New DFG Researchgroup studies chromosomal instability
As the German Research Foundation (DFG) announced last week, it is funding the new Research Unit 2800 "Chromosome Instability: Interactions of DNA Replication Stress and Mitotic Dysfunction" for three years with 2.4 million euros. The group's spokesperson is Professor Dr. Holger Bastians, head of the "Cellular Oncology" working group at the Institute of Molecular Oncology at the University Medical Center in Göttingen. With Professor Dr. Zuzana Storchova (Molecular Genetics) and Dr. Markus Räschle (Biotechnology and Systems Biology), two research groups from the Technical University of Kaiserslautern are also involved.
The new project is concerned with the instability of chromosomes. These consist of DNA on which the genes are coded. If changes occur in chromosomes, this can result in various malformations or diseases such as cancer. The research group would like to better understand the molecular mechanisms of chromosome mutations in order to find new therapeutic approaches.
The number of chromosomes is the focus of Professor Storchová and her team's work. In healthy cells, there is a double set of chromosomes with 23 pairs, which corresponds to a total of 46 chromosomes. The exception here is germ cells, in which the chromosomes only occur once each. Cancer cells, on the other hand, have different numbers of chromosomes. This can vary from 30 to over 100. In addition, their structure is often altered. Researchers have only partially understood how and why such changes occur.
The team will develop a new model with human cell lines in which certain chromosomes are present more than once, for example. Using the model, they can then investigate how the change in the number of chromosomes influences the duplication of DNA that occurs during cell division. Markus Räschle's group will also investigate which proteins play a role in the repair of chromosome damage.
In addition to the Kaiserslautern teams, two Rhineland-Palatinate research groups are also involved in the new project: Professor Dr. Maik Kschischo, Department of Mathematics and Technology, University of Applied Sciences Koblenz, and Dr. Petra Beli, Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Mainz.