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Anke van den Berg
prof. dr.

I work as a clinical molecular biologist in the department of Pathology. In this function I supervise and implement advanced molecular diagnostic techniques. Within my research line, I focus on the molecular pathogenesis of B-cell Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The specific fields of interest are genomic aberrations, genetic susceptibility, and the role of small and long noncoding RNAs. I have several international collaborations and am PI and co-PI in various projects.

Marked TGF-β-regulated miRNA expression changes in both COPD and control lung fibroblasts
Published in: Scientific Reports
COPD is associated with disturbed tissue repair, possibly due to TGF-β-regulated miRNA changes in fibroblasts. Our aim was to identify TGF-β-regulated miRNAs and their differential regulation and expression in COPD compared to control fibroblasts. Small RNA sequencing was performed on TGF-β-stimulated and unstimulated lung fibroblasts from 15 COPD patients and 15 controls. Linear regression was used to identify TGF-β-regulated and COPD-associated miRNAs. Interaction analysis was performed to compare miRNAs that responded differently to TGF-β in COPD and control. Re-analysis of previously generated Ago2-IP data and Enrichr were used...
Heterogeneous Pattern of Dependence on Anti-Apoptotic BCL-2 Family Proteins upon CHOP Treatment in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma
Published in: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Expression of the anti-apoptotic B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) protein in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) strongly correlates with resistance to standard therapy with cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, prednisolone, and rituximab (R-CHOP). Although studies focus mainly on the contribution of BCL-2, here we also investigate the contribution of other anti-apoptotic proteins to CHOP-therapy resistance in DLBCL. Functional dynamic BCL-2 homology (BH)3 profiling was applied to DLBCL cell lines upon CHOP treatment or single CHOP compounds. Cell-specific anti-apoptotic dependencies were validated with corresponding BH3-mimetics. We found high expression of...
Mathilde Rikje Willemijn de Jong, Myra Langendonk, Bart Reitsma, Marcel Nijland, Anke van den Berg, Emanuele Ammatuna, Lydia Visser, Tom van Meerten
WEE1 Inhibition Enhances Anti-Apoptotic Dependency as a Result of Premature Mitotic Entry and DNA Damage
Published in: Cancers
Genomically unstable cancers are dependent on specific cell cycle checkpoints to maintain viability and prevent apoptosis. The cell cycle checkpoint protein WEE1 is highly expressed in genomically unstable cancers, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Although WEE1 inhibition effectively induces apoptosis in cancer cells, the effect of WEE1 inhibition on anti-apoptotic dependency is not well understood. We show that inhibition of WEE1 by AZD1775 induces DNA damage and pre-mitotic entry in DLBCL, thereby enhancing dependency on BCL-2 and/or MCL-1. Combining AZD1775 with anti-apoptotic inhibitors such as venetoclax (BCL-2i)...
Mathilde Rikje Willemijn de Jong, Myra Langendonk, Bart Reitsma, Pien Herbers, Marcel Nijland, Gerwin Huls, Anke van den Berg, Emanuele Ammatuna, Lydia Visser, Tom van Meerten
Tumour necrosis as assessed with F-18-FDG PET is a potential prognostic marker in diffuse large B cell lymphoma independent of MYC rearrangements
Published in: European Radiology
OBJECTIVES: MYC gene rearrangements in diffuse large B cell lymphomas (DLBCLs) result in high proliferation rates and are associated with a poor prognosis. Strong proliferation is associated with high metabolic demand and tumour necrosis. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in the presence of necrosis and semiquantitative 18F-FDG PET metrics between DLBCL cases with or without a MYC rearrangement. The prognostic impact of necrosis and semiquantitative 18F-FDG PET parameters was investigated in an explorative survival analysis. METHODS: Fluorescence in situ hybridisation analysis for MYC rearrangements,...
A super-SILAC based proteomics analysis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma-NOS patient samples to identify new proteins that discriminate GCB and non-GCB lymphomas
Published in: PLoS ONE
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma-not otherwise specified (DLBCL-NOS) is a large and heterogeneous subgroup of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. DLBCL can be subdivided into germinal centre B-cell like (GCB) and activated B-cell like (ABC or non-GCB) using a gene-expression based or an immunohistochemical approach. In this study we aimed to identify additional proteins that are differentially expressed between GCB and non-GCB DLBCL. A reference super-SILAC mix, including proteins of eight B-cell lymphoma cell lines, was mixed with proteins isolated from seven non-GCB DLBCL and five GCB DLBCL patient tissue samples to...
L E van der Meeren, J Kluiver, B Rutgers, Y Alsagoor, P M Kluin, A van den Berg, L Visser