Elisabeth Hessmann. Junior Group Leader 
University Medical Center Göttingen. Website
Department of Gastroenterology and Gastrointestinal Oncology. Robert-Koch-Strasse 40, 37075 Goettingen, Germany
Reseach subject
Chromatin alterations in pancreatic cancer development and progression
Summary
Pancreatic cancer represents the third-leading cause of cancer-related death and is characterized by a dismal prognosis that has not significantly improved during the last decades. Genomic heterogeneity and the potential of pancreatic cancer cells to change their plasticity due to highly dynamic alterations of the chromatin landscape highly contribute to the aggressive behavior of these tumors.
Our group focuses on the impact of chromatin dysregulation in the development and progression of pancreatic cancer. We utilize a plethora of functional, biochemical and molecular methods in human and murine tumor cells and in vivo models to dissect the influence of selected chromatin regulators in pancreatic carcinogenesis and progression. With the help of transgenic mice and “Patient-derived-Xenograft” models of pancreatic cancer we further investigate the therapeutic potential of targeting chromatin dysregulation in this dreadful malignant disease. Together, we aim to govern mechanistic insights into chromatin-associated alterations in pancreatic cancer and evaluate therapeutic strategies to tackle epigenetic dysregulation in this disease.
Publications
- Chen NM, Neesse A, Dyck ML, Steuber B, Koenig AO, Lubeseder-Martellato C, Winter T, Forster T, Bohnenberger H, Kitz J, Jessen KR, Griesmann H, Gaedcke J, Grade M, Zhang JS, Tsai WC, Siveke J, Schildhaus HU, Ströbel P, Johnsen SA, Ellenrieder V, Hessmann E. (2017). Context-dependent Epigenetic Regulation of Nuclear Factor of Activated T Cells 1 in Pancreatic Plasticity. Gastroenterology 152(6):1507-1520
- Hessmann E*, Patzak MS*, Klein L, Chen N, Kari V, Ramu I, Bapiro TE, Frese KK, Gopinathan A, Richards FM, Jodrell DI, Verbeke C, Li X, Heuchel R, Löhr JM, Johnsen SA, Gress TM, Ellenrieder V, Neesse A. (2017). Fibroblast drug scavenging increases intratumoural gemcitabine accumulation in murine pancreas cancer. Gut. [Epub ahead of print].
- Chen NM, Singh G, Koenig A, Liou GY, Storz P, Zhang JS, Regul L, Nagarajan S, Kühnemuth B, Johnsen SA, Hebrok M, Siveke J, Billadeau DD, Ellenrieder V, Hessmann E. (2015). NFATc1 links EGFR activation to induction of Sox9 transcription and acinar-ductal transdifferentiation in the pancreas. Gastroenterology 148(5):1024-1034.
- Baumgart S*, Glesel E*, Singh G, Chen NM, Reutlinger K, Zhang J, Billadeau DD, Fernandez-Zapico ME, Gress TM, Singh SK, Ellenrieder V. (2012). Restricted heterochromatin formation links NFATc2 repressor activity with growth promotion in pancreatic cancer. Gastroenterology. 142(2):388-98.
- Mazur PK, Herner A, Mello SS, Wirth M, Hausmann S, Sánchez-Rivera FJ, Lofgren SM, Kuschma T, Hahn SA, Vangala D, Trajkovic-Arsic M, Gupta A, Heid I, Noël PB, Braren R, Erkan M, Kleeff J, Sipos B, Sayles LC, Heikenwalder M, Heßmann E, Ellenrieder V, Esposito I, Jacks T, Bradner JE, Khatri P, Sweet-Cordero EA, Attardi LD, Schmid RM, Schneider G, Sage J, Siveke JT. (2015). Combined inhibition of BET family proteins and histone deacetylases as a potential epigenetics-based therapy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Nat Med. 21(10):1163-71.