Forgot your password?
Document Actions
Evelin Schröck
Cancer genetics
Previous and current research
1. We investigate cellular mechanisms that are involved in the generation of tumor-specific chromosomal translocations.
Characteristic chromosomal aberrations have been identified in virtually all tumors using screening techniques, such as chromosome banding analysis, comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and spectral karyotyping (SKY). They reflect genomic changes that contribute to (i) the transformation of normal cells into tumor cells, (ii) tumor progression and (iii) metastasis formation.
The principal biological mechanisms causing either reciprocal translocations or chromosomal gains and losses have not yet been identified. Our projects include:
- Identification and characterization of common Fragile Sites (FS) in human and mouse
- Array-CGH studies in order to screen for genomic imbalances
2. We perform molecular cytogenetic analysis of breast tumors and multiple myelomas using FISH, SKY (Figure 1) and high-resolution array-CGH-analysis and study solid tumors by RNA expression analysis to support tumor classification and the identification of genetic markers.
3. We analyze mouse models for leukemias, lymphomas and sarcomas, which provide the opportunity to manipulate tumorigenesis and tumor progression. Tumors from mice with different genetic backgrounds are screened for chromosomal aberrations by FISH, SKY and CGH.
4. We investigate DNA copy number changes and chromosome aberrations in selected genetic diseases using a wide variety of molecular cytogenetic and genetic methods including Array-CGH (Figure 2).
Figure 1: Identification of numerous complex chromosomal rearrangements in a human breast cancer cell line SKBR3 using SKY. The measurement of complete emission spectra for each image point allows for the differentiation between overlapping emission spectra of fluorescent dyes and dye combinations.
Figure 2: Combined SKY, FISH and Array CGH analyses on metaphase chromosomes of a father and his son. More detailed information as well as the clinical phenotype can be found in the paper by (Matthaei, Werner et al. 2005)
Future prospects and goals
We wish to contribute to the analysis of Common Fragile Sites (CFSs), to the identification of genes that cause genetic diseases and to the dissection of mechanisms leading to tumorigenesis and tumor progression.About
|
Selected publications
Schrock, E., Weaver, Z., Albertson, D., Comparative genomic hybridization analysis of human and mouse tumors using chromosomes and arrayed locus specific probes as targets. Editor: Tanke, H., Current Protocols in Cytometry, John Wiley and Sons, 2001, 8.12, Supplement 18.
Hermsen M, Snijders A, Alonso Guervós M, Tänzer S, Körner U, Baak J, Pinkel D, Albertson D, Meijer G, Schrock E.: Centromeric chromosomal translocations show tissue-specific differences in adenocarcinomas versus squamous cell carcinomas. Oncogene, 2005, 24, 1571-1579
Helmrich A, Lee S, O’Brien P, Dorken B, Lowe SW, Schrock E, Schmitt CA: Chromosomal aberrations in INK4a/ARF defective primary lymphomas predict chemosensitivity in vivo. Oncogene, 2005, 24, 4174-4182
Matthaei A, Werner W, Gerlach EM, Körner U, Tinschert S, Nitz I, Herr A, Rump A, Bartsch O, Hinkel KG, Schrock E, Oexle K.: Small Reciprocal Insertion detected by Spectral Karyotyping (SKY) and delimited by Array-CGH Analysis. European J Med Genetics, 2005, 48, 328-338
Herr A, Grutzmann R, Matthaei A, Artelt J, Schrock E, Rump A, Pilarsky C.: High-resolution analysis of chromosomal imbalances using the Affymetrix 10K SNP genotyping chip. Genomics, 2005, 85, 392-400
Schrock E, Zschieschang P, O'Brien P, Helmrich A, Hardt T, Matthaei A, Stout-Weider K.: Spectral karyotyping of human, mouse, rat and ape chromosomes--applications for genetic diagnostics and research. Cytogenet Genome Res. 2006, 114, 199-221