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
- 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
- Translational Radiation Oncology
- Molecular Biology of Systemic Radiotherapy
- Interactive Machine Learning
- Multiparametric methods for early detection of prostate cancer
- Molecular Mechanisms of Head and Neck Tumors
- Radiology
- Infection, Inflammation and Cancer
- Tumor Virology
- Viral Transformation Mechanisms
- Pathogenesis of Virus-Associated Tumors
- Immunotherapy and Immunoprevention
- 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
- 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
- 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
Division of Molecular Embryology
Prof. Dr. Christof Niehrs

Xenopus embryo with two heads, resulting from experimental overactivation of the head inducer Dickkopf1
© dkfz.de
How cells communicate with their environment via cell-cell interactions and by growth factors is a key question in the molecular life sciences, including tumor biology. Wnt signaling plays an important role in embryonic development and cancer. In our Division of Molecular Embryology we study mechanisms of Wnt pathway regulation. To this end, we identify developmental control genes, investigate what their biological role and biochemical mode of action is, and how the genes are regulated. Our particular interest is to investigate signal transduction of Wnt receptors and associated cofactors. We study mouse and frog embryos as well as organoid- and mammalian cell culture as model systems and we make use of innovative molecular technologies for their analysis. Thus, we follow a comprehensive approach spanning from the biochemical to the organismic level, to unravel the Wnt signaling network and its biological role, as a basis for novel translational approaches in tumor biology.
Future Outlook
We pursue four main lines of research. First, we investigate the role of Wnt signaling in cell cycle regulation, notably mitosis. We found that Wnt signaling affects cell division by a novel posttranscriptional pathway and we are identifying the relevant Wnt target proteins. Second, we study the role and biochemical mechanism of signaling of Rspondins, stem cell growth factors, which we had previously discovered as Wnt signaling agonists. Third, we investigate the role of RNA helicases in protein kinase regulation in the context of Wnt signaling. Fourth, we screen for- novel Wnt pathway components and characterize them.