Johannes Witt

Coordination of Mutation Analysis

Johannes Witt

Studying medicine in Heidelberg, I am particularly interested in getting a better understanding of tumor cell evolution, potentially leading to novel therapeutic targets and prevention strategies. Lynch syndrome associated cancers are highly immunogenic, therefore representing an ideal starting point for investigating interactions between emerging tumor cell clones and the immune system. During the work for my doctoral thesis, I analyzed the association between MSI patients’ HLA type and the mutation pattern of coding microsatellites bearing target genes. In this context, the INDICATE project may contribute to uncovering the role of HLA molecules during the process of immunoediting and cancer development.

Johannes Gebert, Ozkan Gelincik, Mine Oezcan-Wahlbrink, Jason D Marshall, Alejandro Hernandez-Sanchez, Katharina Urban, Mark Long, Eduardo Cortes, Elena Tosti, Eva M Katzenmaier, Yurong Song, Ali Elsaadi, Nan Deng, Eduardo Vilar, Vera Fuchs, Nina Nelius, Yan Yuan, Aysel Ahadova, Shizuko Sei, Robert H Shoemaker, Asad Umar, Lei Wei, Song Liu, Peer Bork, Winfried Edelmann, Magnus von Knebel Doeberitz, Steven M Lipkin, Matthias Kloor. Recurrent Frameshift Neoantigen Vaccine Elicits Protective Immunity With Reduced Tumor Burden and Improved Overall Survival in a Lynch Syndrome Mouse Model. Gastroenterology. 2021 Jul 2;S0016-5085(21)03187-5. Online ahead of print.

Saskia Haupt, Alexander Zeilmann, Aysel Ahadova, Hendrik Bläker, Magnus von Knebel Doeberitz, Matthias Kloor, Vincent Heuveline. Mathematical modeling of multiple pathways in colorectal carcinogenesis using dynamical systems with Kronecker structure. PLoS Comput Biol. 2021 May 18;17(5):e1008970. eCollection 2021 May.

Aysel Ahadova, Pauline Luise Pfuderer, Maarit Ahtiainen, Alexej Ballhausen, Lena Bohaumilitzky, Svenja Kösegi, Nico Müller, Yee Lin Tang, Kosima Kosmalla, Johannes Witt, Volker Endris, Albrecht Stenzinger, Magnus von Knebel Doeberitz, Hendrik Bläker, Laura Renkonen-Sinisalo, Anna Lepistö, Jan Böhm, Jukka-Pekka Mecklin, Toni T Seppälä, Matthias Kloor. Distinct Mutational Profile of Lynch Syndrome Colorectal Cancers Diagnosed under Regular Colonoscopy Surveillance. J Clin Med. 2021 Jun 1;10(11):2458.

Sanne W Bajwa-Ten Broeke, Alexej Ballhausen, Aysel Ahadova, Manon Suerink, Lena Bohaumilitzky, Florian Seidler, Hans Morreau, Tom van Wezel, Julia Krzykalla, Axel Benner, Noel F de Miranda, Magnus von Knebel Doeberitz, Maartje Nielsen, Matthias Kloor. The coding microsatellite mutation profile of PMS2-deficient colorectal cancer. Exp Mol Pathol. 2021 Jul 21;104668. Online ahead of print.

Ballhausen A, Przybilla MJ, Jendrusch M, Haupt S, Pfaffendorf E, Seidler F, Witt J, Hernandez Sanchez A, Urban K, Draxlbauer M, Krausert S, Ahadova A, Kalteis MS, Pfuderer PL, Heid D, Stichel D, Gebert J, Bonsack M, Schott S, Bläker H, Seppälä T, Mecklin JP, Ten Broeke S, Nielsen M, Heuveline V, Krzykalla J, Benner A, Riemer AB, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Kloor M. The shared frameshift mutation landscape of microsatellite-unstable cancers suggests immunoediting during tumor evolution. Nat Commun. 2020 Sep 21;11(1):4740.

Bläker H, Haupt S, Morak M, Holinski-Feder E, Arnold A, Horst D, Sieber-Frank J, Seidler F, von Winterfeld M, Alwers E, Chang-Claude J, Brenner H, Roth W, Engel C, Löffler M, Möslein G, Schackert H-K, Weitz J, Perne C, Aretz S, Hüneburg R, Schmiegel W, Vangala D, Rahner N, Steinke-Lange V, Heuveline V, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Ahadova A, Hoffmeister M, Kloor M and the German Consortium for Familial Intestinal Cancer. Age-dependent performance of BRAF mutation testing in Lynch syndrome diagnostics. Int J Cancer. 2020 Nov 15;147(10):2801-2810.

Ahadova A, Seppälä TT, Engel C, Gallon R, Burn J, Holinski-Feder E, Steinke-Lange V, Möslein G, Nielsen M, Ten Broeke SW, Laghi L, Dominguez-Valentin M, Capella G, Macrae F, Scott R, Hüneburg R, Nattermann J, Hoffmeister M, Brenner H, Bläker H, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Sampson JR, Vasen H, Mecklin JP, Møller P, Kloor M. The “unnatural” history of colorectal cancer in Lynch syndrome: Lessons from colonoscopy surveillance. Int J Cancer. 2021 Feb 15;148(4):800-811.

Kloor M, Reuschenbach M, Pauligk C, Karbach J, Rafiyan MR, Al-Batran SE, Tariverdian M, Jäger E, von Knebel Doeberitz M. A Frameshift Peptide Neoantigen-Based Vaccine for Mismatch Repair-Deficient Cancers: A Phase I/IIa Clinical Trial. Clin Cancer Res. 2020 Sep 1;26(17):4503-4510.

Bohaumilitzky L, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Kloor M, Ahadova A. Implications of Hereditary Origin on the Immune Phenotype of Mismatch Repair-Deficient Cancers: Systematic Literature Review. J Clin Med. 2020 Jun 4;9(6):1741.

Engel C, Ahadova A, Seppälä T, Aretz S, Bigirwamungu-Bargeman M, Bläker H, Bucksch K, Büttner R, de Vos Tot Nederveen Cappel W, Endris V, Holinski-Feder E, Holzapfel S, Hüneburg R, Jacobs MAJM, Koornstra JJ, Langers AM, Lepistö A, Morak M, Möslein G, Peltomäki P, Pylvänäinen K, Rahner N, Renkonen-Sinisalo L, Schulmann K, Steinke-Lange V, Stenzinger A, Strassburg CP, van de Meeberg PC, van Kouwen M, van Leerdam M, Vangala DB, Vecht J, Verhulst ML, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Weitz J, Zachariae S, Loeffler M, Mecklin JP*, Kloor M*, Vasen HF*; German HNPCC Consortium, the Dutch Lynch Syndrome Collaborative Group, and the Finnish Lynch Syndrome Registry. Associations of Pathogenic Variants in MLH1, MSH2, and MSH6 With Risk of Colorectal Adenomas and Tumors and With Somatic Mutations in Patients With Lynch Syndrome. Gastroenterology. 2020 Apr;158(5):1326-1333.