Summary

Schulte Lab – Establishing personalized treatment strategies for neuroblastoma and other embryonal tumors
Our goal is the development of targeted and personalized treatment strategies and novel therapies for patients with neuroblastoma and other childhood tumors. In this context, understanding the pathogenesis and tumor biology is the foundation of any rational therapy.
Investigating primary and relapse tumors as well as tumor model systems, we seek to identify key factors of tumor pathogenesis, tumor progression and tumor evolution. Of special interest is the role of epigenetics and non-coding RNAs in these processes. The research strategy of our interdisciplinary team includes multi-omics and wet lab approaches. Concepts identified in high-throughput analyses are validated in vitro and in vivo. To this aim, we use cell culture model systems, patient-derived tumor xenografts (PDX) in immuno-deficient mice and genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs).
Our objective is to identify target structures of clinical and therapeutic relevance. With our research team being embedded within the Pediatrics department of the Charité University Medicine, our main goal is to initiate as well as conduct early phase clinical trials. This we seek to accomplish not only by joining academic and industry partners in the development of compounds for promising new targets, but also by simulating therapeutic intervention in mice, identifying predictive and pharmacodynamic biomarkers, suggesting effective drug combinations and analyzing potential resistance mechanisms, especially for candidate targets with available compounds.