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Sven Hennig

Bio: Sven Hennig is an academic researcher from VU University Amsterdam. The author has contributed to research in topics: RNA & Protein–protein interaction. The author has an hindex of 16, co-authored 29 publications receiving 1999 citations. Previous affiliations of Sven Hennig include Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research & Max Planck Society.

Papers
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TL;DR: Nuclear enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1) is identified as the most significantly overexpressed lncRNA in prostate cancer and evidence that NEAT1 drives oncogenic growth by altering the epigenetic landscape of target gene promoters to favour transcription is provided.
Abstract: The androgen receptor (AR) plays a central role in establishing an oncogenic cascade that drives prostate cancer progression. Some prostate cancers escape androgen dependence and are often associated with an aggressive phenotype. The oestrogen receptor alpha (ERα) is expressed in prostate cancers, independent of AR status. However, the role of ERα remains elusive. Using a combination of chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and RNA-sequencing data, we identified an ERα-specific non-coding transcriptome signature. Among putatively ERα-regulated intergenic long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), we identified nuclear enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1) as the most significantly overexpressed lncRNA in prostate cancer. Analysis of two large clinical cohorts also revealed that NEAT1 expression is associated with prostate cancer progression. Prostate cancer cells expressing high levels of NEAT1 were recalcitrant to androgen or AR antagonists. Finally, we provide evidence that NEAT1 drives oncogenic growth by altering the epigenetic landscape of target gene promoters to favour transcription.

526 citations

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TL;DR: This research presents a novel and scalable approaches called “Smart Gene Regulation” that allows for real-time annotation of the FISH signal in the Eindhoven–Borff–Seiden cellular automaton.
Abstract: Lech-Gustav Milroy,† Tom N. Grossmann,‡,§ Sven Hennig,‡ Luc Brunsveld,† and Christian Ottmann*,† †Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Institute of Complex Molecular Systems, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Den Dolech 2, 5612 AZ Eindhoven, The Netherlands ‡Chemical Genomics Centre of the Max Planck Society, Otto-Hahn Straße 15, 44227 Dortmund, Germany Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Technical University Dortmund, Otto-Hahn-Strasse 6, 44227 Dortmund, Germany

376 citations

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TL;DR: Paraspeckles are mammalian subnuclear bodies built on a long noncoding RNA and are enriched in RNA binding proteins with prion-like domains; two of these proteins, RBM14 and FUS, use these domains to hold paraspeckle together.
Abstract: Prion-like domains (PLDs) are low complexity sequences found in RNA binding proteins associated with the neurodegenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Recently, PLDs have been implicated in mediating gene regulation via liquid-phase transitions that drive ribonucleoprotein granule assembly. In this paper, we report many PLDs in proteins associated with paraspeckles, subnuclear bodies that form around long noncoding RNA. We mapped the interactome network of paraspeckle proteins, finding enrichment of PLDs. We show that one protein, RBM14, connects key paraspeckle subcomplexes via interactions mediated by its PLD. We further show that the RBM14 PLD, as well as the PLD of another essential paraspeckle protein, FUS, is required to rescue paraspeckle formation in cells in which their endogenous counterpart has been knocked down. Similar to FUS, the RBM14 PLD also forms hydrogels with amyloid-like properties. These results suggest a role for PLD-mediated liquid-phase transitions in paraspeckle formation, highlighting this nuclear body as an excellent model system for understanding the perturbation of such processes in neurodegeneration.

269 citations

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TL;DR: A role for PANDAR in the regulation of splicing events via its interaction partner PTBP1 is suggested and it is observed that overexpression of PANDar leads to a reduced level of the short pro-apoptotic BCL-X splice variant (BCL-XS) which is regulated by PT BP1.
Abstract: Interactions of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) with proteins play important roles in the regulation of many cellular processes. PANDAR (Promotor of CDKN1A Antisense DNA damage Activated RNA) is a lncRNA that is transcribed in a p53-dependent manner from the CDKN1A promoter and is involved in the regulation of proliferation and senescence. Overexpression of PANDAR has been observed in several tumor species and correlated with a poor prognosis for patient survival rate. Depending on the cellular state, PANDAR is known to interact with proteins such as the nuclear transcription factor Y subunit A (NF-YA) and the scaffold attachment factor A (SAF-A). However, a comprehensive analysis of the PANDAR interactome was missing so far. Therefore, we applied peptide nucleic acid (PNA)-based pull-downs combined with quantitative mass spectrometry to identify new protein binding partners. We confirmed potential candidates like U2AF65 and PTBP1, known to be involved in RNA processing. Furthermore, we observed that overexpression of PANDAR leads to a reduced level of the short pro-apoptotic BCL-X splice variant (BCL-XS) which is regulated by PTBP1. Simultaneous overexpression of PTBP1 was able to rescue this effect. Overall, our data suggest a role for PANDAR in the regulation of splicing events via its interaction partner PTBP1.

214 citations

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TL;DR: An expression and purification scheme is established that enables us to purify mg amounts of monomeric d CRY from Sf21 insect cell cultures and leads to a novel photoreaction mechanism for dCRY, in which FADox corresponds to the ground state, which represents the light-activated state that mediates resetting of the Drosophila circadian clock.

187 citations


Cited by
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TL;DR: This contribution is a completely updated and expanded version of the four prior analogous reviews that were published in this journal in 1997, 2003, 2007, and 2012, and the time frame has been extended to cover the 34 years from January 1, 1981, to December 31, 2014, for all diseases worldwide, and from 1950 (earliest so far identified) to December 2014 for all approved antitumor drugs worldwide.
Abstract: This contribution is a completely updated and expanded version of the four prior analogous reviews that were published in this journal in 1997, 2003, 2007, and 2012. In the case of all approved therapeutic agents, the time frame has been extended to cover the 34 years from January 1, 1981, to December 31, 2014, for all diseases worldwide, and from 1950 (earliest so far identified) to December 2014 for all approved antitumor drugs worldwide. As mentioned in the 2012 review, we have continued to utilize our secondary subdivision of a “natural product mimic”, or “NM”, to join the original primary divisions and the designation “natural product botanical”, or “NB”, to cover those botanical “defined mixtures” now recognized as drug entities by the U.S. FDA (and similar organizations). From the data presented in this review, the utilization of natural products and/or their novel structures, in order to discover and develop the final drug entity, is still alive and well. For example, in the area of cancer, over t...

4,337 citations

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TL;DR: It is understood that lncRNAs drive many important cancer phenotypes through their interactions with other cellular macromolecules including DNA, protein, and RNA, making these molecules attractive targets for therapeutic intervention in the fight against cancer.

2,336 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The strategies that led to the identification of cancer-related lncRNAs and the methodologies and challenges involving the study of these molecules are discussed, as well as the imminent applications of these findings to the clinic.
Abstract: It is increasingly evident that many of the genomic mutations in cancer reside inside regions that do not encode proteins. However, these regions are often transcribed into long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). The recent application of next-generation sequencing to a growing number of cancer transcriptomes has indeed revealed thousands of lncRNAs whose aberrant expression is associated with different cancer types. Among the few that have been functionally characterized, several have been linked to malignant transformation. Notably, these lncRNAs have key roles in gene regulation and thus affect various aspects of cellular homeostasis, including proliferation, survival, migration or genomic stability. This review aims to summarize current knowledge of lncRNAs from the cancer perspective. It discusses the strategies that led to the identification of cancer-related lncRNAs and the methodologies and challenges involving the study of these molecules, as well as the imminent applications of these findings to the clinic.

2,067 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work reviews strategies for natural product screening that harness the recent technical advances that have reduced technical barriers and assess the use of genomic and metabolomic approaches to augment traditional methods of studying natural products.
Abstract: Natural products have been a rich source of compounds for drug discovery. However, their use has diminished in the past two decades, in part because of technical barriers to screening natural products in high-throughput assays against molecular targets. Here, we review strategies for natural product screening that harness the recent technical advances that have reduced these barriers. We also assess the use of genomic and metabolomic approaches to augment traditional methods of studying natural products, and highlight recent examples of natural products in antimicrobial drug discovery and as inhibitors of protein-protein interactions. The growing appreciation of functional assays and phenotypic screens may further contribute to a revival of interest in natural products for drug discovery.

1,822 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review of the mechanisms of lncRNA biogenesis, localization and functions in transcriptional, post-transcriptional and other modes of gene regulation, and their potential therapeutic applications is presented in this article.
Abstract: Evidence accumulated over the past decade shows that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are widely expressed and have key roles in gene regulation. Recent studies have begun to unravel how the biogenesis of lncRNAs is distinct from that of mRNAs and is linked with their specific subcellular localizations and functions. Depending on their localization and their specific interactions with DNA, RNA and proteins, lncRNAs can modulate chromatin function, regulate the assembly and function of membraneless nuclear bodies, alter the stability and translation of cytoplasmic mRNAs and interfere with signalling pathways. Many of these functions ultimately affect gene expression in diverse biological and physiopathological contexts, such as in neuronal disorders, immune responses and cancer. Tissue-specific and condition-specific expression patterns suggest that lncRNAs are potential biomarkers and provide a rationale to target them clinically. In this Review, we discuss the mechanisms of lncRNA biogenesis, localization and functions in transcriptional, post-transcriptional and other modes of gene regulation, and their potential therapeutic applications.

1,630 citations