

Villa, M., Sanin, D. E., Apostolova, P., Corrado, M., Kabat, A. M., Cristinzio, C., Regina, A., Carrizo, G. E., Rana, N., Stanczak, M. A., Baixauli, F., Grzes, K. M., Cupovic, J., Solagna, F., Hackl, A., Globig, A.-M., Hässler, F., Puleston, D. J., Kelly, B., et al. (2023, March 15). Prostaglandin E₂controls the metabolic adaptation of T cells to the intestinal microenvironment [Posted-content]. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.03.13.532431

Edwards-Hicks, Joy, Apostolova, Petya, Buescher, Joerg M., Maib, Hannes, Stanczak, Michal A., Corrado, Mauro, Klein Geltink, Ramon I., Maccari, Maria Elena, Villa, Matteo, Carrizo, Gustavo E., Sanin, David E., Baixauli, Francesc, Kelly, Beth, Curtis, Jonathan D., Haessler, Fabian, Patterson, Annette, Field, Cameron S., Caputa, George, Kyle, Ryan L., et al. (2023). Phosphoinositide acyl chain saturation drives CD8+ effector T cell signaling and function. Nature Immunology, 24(3), 516–530. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-023-01419-y

Apostolova, P., & Pearce, E. L. (2022). Lactic acid and lactate: revisiting the physiological roles in the tumor microenvironment. Trends in Immunology, 43(12), 969–977. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.it.2022.10.005

Ho, J. N. H. G., Schmidt, D., Lowinus, T., Ryoo, J., Dopfer, E.-P., Gonzalo Núñez, N., Costa-Pereira, S., Toffalori, C., Punta, M., Fetsch, V., Wertheimer, T., Rittmann, M.-C., Braun, L. M., Follo, M., Briere, C., Vinnakota, J. M., Langenbach, M., Koppers, F., Shoumariyeh, K., et al. (2022). Targeting MDM2 enhances antileukemia immunity after allogeneic transplantation via MHC-II and TRAIL-R1/2 upregulation. Blood, 140(10), 1167–1181. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2022016082

Taromi, S., Firat, E., Simonis, A., Braun, L. M., Apostolova, P., Elze, M., Passlick, B., Schumacher, A., Lagies, S., Frey, A., Schmitt-Graeff, A., Burger, M., Schmittlutz, K., Follo, M., von Elverfeldt, D., Zhu, X., Kammerer, B., Diederichs, S., Duyster, J., et al. (2022). Enhanced AC133-specific CAR T cell therapy induces durable remissions in mice with metastatic small cell lung cancer. Cancer Letters, 538. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.canlet.2022.215697

Haring, E., Andrieux, G., Uhl, F. M., Krausz, M., Proietti, M., Sauer, B., Esser, P. R., Martin, S. F., Pfeifer, D., Schmitt-Graeff, A., Duyster, J., Köhler, N., Grimbacher, B., Boerries, M., Aumann, K., Zeiser, R., & Apostolova, P. (2022). Therapeutic targeting of endoplasmic reticulum stress in acute graft-versus-host disease. Haematologica, 107(7), 1538–1554. https://doi.org/10.3324/haematol.2021.278387

Taromi, S., Firat, E., Simonis, A., Braun, L. M., Apostolova, P., Elze, M., Passlick, B., Schumacher, A., Lagies, S., Frey, A., Schmitt-Graeff, A., Burger, M., Schmittlutz, K., Follo, M., von Elverfeldt, D., Zhu, X., Kammerer, B., Diederichs, S., Duyster, J., et al. (2022). Retraction notice to “Enhanced AC133-specific CAR T cell therapy induces durable remissions in mice with metastatic small cell lung cancer” [Canc. Lett. 520 (2021) 385–399] (Cancer Letters (2021) 520 (385–399), (S0304383521004018), (10.1016/j.canlet.2021.08.012)). Cancer Letters, 537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.canlet.2022.215680

Caputa, G., Matsushita, M., Sanin, D. E., Kabat, A. M., Edwards-Hicks, J., Grzes, K. M., Pohlmeyer, R., Stanczak, M. A., Castoldi, A., Cupovic, J., Forde, A. J., Apostolova, P., Seidl, M., van Teijlingen Bakker, N., Villa, M., Baixauli, F., Quintana, A., Hackl, A., Flachsmann, L., et al. (2022). Intracellular infection and immune system cues rewire adipocytes to acquire immune function. Cell Metabolism, 34(5), 747–760. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2022.04.008

Gendrisch, F., Völkel, L., Fluck, M., Apostolova, P., Zeiser, R., Jakob, T., Martin, S. F., & Esser, P. R. (2022). IRE1 and PERK signaling regulates inflammatory responses in a murine model of contact hypersensitivity. Allergy: European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 77(3), 966–978. https://doi.org/10.1111/all.15024

Stanczak, Michal A., Sanin, David E., Apostolova, Petya, Nerz, Gabriele, Lampaki, Dimitrios, Hofmann, Maike, Steinmann, Daniel, Krohn-Grimberghe, Marvin, Thimme, Robert, Mittler, Gerhard, Waller, Cornelius F., Pearce, Edward J., & Pearce, Erika L. (2021). IL-33 expression in response to SARS-CoV-2 correlates with seropositivity in COVID-19 convalescent individuals. Nature Communications, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22449-w

Haring, E., Uhl, F. M., Andrieux, G., Proietti, M., Bulashevska, A., Sauer, B., Braun, L. M., De Vega Gomez, E., Esser, P. R., Martin, S. F., Pfeifer, D., Follo, M., Schmitt-Graeff, A., Buescher, J., Duyster, J., Grimbacher, B., Boerries, M., Pearce, E. L., Zeiser, R., & Apostolova, P. (2021). Bile acids regulate intestinal antigen presentation and reduce graft-versus-host disease without impairing the graft-versus-leukemia effect. Haematologica, 106(8), 2031–2046. https://doi.org/10.3324/haematol.2019.242990

Haring, E., Zeiser, R., & Apostolova, P. (2021). Interfering With Inflammation: Heterogeneous Effects of Interferons in Graft-Versus-Host Disease of the Gastrointestinal Tract and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Frontiers in Immunology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.705342

OSullivan, D., Stanczak, M. A., Villa, M., Uhl, F. M., Corrado, M., Klein Geltink, R. I., Sanin, D. E., Apostolova, P., Rana, N., Edwards-Hicks, J., Grzes, K. M., Kabat, A. M., Kyle, R. L., Fabri, M., Curtis, J. D., Buck, M. D., Patterson, A. E., Regina, A., Field, C. S., et al. (2021). Fever supports CD8+ effector T cell responses by promoting mitochondrial translation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(25). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023752118

Maas-Bauer, K., Kiote-Schmidt, C., Bertz, H., Apostolova, P., Wäsch, R., Ihorst, G., Finke, J., & Zeiser, R. (2021). Ruxolitinib–ECP combination treatment for refractory severe chronic graft-versus-host disease. Bone Marrow Transplantation, 56(4), 909–916. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41409-020-01122-8

Uhl, F. M., Chen, S., O’Sullivan, D., Edwards-Hicks, J., Richter, G., Haring, E., Andrieux, G., Halbach, S., Apostolova, P., Büscher, J., Duquesne, S., Melchinger, W., Sauer, B., Shoumariyeh, K., Schmitt-Graeff, A., Kreutz, M., Lübbert, M., Duyster, J., Brummer, T., et al. (2020). Metabolic reprogramming of donor T cells enhances graft-versus-leukemia effects in mice and humans. Science Translational Medicine, 12(567). https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abb8969

Norona, J., Apostolova, P., Schmidt, D., Ihlemann, R., Reischmann, N., Taylor, G., Köhler, N., de Heer, J., Heeg, S., Andrieux, G., Siranosian, B. A., Schmitt-Graeff, A., Pfeifer, D., Catalano, A., Frew, I. J., Proietti, M., Grimbacher, B., Bulashevska, A., Bhatt, A. S., et al. (2020). Glucagon-like peptide 2 for intestinal stem cell and Paneth cell repair during graft-versus-host disease in mice and humans. Blood, 136(12), 1442–1455. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2020005957

Klein Geltink, R. I., Edwards-Hicks, J., Apostolova, P., O’Sullivan, D., Sanin, D. E., Patterson, A. E., Puleston, D. J., Ligthart, N. A. M., Buescher, J. M., Grzes, K. M., Kabat, A. M., Stanczak, M., Curtis, J. D., Hässler, F., Uhl, F. M., Fabri, M., Zeiser, R., Pearce, E. J., & Pearce, E. L. (2020). Metabolic conditioning of CD8+ effector T cells for adoptive cell therapy. Nature Metabolism, 2(8), 703–716. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-0256-z

Stanczak, M. A., Sanin, D. E., Apostolova, P., Nerz, G., Lampaki, D., Hofmann, M., Steinmann, D., Thimme, R., Mittler, G., Waller, C. F., Pearce, E. J., & Pearce, E. L. (2020, July 10). IL-33 expression in response to SARS-CoV-2 correlates with seropositivity in COVID-19 convalescent individuals [Posted-content]. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.09.20148056

Mathew, N. R., Vinnakota, J. M., Apostolova, P., Erny, D., Hamarsheh, S., Andrieux, G., Kim, J.-S., Hanke, K., Goldmann, T., Chappell-Maor, L., El-Khawanky, N., Ihorst, G., Schmidt, D., Duyster, J., Finke, J., Blank, T., Boerries, M., Blazar, B. R., Jung, S., et al. (2020). Graft-versus-host disease of the CNS is mediated by TNF upregulation in microglia. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 130(3), 1315–1329. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci130272

Apostolova, P., Unger, S., Von Bubnoff, D., Meiss, F., Becher, B., & Zeiser, R. (2020). Extracorporeal photopheresis for colitis induced by checkpoint-inhibitor therapy. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(3), 294–296. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmc1912274

Hülsdünker, J., Thomas, O. S., Haring, E., Unger, S., Núñez, N. G., Tugues, S., Gao, Z., Duquesne, S., Cywes-Bentley, C., Oyardi, O., Kirschnek, S., Schmitt-Graeff, A., Pabst, O., Koenecke, C., Duyster, J., Apostolova, P., Blaser, M. J., Becher, B., Pier, G. B., et al. (2019). Immunization against poly-N-acetylglucosamine reduces neutrophil activation and GVHD while sparing microbial diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(41), 20700–20706. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1908549116

Holderried, T. A. W., Fraccaroli, A., Schumacher, M., Heine, A., Brossart, P., Stelljes, M., Klobuch, S., Kröger, N., Apostolova, P., Finke, J., Zeiser, R., Heinicke, T., Bornhäuser, M., von Bergwelt-Baildon, M., Tischer, J., & Wolf, D. (2019). The role of checkpoint blockade after allogeneic stem cell transplantation in diseases other than Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Bone Marrow Transplantation, 54(10), 1662–1667. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41409-019-0498-0

Tugues, S., Amorim, A., Spath, S., Martin-Blondel, G., Schreiner, B., De Feo, D., Lutz, M., Guscetti, F., Apostolova, P., Haftmann, C., Hasselblatt, P., Núñez, N. G., Hottiger, M. O., Van Den Broek, M., Manz, M. G., Zeiser, R., & Becher, B. (2018). Graft-versus-host disease, but not graft-versus-leukemia immunity, is mediated by GM-CSF-licensed myeloid cells. Science Translational Medicine, 10(469). https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aat8410

Mathew NR, Baumgartner F, Braun L, O’Sullivan D, Thomas S, Waterhouse M, Müller TA, Hanke K, Taromi S, Apostolova P, Illert AL, Melchinger W, Duquesne S, Schmitt-Graeff A, Osswald L, Yan KL, Weber A, Tugues S, Spath S, et al. (2018). Sorafenib promotes graft-versus-leukemia activity in mice and humans through IL-15 production in FLT3-ITD-mutant leukemia cells. Nature Medicine, 24(3), 282–291. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.4484

Prestipino, A., Emhardt, A. J., Aumann, K., O’Sullivan, D., Gorantla, S. P., Duquesne, S., Melchinger, W., Braun, L., Vuckovic, S., Boerries, M., Busch, H., Halbach, S., Pennisi, S., Poggio, T., Apostolova, P., Veratti, P., Hettich, M., Niedermann, G., Bartholomä, M., et al. (2018). Oncogenic JAK2 V617F causes PD-L1 expression, mediating immune escape in myeloproliferative neoplasms. Science Translational Medicine, 10(429). https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aam7729

Apostolova, P., & Zeiser, R. (2016). The role of danger signals and ectonucleotidases in acute graft-versus-host disease. Human Immunology, 77(11), 1037–1047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humimm.2016.02.005

Apostolova, P., & Zeiser, R. (2016). The role of purine metabolites as DAMPs in acute graft-versus-host disease. Frontiers in Immunology, 7(OCT). https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2016.00439

Carapito, R., Jung, N., Kwemou, M., Untrau, M., Michel, S., Pichot, A., Giacometti, G., Macquin, C., Ilias, W., Morlon, A., Kotova, I., Apostolova, P., Schmitt-Graeff, A., Cesbron, A., Gagne, K., Oudshoorn, M., Van Der Holt, B., Labalette, M., Spierings, E., et al. (2016). Matching for the nonconventional MHC-I MICA gene significantly reduces the incidence of acute and chronic GVHD. Blood, 128(15), 1979–1986. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2016-05-719070

Schönle, A., Hartl, F. A., Mentzel, J., Nöltner, T., Rauch, K. S., Prestipino, A., Wohlfeil, S. A., Apostolova, P., Hechinger, A.-K., Melchinger, W., Fehrenbach, K., Guadamillas, M. C., Follo, M., Prinz, G., Ruess, A.-K., Pfeifer, D., Del Pozo, M. A., Schmitt-Graeff, A., Duyster, J., et al. (2016). Caveolin-1 regulates TCR signal strength and regulatory T-cell differentiation into alloreactive T cells. Blood, 127(15), 1930–1939. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2015-09-672428

Klambt, V., Wohlfeil, S. A., Schwab, L., Hulsdunker, J., Ayata, K., Apostolova, P., Schmitt-Graeff, A., Dierbach, H., Prinz, G., Follo, M., Prinz, M., Idzko, M., & Zeiser, R. (2015). A novel function for P2Y2 in myeloid recipient-derived cells during graft-versus-host disease. Journal of Immunology, 195(12), 5795–5804. https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.1501357

Koehn, B. H., Apostolova, P., Haverkamp, J. M., Miller, J. S., McCullar, V., Tolar, J., Munn, D. H., Murphy, W. J., Brickey, W. J., Serody, J. S., Gabrilovich, D. I., Bronte, V., Murray, P. J., Ting, J. P.-Y., Zeiser, R., & Blazar, B. R. (2015). GVHD-associated, inflammasome-mediated loss of function in adoptively transferred myeloid-derived suppressor cells. Blood, 126(13), 1621–1628. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2015-03-634691

Zeiser, R., Burchert, A., Lengerke, C., Verbeek, M., Maas-Bauer, K., Metzelder, S. K., Spoerl, S., Ditschkowski, M., Ecsedi, M., Sockel, K., Ayuk, F., Ajib, S., de Fontbrune, F. S., Na, I. K., Penter, L., Holtick, U., Wolf, D., Schuler, E., Meyer, E., et al. (2015). Ruxolitinib in corticosteroid-refractory graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation: a multicenter survey. Leukemia, 29(10), 8–2062. https://doi.org/10.1038/leu.2015.212

Chernogorova, Petya, & Zeiser, Robert. (2012). Ectonucleotidases in solid organ and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/208204

Wirsching, Hans-Georg, Kretz, Oliver, Morosan-Puopolo, Gabriela, Chernogorova, Petya, Theiss, Carsten, & Brand-Saberi, Beate. (2012). Thymosin β4 induces folding of the developing optic tectum in the chicken (Gallus domesticus). Journal of Comparative Neurology, 520(8), 1650–1662. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.23004

Tsukamoto, Hiroki, Chernogorova, Petya, Ayata, Korcan, Gerlach, Ulrike V., Rughani, Ankur, Ritchey, Jerry W., Ganesan, Jayanthi, Follo, Marie, Zeiser, Robert, Thompson, Linda F., & Idzko, Marco. (2012). Deficiency of CD73/ecto-5′-nucleotidase in mice enhances acute graft-versus-host disease. Blood, 119(19), 4554–4564. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2011-09-375899