Niels Behrendt

Ph.d., DSc.

Group Leader

See full curriculum vitae here


Key Research Interests
• Cancer cell invasion and matrix degradation through extracellular and endocytic mechanisms

• Focus components: Receptors and proteases engaged in collagenolysis

• Molecular structure and function, cellular expression and physiological role of focus components

• Blocking of focus components in preclinical studies (mouse cancer models)

• Utilization of specific receptors as tool for drug delivery and cancer imaging


Major achievements
• The first isolation and characterization of the urokinase receptor (uPAR), a central component in fibrinolysis and invasion (Behrendt, N. et al. J. Biol. Chem. (1990), 265: 6453 6460).

• Elucidation of the domain structure of uPAR, founding a new protein family, and clarification of its ligand-binding properties (Behrendt, N. et al., J. Biol. Chem. (1991), 266: 7842 7847).

• Identification, purification and cloning of uPARAP/Endo180, a novel collagen receptor with a central function in collagen turnover (Behrendt, N. et al., J. Biol. Chem. (2000), 275: 1993-2002).

• Identification of a novel initiation pathway of the plasminogen activation cascade system in vivo (List, K. et al., Biochemistry (2000), 39: 508-515).

• The first demonstration of uPARAP/Endo180 in cancer tissue (Schnack Nielsen, B. et al., Int. J. Cancer (2002), 98: 656-664).

• Direct demonstration of the role of uPARAP/Endo180 in collagen breakdown (Kjøller, L. et al., Exp. Cell Res. (2004), 293: 106-116).

• Clarification of the interplay between uPARAP/Endo180 and collagen degrading proteases (Madsen, D.H. et al., J. Biol. Chem. (2007), 282: 27037-27045).

• Mechanistic elucidation of uPAR-mediated signaling and effects on cell morphology (Hillig, T. et al., J. Biol. Chem. (2008), 283: 15217-15223).


Current Projects
• Elucidation of the composite action of extracellular proteolysis and endocytic matrix breakdown in vivo with particular emphasis to tissue remodeling and cancer invasion

• The collagen receptor, uPARAP/Endo180 and related receptors

• MT-MMPs and their role in pericellular and extracellular collagenolysis

• Strategies for interfering with collagen turnover in vivo, with particular emphasis to blocking monoclonal antibodies as model therapeutics

• The cellular response to modification of the matrix and the tumor microenvironment

• Utilization of endocytic receptors for drug delivery and uptake of gene expression modifiers

For details, see Behrendt Group - Current projects


National and international collaborators
Dr. Thomas H. Bugge and Dr. Kenn Holmbeck, NIDCR, NIH, USA.
Dr. Mingdong Huang, BDIMC, Harvard, Boston, USA & FIRMS, Fuzhou, China.
Dr. Agnès Noel, Laboratory of Tumor & Development Biology , University of Liège, Belgium.
Dr. Peter A. Andreasen, Institute of Molecular Biology, the University of Aarhus, Denmark.
Dr. Niels Ødum, Cell and Developmental Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Dr. Torben Plesner and Dr. Jean-Marie Delaissé, Institute of Regional Health Services Research, University of Southern Denmark / Vejle Hospital, Vejle, Denmark.

Participant in the “Microenvimet” collaboration, supported by the EU FP7 programme and the “Danish-Chinese Centre for Proteases and Cancer”, supported by the Danish National Research Foundation.