Cancer Epigenomics
- Functional and Structural Genomics

Prof. Dr. Christoph Plass
Division Head
Our division studies the contribution of epigenetic modifications to cancer, from their role in promoting tumor growth to their modulation of cancer therapies. Non-genetic mechanisms of therapy resistance are poorly understood at the molecular level and represent an unmet clinical need that we are addressing in several projects.

Our Research
The Division of Cancer Epigenomics focuses on the integration of epigenomic, genetic and transcriptomic data to unravel epigenomic alterations contributing to human malignancies, with a focus on acute myeloid leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, breast, lung, and prostate cancer. Altered epigenetic regulation of gene expression through changes in DNA methylation patterns, histone modifications and nucleosome positioning has been identified as a tumorigenic mechanism in almost all human malignancies. Epigenetic gene regulation through modulation of enhancer activity is now recognized as a novel concept in cancer epigenomics. Epigenetic modifications do not alter the gene sequence and offer the exciting possibility of using inhibitors of epigenetic enzymes to revert them. Our work relies on the use of state-of-the-art technologies, including genome-wide epigenomic profiling of purified cell types using low-input protocols, single-cell technologies, long-read sequencing and sophisticated computational analyses of omics data.
Members
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Prof. Dr. Christoph Plass
Division Head
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Susanna Grenner
Secretary
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Dr. Clarissa Gerhäuser
Group Leader Prostate Cancer Epigenomics
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Dr. Maria Llamazares Prada
Group Leader Lung Cancer Epigenomics
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Dr. Michael Scherer
Group Leader Computational and Single-Cell Epigenomics
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Dr. habil. Dieter Weichenhan
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Dr. Fiona Brown
Postdoctoral Researcher
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Maxime de Vrieze
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Katherine Kelly
PhD Student
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Nan Zhang
PhD Student
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Elena Everatt
PhD Student
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Gizem Altun
PhD Student
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Kathleen Schlüter
PhD Student
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Sergio Manzano Sanchez
Technician
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Marion Bähr
Technician
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Peter Waas
Technician
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Oliver Mücke
Technician
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Kaushani Banerjee
Master Student
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Thekli Paschali
Master Student
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Luc Husemann
B. Sc. Student
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Yoav Avi-Guy
Methods
Selected Publications
Progressive epigenetic programming during B cell maturation yields a continuum of disease phenotypes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Oakes CC, Seifert M, Assenov Y, Gu L, Przekopowitz M, Ruppert AS, Wang Q, Serva A, Koser S, Brocks D, Lipka D, Bogatyrova O, Mertens D, Zapatka M, Lichter P, Döhner H, Küppers R, Zenz T, Stilgenbauer S, Byrd JC and Plass C
Molecular evolution of early-onset prostate cancer identifies molecular risk markers and clinical trajectories
Gerhauser C, Favero F, Risch T, Simon R, Feuerbach L, Assenov Y, Heckmann D, Sidiropoulos N, Waszak SM, Hübschmann D, Urbanucci A, Girma EG, Kuryshev V, Klimczak LJ, Saini N, Stütz AM, Weichenhan D, Böttcher LM, Toth R, Hendriksen JD, Koop C, Lutsik P, Matzk S, Warnatz HJ, Amstislavskiy V, Feuerstein C, Raeder B, Bogatyrova O, Schmitz EM, Hube-Magg C, Kluth M, Huland H, Graefen M, Lawerenz C, Henry GH, Yamaguchi TN, Malewska A, Meiners J, Schilling D, Reisinger E, Eils R, Schlesner M, Strand DW, Bristow RG, Boutros PC, von Kalle C, Gordenin D, Sültmann H, Brors B, Sauter G, Plass C, Yaspo ML, Korbel JO, Schlomm T, Weischenfeldt J
Epigenetic reprogramming of airway macrophages promotes polarization and inflammation in muco-obstructive lung disease
Hey J, Paulsen M, Toth R, Weichenhan D, Butz S, Schatterny J, Liebers R, Lutsik P, Plass C, Mall MA
DNMT and HDAC inhibition induces immunogenic neoantigens from human endogenous retroviral element-derived transcripts
Goyal A, Bauer J, Hey J, Papageorgiou DN, Stepanova E, Daskalakis M, Scheid J, Dubbelaar M, Klimovich B, Schwarz D, Märklin M, Roerden M, Lin Y, Ma T, Mücke O, Rammensee H, Lübbert M, Loayza-Puch F, Krijgsveld J, Walz JS, Plass C
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