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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.

Detection of circulating tumor DNA in plasma of patients with primary CNS lymphoma by digital droplet PCR
Published in: BMC Cancer
BACKGROUND: Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) are rare mature B-cell lymphoproliferative diseases characterized by a high incidence of MYD88 L265P and CD79B Y196 hotspot mutations. Diagnosis of PCNSL can be challenging. The aim of the study was to analyze the detection rate of the MYD88 L265P and CD79B Y196 mutation in cell free DNA (cfDNA) in plasma of patients with PCNSL. METHODS: We analyzed by digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) to determine presence of the MYD88 L265P and CD79B Y196 hotspot mutations in cfDNA isolated from plasma of...
Pinpointing Functionally Relevant miRNAs in Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma Pathogenesis
Published in: Cancers
Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is a hematological malignancy of B-cell origin. The tumor cells in cHL are referred to as Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells. This review provides an overview of the currently known miRNA-target gene interactions. In addition, we pinpointed other potential regulatory roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) by focusing on genes related to processes relevant for cHL pathogenesis, i.e., loss of B-cell phenotypes, immune evasion, and growth support. A cHL-specific miRNA signature was generated based on the available profiling studies. The interactions relevant for cHL were extracted...
Inhibition of the glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit with buthionine sulfoximine enhances the cytotoxic effect of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide in Burkitt lymphoma cells
Published in: Journal of Applied Genetics
Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is a highly aggressive lymphoma that mainly affects children and young adults. Chemotherapy is effective in young BL patients but the outcome in adults is less satisfactory. Therefore, there is a need to enhance the cytotoxic effect of drugs used in BL treatment. Glutathione (GSH) is an important antioxidant involved in processes such as regulation of oxidative stress and drug detoxification. Elevated GSH levels have been observed in many cancers and were associated with chemoresistance. We previously identified GCLC, encoding an enzyme involved in GSH...
Marta Kazimierska, Aleksandra Leśniewska, Anja Bakker, Arjan Diepstra, Marta Elżbieta Kasprzyk, Marta Podralska, Karolina Rassek, Joost Kluiver, Anke van den Berg, Natalia Rozwadowska, Agnieszka Dzikiewicz-Krawczyk
Proliferation-promoting roles of linear and circular PVT1 are independent of their ability to bind miRNAs in B-cell lymphoma
Published in: International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
Plasmacytoma Variant Translocation 1 (PVT1) is a long non-coding RNA located at 8q24.21 immediately downstream of MYC. Both the linear and circular PVT1 transcripts contribute to cancer pathogenesis by binding microRNAs. However, little is known about their roles in B-cell lymphoma. Here we studied their expression patterns, role in growth, and ability to bind miRNAs in B-cell lymphoma. Linear PVT1 transcripts were downregulated in B-cell cell lymphoma lines compared to germinal center B cells, while circPVT1 levels were increased. Two Hodgkin lymphoma cell lines had a homozygous deletion...
Xing Zhao, Anke van den Berg, Melanie Winkle, Jasper Koerts, Annika Seitz, Debora de Jong, Bea Rutgers, Tineke van der Sluis, Emke Bakker, Joost Kluiver
Elevated serum TARC levels precede classic Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis by several years
Published in: Blood
Tumor cells in classic Hodgkin lymphoma produce high quantities of the chemokine TARC. We measured TARC levels in pre-diagnostic serum samples and found strikingly increased values in the vast majority of patients, up to over six years before diagnosis.
Arjan Diepstra, Ilja M Nolte, Anke van den Berg, Larry I Magpantay, Otoniel Martinez-Maza, Lynn I Levin