MOLECULAR ONCOLOGY
DNA-repair transitions and quantitative cell fate

Research programme 04

DNA-repair transitions and quantitative cell fate

We connect transcriptional arrest with the selection of DNA-repair pathways and develop assays that measure division and death together.

Central question

How does coordinated repression of cell-cycle and repair genes reshape the balance between recovery, chromosomal damage and cell death?

BRCA1, BRCA2 and many homologous-recombination genes are cell-cycle regulated. The laboratory has shown that their repression after p53 activation requires both RB and DREAM, linking arrest to a shift in repair-pathway availability.

Experimental evidence that DREAM/LIN37 and RB mediate p53/p21-dependent repression of BRCA1 and BRCA2. Figure 6 from Quaas et al., Cell Death & Differentiation (2026). Reused under CC BY 4.0.
Experimental evidence that DREAM/LIN37 and RB mediate p53/p21-dependent repression of BRCA1 and BRCA2. Figure 6 from Quaas et al., Cell Death & Differentiation (2026). Reused under CC BY 4.0.

Approaches

DNA-damage response assaysBRCA1/2 expression and promoter analysisLive population tracking

Selected work

BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene expression: p53- and cell cycle-dependent repression requires RB and DREAM (2025)
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