Prof. Dr. med. Johannes H. Schulte

Scientific Scope

• Understanding the biology of neuroblastoma     
• Developing targeted and personalized treatment strategies for neuroblastoma

Our goal is the development of targeted and personalized treatment strategies and novel therapies for patients with neuroblastoma by combining multi-OMICs and wet lab techniques. Concepts identified in high-throughput analyses are validated in vitro and in vivo using cell culture model systems, patient-derived tumor xenografts (PDX) in immuno-deficient mice and genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs). Our objective is to identify target structures of therapeutic relevance, to select promising compounds for pre-clinical evaluation and conduct early phase clinical trials.

Group Members

• Dr. Falk Hertwig, Lab Head, Senior Scientist
• Dr. Jörn Tödling, Senior bioinformatician
• Dr. Filippos Klironomos, Senior bioinformatician
• Dr. Steffen Fuchs, BIH Clinician Scientist
• Annabell Szymansky, PhD Student
• Mareike Bock, PhD Student

For all group members, please check our website

Selected References

• Fischer, M., Moreno, L., Ziegler, D.S., Marshall, L.V., Zwaan, C.M., Irwin, M.S., Casanova, M., Sabado, C., Wulff, B., Stegert, M., Wang, L., Hurtado, F.K., Branle, F., Geoerger, B.*, Schulte, J.H.*(2021) "Ceritinib in paediatric patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive malignancies: an open-label, multicentre, phase 1, dose-escalation and dose-expansion study. Lancet Oncol. 2021 Dec;22(12):1764-1776. PMID: 34780709 *contributed equally
• Koche, R.P., Rodriguez-Fos, E., … , Klironomos, F., Thiessen, N., Blanc, E., Schmelz, K., Künkele, A., Hundsdörfer, P., Rosswog, C., Theissen, J., Beule, D., Deubzer, H., Sauer, S., Toedling, J., Fischer, M., Hertwig, F., Schwarz, R.F., Eggert, A., Torrents, D., Schulte, J.H., Henssen, A.G. (2019) "Extrachromosomal circular DNA drives oncogenic genome remodeling in neuroblastoma." Nat Genet. PMID: 31844324.
• Ackermann, S., Cartolano, M., Hero, B., Welte, A., Kahlert, Y., Roderwieser, A., Bartenhagen, C., Walter, E., Gecht, J., Kerschke, L., Volland, R., Menon, R., Heuckmann, J.M., Gartlgruber, M., Hartlieb, S., Henrich, K.O., Okonechnikov, K., Altmüller, J., Nürnberg, P., Lefever, S., de Wilde, B., Sand, F., Ikram, F., Rosswog, C., Fischer, J., Theissen, J., Hertwig, F., Singhi, A.D., Simon, T., Vogel, W., Perner, S., Krug, B., Schmidt, M., Rahmann, S., Achter, V., Lang, U., Vokuhl, C., Ortmann, M., Büttner, R., Eggert, A., Speleman, F., O'Sullivan, R.J., Thomas, R.K., Berthold, F., Vandesompele, J., Schramm, A., Westermann, F.*, Schulte, J.H.*, Peifer, M.*, Fischer, M.*(2018) "A mechanistic classification of clinical phenotypes in neuroblastoma." Science. 2018 Dec 7;362(6419):1165-1170. doi: 10.1126/science.aat6768. PMID: 30523111.
• Schramm, A., Köster, J., Assenov, Y., Althoff, K., Peifer, M., Mahlow, E., Odersky, A., Beisser, D., Ernst, C., Henssen, A.G., Stephan, H., Schröder, C., Heukamp, L., Engesser, A., Kahlert, Y., Theissen, J., Hero, B., Roels, F., Altmüller, J., Nürnberg, P., Astrahantseff, K., Gloeckner, C., De Preter, K., Plass, C., Lee, S., Lode, H.N., Henrich, K.O., Gartlgruber, M., Speleman, F., Schmezer, P., Westermann, F., Rahmann, S., Fischer, M.*, Eggert, A.*, Schulte, J.H.*(2015) "Mutational dynamics between primary and relapse neuroblastomas." Nat Genet 2015, Aug;47(8):872-7. PMID: 26121086.
• Molenaar, J.J., Domingo-Fernández, R., Ebus, M.E,. Lindner, S., Koster, J., Drabek, K., Mestdagh, P., van Sluis, P., Valentijn, L.J., van Nes, J., Broekmans, M., Haneveld, F., Volckmann, R., Bray, I., Heukamp, L., Sprüssel, A., Thor, T., Kieckbusch, K., Klein-Hitpass, L., Fischer, M., Vandesompele, J., Schramm, A., van Noesel, M.M., Varesio, L., Speleman, F., Eggert, A., Stallings, R.L., Caron, H.N., Versteeg, R., Schulte, J.H. (2012) "LIN28B induces neuroblastoma and enhances MYCN levels via let-7 suppression." Nature Genet 2012, 44:1199-206. PMID: 23042116