Chromatin Networks

  • Functional and Structural Genomics
Prof. Dr. Karsten Rippe

Prof. Dr. Karsten Rippe

We investigate (epi)genome organization and functions in single cells to reveal how deregulated chromatin features promote cancer development, tumor heterogeneity, and therapy resistance.

Image: Chromatin co-accessibility and topology map of a human genome locus (Seufert et al. 2024),

Our Research

We integrate single-cell (epi)genomics with advanced fluorescence microscopy methods to understand how chromatin organization and nuclear architecture govern gene regulation and telomere maintenance. Our work combines the imaging-based analysis of cellular phenotypes in their endogenous tissue context with molecular multi-omics profiles that include transcriptome, chromatin accessibility, surface proteins, and immune cell receptors.

This interdisciplinary approach connects genome organization to functional outcomes, revealing how a disrupted nuclear architecture drives aberrant cell states in cancer. We test the mechanisms identified in cell model systems through targeted perturbations, such as light-controlled epigenetic editing. This integrated methodology helps us understand tumor heterogeneity, therapy resistance mechanisms, and the unlimited proliferation potential of cancer cells in both blood cancers and solid tumors.
Bioquant-Website

Computer simulations of the dynamic nucleosome structure with the DNA wrapped around the histone protein core (Ettig 2011 Biophys J). The nucleosome is the building block of chromatin. In a human cell about 30 million nucleosomes organize the genome of 6 billion DNA base pairs. 

Our Team

  • Employee image

    Prof. Dr. Karsten Rippe

  • Employee image

    Mislav Basic

  • Employee image

    Irene Gerosa

  • Employee image

    Caroline Knotz

  • Employee image

    Emma Koeleman

  • Employee image

    Dr. Norbert Mücke

  • Employee image

    Dr. Jan Fabio Nickels

  • Employee image

    Dr. Anne Rademacher

  • Employee image

    Sabrina Schumacher

  • Employee image

    Ezgi Sen

  • Employee image

    Simon Steiger

  • Employee image

    Sofie Steinfest

  • Employee image

    Tsz Ching Chloe Tang

  • Employee image

    Claire Vargas

  • Employee image

    Robin Weinmann

  • Employee image

    Sina Jasmin Wille

Selected Publica­tions

2023 - Blood 142, 1633-1646
2022 - Mol Cell 82, 1878-1893
2022 - Nucleic Acids Res 50, e61
2021 - Nat Commun 12, 6960
2020 - Mol Cell 78, 236-249.e7

Get in touch with us

Employee image
Prof. Dr. Karsten Rippe
Form

Form data is loaded ...