Publications

2025

Andrej Besse, Marianne Kraus, Tiberiu Totu, Marija Buljan, Antonius P A Janssen, Mario Van der Stelt, Karin Matisikova, Jana Veprkova, Lenka Sedlarikova, Tamara Jurinakova, Marietta Truger, Claudia Haferlach, Max Mendez Lopez, Martin K Kortum, Leo Rasche, Christoph Driessen, Lenka Besse. Ceritinib overcomes proteasome inhibitor resistance in multiple myeloma by suppressing the protein folding response. 2025. Haematologica. doi:10.3324/haematol.2025.289245.

Markus Joerger, Stefan Diem, Nina Wyss, Kira-Lee Koster, Lenka Besse, Dagmar Hess, Yannis Metaxas, Marie-Claire Flynn, Stefanie Aeppli, Marie Therese Abou, Taemer Philip El Saadan, Shrunal Mane, Elke Hiendlmeyer, Roger von Moos , Lukas Flatz. Open-label nonrandomized phase IB study to characterize the safety and recommended dose of tinostamustine in combination with nivolumab in patients with advanced melanoma (ENIgMA). 2025. Melanoma Res. doi: 10.1097/CMR.0000000000001040.

Leonie Rieger, Kilian Irlinger, Franziska Füchsl, Marlene Tietje, Anna Purcarea, Nicolas Mathis Barbian, Melanie Faber, Carolin Vogelsang, Lisa Pfeuffer, Sonja Stotz, Oleksandra Karpiuk, Tobias Schulze, Abirami Augsburger, Nadine Glaisner, Verena Konetzki, Sabrina Friedel, Andrej Bešše, Lenka Besse, Christoph Driessen, Maike Buchner, Kristina Schwamborn, Katja Steiger, Piero Giansanti, Sebastian Theurich, Johannes M Waldschmidt, Klaus Martin Kortüm, Michael Hudecek, Hermann Einsele, Marion Högner, Bernhard Kuster and AN. Boosting CAR T-Cell Efficacy by Blocking Proteasomal Degradation of Membrane Antigens. 2025. Blood. doi: 10.1182/blood.2024027616.

Max Mendez-Lopez, Andrej Besse, Christian Zuppinger, Christian Perez-Shibayama, Cristina Gil-Cruz, Bogdan I Florea, De Martin Angelina, Mechthild Lutge, Deborah Beckerová, Šimon Vrana, Xiang Zhou, Leo Rasche, Jan Přibyl, Vladimír Rotrekl, Burkhard Ludewig, Herman S Overkleeft, Lenka Besse and Christoph Driessen. Carfilzomib-specific proteasome β5/β2 inhibition drives cardiotoxicity via remodeling of protein homeostasis and the renin-angiotensin-system. 2025. iScience. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.113228.

Thea Kristin Vatsveen, Mariaserena Giliberto, Valgerdur Bjornsdottir, Federica Centonze, Andrej Besse, Yannick Frey, Sigrid S Skanland, Anders Tveita, Amin Alirezaylavasani, John Franklin Imbery, Kristine Misund, Veronika Reiterer, Muhammad Zahoor, Christoph Driessen, Lenka Besse, Kjetil Tasken, Fredrik H Schjesvold, Hesso Farhan and Ludvig A Munthe. Targeting proteostasis in multiple myeloma through inhibition of LTK. 2025. Leukemia. doi: 10.1038/s41375-025-02682-8.

2024

Purde Mette-Triin, Jovana Cupovic, Yannick A Palmowski, Ahmad Makky, Sarah Schmidt, Alexander Rochwarger, Fabienne Hartmann, Felix Stemeseder, Alexander Lercher, Abdou Marie-Therese, David Bomze, Lenka Besse, Fiamma Berner, Thomas Täting, Michael Hölzel, Andreas Bergthaler, Stefan Kochanek, Burkhard Ludewig, Henning Lauterbach, Klaus K Orlinger, Tobias Bald, Andrea Schietinger, Christian Schürch, Sandra S Ring and Lukas Flatz. A replicating LCMV-based vaccine for the treatment of solid tumors. 2024. Molecular Therapy. doi: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2023.11.026.

Andrej Besse, Lenka Sedlaříková, Lorina Buechler, Marianne Kraus, Chieh-Hsiang Yang, Nicol Strakova, Karel Soucek, Jiří Navrátil, Marek Svoboda, Alana L Welm, Markus Joerger, Christoph Driessen and Lenka Besse. HIV-protease inhibitors potentiate the activity of carfilzomib in triple-negative breast cancer. 2024. British Journal of Cancer. doi: 10.1038/s41416-024-02774-9.

2023

Bandini Cecilia, Elisabetta Mereu, Tina Paradzik, Maria Labrador, Monica Maccagno, Michela Cumerlato, Federico Oreglia, Lorenzo Prever, Veronica Manicardi, Elisa Taiana, Domenica Ronchetti, Mattia Agostino, Francesca Gay, Alessandra Larocca, Lenka Besse, Giorgio Roberto Merlo, Emilio Hirsch, Alessia Ciarrocchi, Giorgio Inghirami, Antonino Neri, and Roberto Piva. Lysin (K)-specific demethylase 1 inhibition enhances proteasome inhibitor response and overcomes drug resistance in multiple myeloma. 2023. Exp Hematol Oncol. doi: 10.1186/s40164-023-00434-x.

Lenka Besse, Marianne Kraus, Andrej Besse, Christoph Driessen, Ignazio Tarantino. The cytotoxic activity of carfilzomib together with nelfinavir is superior to the bortezomib/nelfinavir combination in non-small cell lung carcinoma. 2023. Sci Rep. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-31400-6.

Xiang Zhou, Andrej Besse, Jessica Peter, Maximilian Johannes Steinhardt, Cornelia Vogt, Silvia Nerreter, Eva Teufel, Emilia Stanojkovska, Xianghui Xiao, Hannah Hornburger, Larissa Haertle, Max Mendez Lopez, Umair Munawar, Angela Riedel, Seungbin Han, Elmer Maurits, Herman S Overkleeft, Bogdan Florea, Hermann Einsele, K Martin Kortüm, Christoph Driessen, Lenka Besse, Leo Rasche. High-dose carfilzomib achieves superior anti-tumor activity over low-dose and recaptures response in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma resistant to lowdose carfilzomib by co-inhibiting the β2 and β1 subunits of the proteasome complex. 2023. Haematologica. doi:10.3324/haematol.2022.282225.

2022

Jonas Schwestermann, Andrej Besse, Christoph Driessen, Lenka Besse. Contribution of the Tumor Microenvironment to Metabolic Changes Triggering Resistance of Multiple Myeloma to Proteasome Inhibitors. 2023. Front Oncol. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.899272.

Ian D Ferguson, Bonell Patiño-Escobar, Sami T Tuomivaara, Yu-Hsiu T Lin, Matthew A Nix, Kevin K Leung, Corynn Kasap, Emilio Ramos, Wilson Nieves Vasquez, Alexis Talbot, Martina Hale, Akul Naik, Audrey Kishishita, Priya Choudhry , Antonia Lopez-Girona, Weili Miao, Sandy W Wong, Jeffrey L Wolf, Thomas G Martin 3rd, Nina Shah, Scott Vandenberg, Sonam Prakash, Lenka Besse, Christoph Driessen, Avery D Posey Jr, R Dyche Mullins, Justin Eyquem, James A Wells, Arun P Wiita. The surfaceome of multiple myeloma cells suggests potential immunotherapeutic strategies and protein markers of drug resistance. 2023. Nat Commun. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-31810-6.

Andrej Besse, Marianne Kraus, Max Mendez-Lopez, Elmer Maurits, Herman S Overkleeft, Christoph Driessen, Lenka Besse. Immunoproteasome Activity in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia as a Target of the Immunoproteasome-Selective Inhibitors. 2023. Cells. doi: 10.3390/cells11050838.

2021

Ian D. Ferguson, Bonell Patiño Escobar, Sami T. Tuomivaara, Yu-Hsiu T. Lin, Matthew A. Nix, Kevin K. Leung, Martina Hale, Priya Choudhry, Antonia Lopez-Girona, Emilio Ramos, Sandy W. Wong, Jeffrey L. Wolf, Thomas G. Martin III, Nina Shah, Scott Vandenberg, Sonam Prakash, Lenka Besse, Christoph Driessen, James A. Wells, Arun P. Wiita. Defining the cell surface proteomic landscape of multiple myeloma reveals immunotherapeutic strategies and biomarkers of drug resistance. 2021. bioRxiv. doi: 10.1101/2021.01.17.427038

Arnold Bolomsky, Juho J Miettinen, Alina Malyutina, Andrej Besse, Julia Huber, Stefanie Fellinger, Helene Breid, Alun Parsons, Kristaps Klavins, J Thomas Hannich, Stefan Kubicek, Jo Caers, Wolfgang Hübl, Martin Schreder, Niklas Zojer, Christoph Driessen, Jing Tang, Lenka Besse, Caroline A Heckman, Heinz Ludwig. Heterogeneous modulation of Bcl-2 family members and drug efflux mediate MCL-1 inhibitor resistance in multiple myeloma. 2021. Blood Adv. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2020003826.

Konstantin Byrgazov, Andrej Besse, Marianne Kraus, Ana Slipicevic, Fredrik Lehmann, Christoph Driessen, Lenka Besse. Novel Peptide-drug Conjugate Melflufen Efficiently Eradicates Bortezomib-resistant Multiple Myeloma Cells Including Tumor-initiating Myeloma Progenitor Cells. 2021. Hemasphere. doi: 10.1097/HS9.0000000000000602.

Lenka Besse, Andrej Besse, Sara C Stolze, Amin Sobh, Esther A Zaal, Alwin J van der Ham, Mario Ruiz, Santosh Phuyal, Lorina Büchler, Marc Sathianathan, Bogdan I Florea, Jan Borén, Marcus Ståhlman, Julia Huber, Arnold Bolomsky, Heinz Ludwig, J Thomas Hannich, Alex Loguinov, Bart Everts, Celia R Berkers, Marc Pilon, Hesso Farhan, Christopher D Vulpe, Herman S Overkleeft, Christoph Driessen. Treatment with HIV-protease inhibitor nelfinavir identifies membrane lipid composition and fluidity as a therapeutic target in advanced multiple myeloma. 2021. Cancer Res. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-20-3323.

Konstantin Byrgazov, Marianne Kraus, Andrej Besse, Ana Slipicevic, Fredrik Lehmann, Christoph Driessen, Lenka Besse. Up-regulation of multidrug resistance protein MDR1/ABCB1 in carfilzomib-resistant multiple myeloma differentially affects efficacy of anti-myeloma drugs. 2021. Leuk Res. doi: 10.1016/j.leukres.2020.106499.

Lenka Besse, Andrej Besse, Marianne Kraus, Elmer Maurits, Herman S Overkleeft, Beat Bornhauser, Jean-Pierre Bourquin, Christoph Driessen. High Immunoproteasome Activity and sXBP1 in Pediatric Precursor B-ALL Predicts Sensitivity towards Proteasome Inhibitors. 2021. Cells. doi: 10.3390/cells10112853.

To see publications in previous years, please use the following ORCID link.