Complex Genomes in Cancer
Fig. 1. The highly complex genome of an osteosarcoma.
Our aim is to develop new treatment strategies for patients with highly aggressive malignancies. To this end, we screen clinical tumor material for disease-causing mutations using deep sequencing technology and we manipulate genes of interest in cancer model systems to understand the true consequences of mutations.
Most high-grade cancers harbor mutations in the TP53 gene together with a massive amount of other mutations and chromosome aberrations. Disruption of the TP53 pathway is a well-known prerequisite for continued proliferation of cells with massively damaged DNA. However, the competitive advantage conferred by such a rearranged genome is largely unknown. This offers one of the most challenging paradoxes in cancer biology: what is required of a cell to not only survive massive genetic damage but also outcompete neighboring cells and present as a malignant tumor?
We study this phenomenon in osteosarcoma, a childhood malignancy that harbors one of the most rearranged genomes in cancer. The majority of osteosarcomas harbour mutations in the TP53 gene, either point mutations or structural variations that separate the promoter region from the coding parts of TP53. To enhance our understanding of the role of TP53 in cancer we focus on the TP53 promoter region – does it represent the gas or the brake pedal?
Selected publications
Loss of NF2 defines a genetic subgroup of non-FOS-rearranged osteoblastoma. Saba KH, Cornmark L, Hofvander J, Magnusson L, Nilsson J, van den Bos H, Spierings DC, Foijer F, Staaf J, Brosjö O, Sumathi VP, Lam SW, Szuhai K, Bovée JVMG, Kovac M, Baumhoer D, Styring E, Nord KH. The Journal of Pathology Clinical Research 2020;6:231-237.
NTRK fusions in osteosarcoma are rare and non-functional events. Ameline B, Saba KH, KovacM, Magnusson L, Witt O, Bielack S, Nathrath M, Nord KH, Baumhoer D. The Journal of Pathology Clinical Research 2020;6:107-112.
Loss of the tumor suppressor gene AIP mediates the browning of human brown fat tumors. Magnusson L, Hansen N, Saba KH, Nilsson J, Fioretos T, Rissler P, Nord KH. The Journal of Pathology 2017;243:160-4.
GRM1 is upregulated through gene fusion and promoter swapping in chondromyxoid fibroma. Nord KH, Lilljebjörn H, Vezzi F, Nilsson J, Magnusson L, Tayebwa J, de Jong D, Bovée JVMG, Hogendoorn PCW, Szuhai K. Nature Genetics 2014;46:474-7.
Concomitant deletions of tumor suppressor genes MEN1 and AIP are essential for the pathogenesis of the brown fat tumor hibernoma. Nord KH, Magnusson L, Isaksson M, Nilsson J, Lilljebjörn H, Domanski HA, Kindblom LG, Mandahl N,Mertens F. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U S A 2010;107:21122-7.
Preprint
Dysregulated gene expression through TP53 promoter swapping in osteosarcoma. Saba KH, Difilippo V, Kovac M, Cornmark L, Magnusson L, Nilsson J, van den Bos H, Spierings DCJ, Bidgoli M, Jonson T, Sumathi VP, Brosjö O, Staaf J, Foijer F, Styring E, Nathrath M, Baumhoer D, Nord KH. Unpublished preprint at bioRxiv doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.20.050252
Complete list of publications
PubMed
ORCID: 0000-0002-2397-2254
My profile at the Lund University Research Portal
Networks in academia
- FOSTER (Fighting OsteoSarcoma Through European Research)
- Lund University Cancer Center
- Scandinavian Sarcoma Group
Funding
- The Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund
- The Swedish Cancer Society
- The Swedish Research Council
- The Swedish state under the agreement between the Swedish government and the country councils, the ALF agreement
Popular science
Karolin Hansén Nord, PhD
Associate Professor
Senior Lecturer
Department of Laboratory Medicine
Division of Clinical Genetics
BMC C13
Lund University
SE-221 84 Lund, Sweden
Phone: +46 70 283 18 37
Karolin [dot] Hansen_Nord [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se
Twitter @Karolin_H_Nord
Research group members
linda [dot] magnusson [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Linda Magnusson), Laboratory engineer
jenny [dot] nilsson [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Jenny Nilsson), Laboratory engineer
karim [dot] saba [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Karim Saba), PhD, Researcher
ORCID: 0000-0003-4946-6488
valeria [dot] difilippo [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Valeria Difilippo), PhD student
ORCID: 0000-0002-5965-942X
github.com/ValeriaDifilippo
Isabella Kraus, Bachelor student