Research
- Research Topics
- Cell Biology and Tumor Biology
- Stem Cells and Cancer
- Inflammatory Stress in Stem Cells
- Experimental Hematology
- Molecular Embryology
- Signal Transduction and Growth Control
- Epigenetics
- Redox Regulation
- Vascular Oncology and Metastasis
- Clinical Neurobiology
- Molecular Neurogenetics
- Chaperones and Proteases
- Vascular Signaling and Cancer
- Molecular Neurobiology
- Mechanisms Regulating Gene Expression
- Molecular Biology of Centrosomes and Cilia
- Dermato-Oncology
- Pediatric Leukemia
- Tumour Metabolism and Microenvironment
- Personalized Medical Oncology
- Molecular Hematology - Oncology
- Cancer Progression and Metastasis
- Metastatic Niches
- Molecular Leukemogenesis
- Translational Surgical Oncology
- Neuronal Signaling and Morphogenesis
- Cell Signaling and Metabolism
- Cell Fate Engineering and Disease Modeling
- Cancer Drug Development
- Cell Morphogenesis and Signal Transduction
- Helmholtz Professorship Cell Biology
- Functional and Structural Genomics
- Molecular Genome Analysis
- Molecular Genetics
- Pediatric Neurooncology
- Cancer Genome Research
- Chromatin Networks
- Functional Genome Analysis
- Theoretical Systems Biology
- Neuroblastoma Genomics
- Signaling and Functional Genomics
- Signal Transduction in Cancer and Metabolism
- RNA Biology and Cancer
- Systems Biology of Signal Transduction
- Molecular thoracic Oncology
- Proteomics of Stem Cells and Cancer
- Computational Genomics and System Genetics
- Regulatory Genomics and Cancer Evolution
- Applied Functional Genomics
- Applied Bioinformatics
- Translational Medical Oncology
- Cancer Epigenomics
- Translational Pediatric Sarcoma Research
- Neuropathology
- Pediatric Oncology
- Neurooncology
- Somatic Evolution and Early Detection
- Translational Control and Metabolism
- Pediatric Glioma Research
- Soft-Tissue Sarcoma
- Precision Sarcoma Research
- Brain Mosaicism and Tumorigenesis
- Translational Gastrointestinal Oncology and Preclinical Models
- Mechanisms of Leukemogenesis
- Genome Instability in Tumors
- Developmental Origins of Pediatric Cancer
- Brain Tumor Translational Targets
- Brain Cancer Metabolism
- Translational Functional Cancer Genomics
- SPRINT
- Cancer Risk Factors and Prevention
- Cancer Epidemiology
- Biostatistics
- Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research
- Health Economics
- Physical Activity, Prevention and Cancer
- Preventive Oncology
- Digital Biomarkers for Oncology
- Genomic Epidemiology
- Cancer Survivorship
- Molecular Epidemiology
- Immunology and Cancer
- Cellular Immunology
- Molecular Oncology of Gastrointestinal Tumors
- Translational Immunotherapy
- B Cell Immunology
- Immune Diversity
- Structural Biology of Infection and Immunity
- Applied Tumor-Immunity
- Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumor Immunology
- T Cell Metabolism
- Adaptive Immunity and Lymphoma
- Immune Regulation in Cancer
- GMP & T Cell Therapy
- News
- Imaging and Radiooncology
- Radiology
- Research
- Computational Radiology Research Group
- Contrast Agents In Radiology Research Group
- Neuro-Oncologic Imaging Research Group
- Radiological Early Response Assessment Of Modern Cancer Therapies
- Imaging In Monoclonal Plasma Cell Disorders
- 7 Tesla MRI - Novel Imaging Biomarkers
- Functional Imaging
- Visualization And Forensic Imaging
- PET/MRI
- Dual- and Multienergy CT
- Radiomics Research Group
- Prostate Research Group
- Breast Imaging Research Group
- Bone marrow
- Musculoskeletal Imaging
- Staff
- Patients
- Research
- Medical Physics in Radiology
- X-Ray Imaging and Computed Tomography
- Medical Informatics for Translational Oncology
- Federated Information Systems
- Translational Molecular Imaging
- Medical Physics in Radiation Oncology
- Biomedical Physics in Radiation Oncology
- Computer Assisted Medical Interventions
- Medical Image Computing
- Radiooncology - Radiobiology
- Radiation Oncology
- Molecular Radiooncology
- Nuclear Medicine
- Medical Imaging and Radiology - Cancer Prevention
- Molecular Biology of Systemic Radiotherapy
- Translational Radiation Oncology
- Molecular Mechanisms of Head and Neck Tumors
- Radiology
- Infection, Inflammation and Cancer
- Tumor Virology
- Viral Transformation Mechanisms
- Pathogenesis of Virus-Associated Tumors
- Applied Tumor Biology
- Virotherapy
- Virus-associated Carcinogenesis
- Chronic Inflammation and Cancer
- Microbiome and Cancer
- Cell Plasticity and Epigenetic Remodeling
- Cellular Polarity and Viral Infection
- Noroviruses
- Laboratory of Oncolytic Virus Immuno-Therapeutics
- Infections and Cancer Epidemiology
- Tumorvirus-specific Vaccination Strategies
- Mammalian Cell Cycle Control Mechanisms
- Molecular Therapy of Virus-Associated Cancers
- Immunotherapy and Immunoprevention - Molecular Vaccine Design
- DNA Vectors
- Episomal-Persistent DNA in Cancer- and Chronic Diseases
- Other Units
- Cell Biology and Tumor Biology
- Research Groups A-Z
- Junior Research Groups
- Core Facilities
- Center for Preclinical Research
- Chemical Biology Core Facility
- Electron Microscopy
- Flow Cytometry
- Genomics and Proteomics
- Information Technology
- Library
- Kataloge - Catalogues
- Zeitschriften - Journals
- E-Books - Ebooks
- Datenbanken - Databases
- Dokument-Lieferung - Document Delivery
- Publikationsdatenbank - Publication database
- DKFZ Archiv - DKFZ Archive
- Open Access
- Science 2.0
- Ansprechpartner - Contact
- More Information - Service
- Anschrift - Address
- Antiquariat - Second Hand
- Aufstellungssystematik - Shelf Classification
- Ausleihe - Circulation
- Benutzerhinweise - Library Use
- Beschaffungsvorschläge - Desiderata
- Fakten und Zahlen - Facts and Numbers
- Kooperationen, Konsortien - Cooperations, Consortia
- Kopieren, Scannen - Copying, Scans
- Kurse, Führungen - Courses, Introductions
- DEAL-Info
- DKFZ-Intern - internal only
- Light Microscopy
- Omics IT and Data Management Core Facility
- Small Animal Imaging
- Metabolomics Core Technology Platform
- Data Science @ DKFZ
- INFORM
- Databox
- Baden-Württemberg Cancer Registry
- Cooperations & Networks
- National Cooperations
- International Cooperations
- Cooperational Research Program with Israel: DKFZ - MOST in Cancer Research
- Program
- Members of the Program Committee
- Call 2019
- Publication Database
- German-Israeli Cancer Research Schools
- Archive
- Heidelberg - Israel, Science and Culture
- Symposium 40 Years of German-Israeli Cooperation
- 35th Anniversary Symposium
- 34th Meeting of the DKFZ-MOST Program
- 40th Anniversary Publication
- 30th Anniversary Publication
- 20th Anniversary Publication
- Flyer - The Cancer Cooperation Program
- List Publications 1976-2004
- Highlight-Projects
- Cooperational Research Program with Israel: DKFZ - MOST in Cancer Research
- Cooperations with industrial companies
- Helmholtz Alliances
- DKFZ PostDoc Network
- Cross Program Topic RNA@DKFZ
- Cross Program Topic Epigenetics@dkfz
- Cross Program Topic Single Cell Sequencing
- WHO Collaborating Centers
- DKFZ Site Dresden
Helmholtz Young Investigator Group Brain Mosaicism and Tumorigenesis
Dr. Pei-Chi Wei
Neural stem and progenitor cells undergo tens of thousands cell division to generate 80 billion neurons in the human brain. Rapid cell division could result in DNA damage that may lead to genomic lesions to drive brain cancer initiation. Mouse model studies have shown that DNA repair factor inactivation in the p53-deficient mouse neural stem and progenitor cell resulted in medulloblastomas, one the most common and deadly brain cancers in childhood. In these mouse medulloblastomas, recurrent tumor suppressor gene Ptch1 deletion, oncogene Myc-N amplification, copy number variations and chromosomal translocations occur similar as in a subgroup of human medulloblastomas. These findings fueled the speculation that recurrent DNA breaks occurred during early brain development. Our prior study revealed over a hundred recurrent DNA break clusters, namely RDCs, colocalized at the body of transcribed genes in the neural stem and progenitor cells (Wei et al., 2016 and 2018). The majority of RDC containing genes encode proteins that control neuronal synaptic functions. In addition, human orthologs of most mouse RDC-genes were genetically disrupted in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders and brain cancers. Most RDC containing genes are very long and late replicating, two general features also observed in common fragile sites. These findings are generally perceived to be the remarkable beginning to understand neural stem cell genome instability and brain tumor initiation. Our mission is to understand the biological function of recurrent DNA breaks in brain development and diseases. We will combine cell-line tools, mouse models, and state-of-the-art next generation sequencing methods to elucidate the key acting factors that lead to RDC, whether the 3-D chromatin architecture facilitate genomic structural variation, the temporal and spatial RDCs organization in the developing brain, and whether RDC breaks directly contribute to brain cancer and mental disorders.