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Simon Schwoerer

TitleAssistant Professor
InstitutionUniversity of Chicago
DepartmentMedicine-Hematology and Oncology
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    Collapse Overview 
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    The Schwörer Lab is interested in understanding how nutrient availability and utilization regulate cell plasticity and cell type specific function.

    To address this, we use fibroblasts as a model, as they are highly plastic and have a unique function (i.e., extracellular matrix production). Unlike cancer cells that are dictated by their oncogenic mutation, fibroblast state and function is fully responsive to environmental cues, such as signaling molecules, oxygen and the nutrients available to them.

    The lab mainly focuses on cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in pancreatic cancer, an aggressive tumor with abundant desmoplastic stroma and substantially altered nutrient availability. In addition, we also investigate the role of metabolism in fibroblast cell state decisions and function in the context of other tumor types and as well as inflammatory and fibrotic diseases of the lungs and skin.
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    Collapse Biography 
    Collapse education and training
    Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New YorkPostdoctoral Fellow09/2022Cancer Metabolism
    Friedrich Schiller University, Jena PhD03/2017Molecular Biomedicine
    Ulm University, UlmMSc04/2013Molecular Medicine
    Ulm University, UlmBSc09/2011Molecular Medicine
    Collapse awards and honors
    2024 - 2027Pancreatic Cancer Idea Development Award, Department of Defense
    2023Founders Award, American Society for Matrix Biology
    2023 - 2025Young Investigator Award, Cancer Research Foundation
    2023Augustyn Award in Digestive Cancer, AGA Foundation
    2021 - 2025K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, National Cancer Institute
    2020 - 2022Postdoctoral Innovation Award, Gerry Metastasis and Tumor Ecosystems Center
    2018 - 2021Postdoctoral Fellowship, Human Frontier Science Foundation
    2017Travel Award, German Academic Exchange Service
    2008 - 2011Student scholarship, Ulm University

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    Collapse Bibliographic 
    Collapse selected publications
    Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.
    Newest   |   Oldest   |   Most Cited   |   Most Discussed   |   Timeline   |   Field Summary   |   Plain Text
    PMC Citations indicate the number of times the publication was cited by articles in PubMed Central, and the Altmetric score represents citations in news articles and social media. (Note that publications are often cited in additional ways that are not shown here.) Fields are based on how the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classifies the publication's journal and might not represent the specific topic of the publication. Translation tags are based on the publication type and the MeSH terms NLM assigns to the publication. Some publications (especially newer ones and publications not in PubMed) might not yet be assigned Field or Translation tags.) Click a Field or Translation tag to filter the publications.
    1. Schwörer S, Cimino FV, Ros M, Tsanov KM, Ng C, Lowe SW, Carmona-Fontaine C, Thompson CB. Hypoxia Potentiates the Inflammatory Fibroblast Phenotype Promoted by Pancreatic Cancer Cell-Derived Cytokines. Cancer Res. 2023 05 15; 83(10):1596-1610. PMID: 36912618; PMCID: PMC10658995.
      Citations: 33     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    2. Pavlova NN, Cimino FV, King B, Cai X, Sizemore GM, Thompson CB, Schwörer S. Fibroblast pyruvate carboxylase is required for collagen production in the tumour microenvironment. Nat Metab. 2021 11; 3(11):1484-1499. PMID: 34764457; PMCID: PMC8606002.
      Citations: 21     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    3. Zhu J, Berisa M, Kyung YJ, Ryu KW, Yi J, Jiang X, Cross JR, Thompson CB, Schwörer S. Mitochondrial NADP(H) generation is essential for proline biosynthesis. Science. 2021 05 28; 372(6545):968-972. PMID: 33888598; PMCID: PMC8241437.
      Citations: 60     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    4. Berisa M, Violante S, Qin W, Zhu J, Hendrickson RC, Cross JR, Thompson CB, Schwörer S. Proline biosynthesis is a vent for TGFß-induced mitochondrial redox stress. EMBO J. 2020 04 15; 39(8):e103334. PMID: 32134147; PMCID: PMC7156964.
      Citations: 98     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    5. Zhu J, Berisa M, Qin W, Cross JR, Thompson CB, Schwörer S. Transsulfuration Activity Can Support Cell Growth upon Extracellular Cysteine Limitation. Cell Metab. 2019 11 05; 30(5):865-876.e5. PMID: 31607565; PMCID: PMC6961654.
      Citations: 112     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    6. Vardhana SA, Thompson CB, Schwörer S. Cancer Metabolism Drives a Stromal Regenerative Response. Cell Metab. 2019 03 05; 29(3):576-591. PMID: 30773467; PMCID: PMC6692899.
      Citations: 64     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    7. Becker F, Baig AH, Henze H, Kraus JM, Xin B, Lipka DB, Varghese CS, Schmidt M, Rohs R, Medina KL, Kestler HA, Neri F, von Maltzahn J, Rudolph KL, Schwörer S, Feller C, Köber U, Lechel A, Aebersold R, Tümpel S. Epigenetic stress responses induce muscle stem-cell ageing by Hoxa9 developmental signals. Nature. 2016 12 15; 540(7633):428-432. PMID: 27919074; PMCID: PMC5415306.
      Citations: 66     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    8. Rinkenauer AC, Press AT, Raasch M, Pietsch C, Schweizer S, Rudolph KL, Mosig A, Bauer M, Traeger A, Schubert US, Schwörer S. Comparison of the uptake of methacrylate-based nanoparticles in static and dynamic in vitro systems as well as in vivo. J Control Release. 2015 Oct 28; 216:158-68. PMID: 26277064.
      Citations: 12     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
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