ZMB Member George Iliakis

ZMB Member
George Iliakis

Next ZMB-Member
George Iliakis portrait
© UKE

Prof. Dr. George Iliakis

Group

Medical Radiation Biology

University Hospital Essen
Hufelandstr. 55
45122 Essen

Research Overview

Cellular responses to DNA damage
The genomes of eukaryotic cells are under continuous assault by cosmic and terrestrial radiation sources, as well as the byproducts of the intracellular metabolism such as reactive oxygen species and replication errors that lead to the generation of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). In addition to accidental events, DSBs are also generated during scheduled biological processes such as meiosis or V(D)J recombination and during diagnostic procedures utilizing ionizing radiation. Finally, therapeutic interventions in the therapy of cancer, such as exposure to ionizing radiation and treatment with certain chemotherapeutic agents, leads to the generation of DSBs. DSBs are severe lesions with a high probability of conversion to lethal or mutagenic events. Therefore, eukaryotic cells have developed efficient repair pathways to remove DSBs from their genome. These repair activities are supported by signaling pathways, termed checkpoints that register the presence of DSBs and arrest or delay cell cycle progression in G1, S, or G2 phase to prevent modifications compromising repair or generating lethal events.

  • Evaluation of the relative contribution of the different pathways implicated in double strand break repair
  • Elucidation of the contribution of checkpoints in double strand break repair
  • Molecular mechanisms of hyperthermia induced checkpoint activation
  • Radiation effects in mouse embryonic tissue with emphasis on genomic instability

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Selected Publications

    Journal articles

  • Hassiepen, Christina; Soni, Aashish; Rudolf, Ines; Boron, Vivian; Oeck, Sebastian; Iliakis, George; Schramm, Alexander
    NTRK1/TrkA activation overrides the G₂ /M-checkpoint upon irradiation
    In: Cancers Vol. 13 (2021) Nr. 23,
    ISSN: 2072-6694
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ (Open Access)
  • Iliakis, George E.
    New players in the regulation of DNA-PK activity : Survivin joins the crowd
    In: Cancer Research Vol. 81 (2021) Nr. 9, pp. 2270 - 2271
    ISSN: 1538-7445; 0008-5472
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ (Open Access)
  • Wang, Huichen; Perrault, Ange Ronel; Takeda, Yoshihiko; Qin, Wei; Wang, Hongyan; Iliakis, George
    Biochemical evidence for Ku-independent backup pathways of NHEJ
    In: Nucleic Acids Research Vol. 48 (2020) Nr. 9, pp. 5200
    ISSN: 1362-4962; 0301-5610; 0305-1048
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ (Open Access)
  • Wang, Xiang; Guan, Jun; Hu, Baocheng; Weiss, Robert S.; Iliakis, George; Wang, Ya
    Involvement of Hus1 in the chain elongation step of DNA replication after exposure to camptothecin or ionizing radiation
    In: Nucleic Acids Research Vol. 48 (2020) Nr. 6, pp. 3396
    ISSN: 1362-4962; 0301-5610; 0305-1048
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ (Open Access)
  • Mladenov, Emil; Staudt, Christian; Soni, Aashish; Murmann-Konda, Tamara; Siemann-Loekes, Maria; Iliakis, George
    Strong suppression of gene conversion with increasing DNA double-strand break load delimited by 53BP1 and RAD52
    In: Nucleic Acids Research Vol. 48 (2020) Nr. 4, pp. 1905 - 1924
    ISSN: 1362-4962; 0305-1048
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ (Open Access)
  • Iliakis, George; Mladenov, Emil; Mladenova, Veronika
    Necessities in the processing of DNA double strand breaks and their effects on genomic instability and cancer
    In: Cancers Vol. 11 (2019) Nr. 11, pp. 1671
    ISSN: 2072-6694
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ Online Full Text (Open Access)
  • Schipler, Agnes; Mladenova, Veronika; Soni, Aashish; Nikolov, Vladimir; Saha, Janapriya; Mladenov, Emil; Iliakis, George
    Chromosome thripsis by DNA double strand break clusters causes enhanced cell lethality, chromosomal translocations and 53BP1-recruitment
    In: Nucleic Acids Research Vol. 44 (2016) Nr. 16, pp. 7673 - 7690
    ISSN: 1362-4962; 0301-5610; 0305-1048
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ (Open Access)
  • van den Boom, Johannes; Wolf, Markus; Weimann, Lena; Schulze, Nina; Li, Fanghua; Kaschani, Farnusch; Riemer, Anne; Zierhut, Christian; Kaiser, Markus; Iliakis, George; Funabiki, Hironori; Meyer, Hemmo
    VCP/p97 Extracts Sterically Trapped Ku70/80 Rings from DNA in Double-Strand Break Repair
    In: Molecular Cell Vol. 64 (2016) Nr. 1, pp. 189 - 198
    ISSN: 1097-2765; 1097-4164
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ (Open Access)
  • Iliakis, George; Magin, Simon
    Balance shift between error-free and error prone DNA double-strand break repair as a novel mechanism of radiosensitization by nucleoside analogs
    In: Cancer Research Vol. 75 (2015) Nr. Suppl. 15, pp. 3629
    ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/
  • Costantino, L.; Sotiriou, S. K.; Rantala, J. K.; Magin, S.; Mladenov, E.; Helleday, T.; Haber, J. E.; Iliakis, George; Kallioniemi, O. P.; Halazonetis, T. D.
    Break-induced replication repair of damaged forks induces genomic duplications in human cells
    In: Science Vol. 343 (2014) Nr. 6166, pp. 88 - 91
    ISSN: 0036-8075
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ Online Full Text (Open Access)
  • Soni, Aashish; Siemann, Maria; Grabos, Martha; Murmann, Tamara; Pantelias, Gabriel E; Iliakis, George
    Requirement for Parp-1 and DNA ligases 1 or 3 but not of Xrcc1 in chromosomal translocation formation by backup end joining
    In: Nucleic Acids Research Vol. 42 (2014) Nr. 10, pp. 6380 - 6392
    ISSN: 1362-4962; 0301-5610; 0305-1048
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ (Open Access)
  • Schipler, Agnes; Iliakis, George
    DNA double-strand-break complexity levels and their possible contributions to the probability for error-prone processing and repair pathway choice
    In: Nucleic Acids Research Vol. 41 (2013) Nr. 16, pp. 7589 - 7605
    ISSN: 1362-4962; 0301-5610; 0305-1048
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ (Open Access)
  • Arakawa, Hiroshi; Bednar, Theresa; Wang, Minli; Paul, Katja; Mladenov, Emil; Bencsik-Theilen, Alena A.; Iliakis, George
    Functional redundancy between DNA ligases i and III in DNA replication in vertebrate cells
    In: Nucleic Acids Research Vol. 40 (2012) Nr. 6, pp. 2599 - 2610
    ISSN: 1362-4962; 0301-5610; 0305-1048
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ (Open Access)
  • Singh, Satyendra K.; Wang, Minli; Staudt, Christian; Iliakis, George
    Post-irradiation chemical processing of DNA damage generates double-strand breaks in cells already engaged in repair
    In: Nucleic Acids Research Vol. 39 (2011) Nr. 19, pp. 8416 - 8429
    ISSN: 1362-4962; 0301-5610; 0305-1048
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ (Open Access)
  • Klammer, Holger; Kadhim, Munira; Iliakis, George
    Evidence of an adaptive response targeting DNA nonhomologous end joining and its transmission to bystander cells
    In: Cancer Research Vol. 70 (2010) Nr. 21, pp. 8498 - 8506
    ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/
  • Kinner, Andrea; Wu, Wenqi; Staudt, Christian; Iliakis, George
    Gamma-H2AX in recognition and signaling of DNA double-strand breaks in the context of chromatin.
    In: Nucleic Acids Research Vol. 36 (2008) Nr. 17, pp. 5678 - 5694
    ISSN: 1362-4962; 0301-5610
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ (Open Access)
  • Rosidi, Bustanur; Wang, Minli; Wu, Wenqi; Sharma, Aparna; Wang, Huichen; Iliakis, George
    Histone H1 functions as a stimulatory factor in backup pathways of NHEJ
    In: Nucleic Acids Research Vol. 36 (2008) Nr. 5, pp. 1610 - 1623
    ISSN: 0301-5610; 1362-4962
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ Online Full Text (Open Access)
  • Wang, Minli; Wu, Weizhong; Wu, Wenqi; Rosidi, Bustanur; Zhang, Lihua; Wang, Huichen; Iliakis, George
    PARP-1 and Ku compete for repair of DNA double strand breaks by distinct NHEJ pathways
    In: Nucleic Acids Research Vol. 34 (2006) Nr. 21, pp. 6170 - 6182
    ISSN: 0301-5610; 1362-4962
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ (Open Access)
  • Terzoudi, Georgia I.; Manola, Kaliopi N.; Pantelias, Gabriel E.; Iliakis, George
    Checkpoint abrogation in G₂ compromises repair of chromosomal breaks in ataxia telangiectasia cells
    In: Cancer Research Vol. 65 (2005) Nr. 24, pp. 11292 - 11296
    ISSN: 1538-7445; 0008-5472
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ (Open Access)
  • Martín, Marta; Genescà, Anna; Latre, Laura; Jaco, Isabel; Taccioli, Guillermo E.; Egozcue, Josep; Blasco, María A.; Iliakis, George; Tusell, Laura
    Postreplicative joining of DNA double-strand breaks causes genomic instability in DNA-PKcs-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts
    In: Cancer Research Vol. 65 (2005) Nr. 22, pp. 10223 - 10232
    ISSN: 1538-7445; 0008-5472
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ Online Full Text (Open Access)
  • Wang, Hongyan; Wang, Huichen; Powell, Simon N.; Iliakis, George; Wang, Ya
    ATR affecting cell radiosensitivity is dependent on homologous recombination repair but independent of nonhomologous end joining
    In: Cancer Research Vol. 64 (2004) Nr. 19, pp. 7139 - 7143
    ISSN: 1538-7445; 0008-5472
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ Online Full Text (Open Access)
  • Zhou, Xiang-Yang; Wang, Xiang; Hu, Baocheng; Guan, Jun; Iliakis, George; Wang, Ya
    An ATM-independent S-phase checkpoint response involves CHK1 pathway
    In: Cancer Research Vol. 62 (2002) Nr. 6, pp. 1598 - 1603
    ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445
    Online Full Text
  • Wang, Hongyan; Wang, Xiang; Zhou, Xiang-Yang; Chen, David J; Li, Gloria C; Iliakis, George; Wang, Ya
    Ku affects the ataxia and Rad 3-related/CHK1-dependent S phase checkpoint response after camptothecin treatment.
    In: Cancer Research Vol. 62 (2002) Nr. 9, pp. 2483 - 2487
    ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445
    Online Full Text
  • Wang, Huichen; Zeng, Zhao-Chong; Perrault, Ange R.; Cheng, Xinbo; Qin, Wei; Iliakis, George
    Genetic evidence for the involvement of DNA ligase IV in the DNA-PK-dependent pathway of non-homologous end joining in mammalian cells
    In: Nucleic Acids Research Vol. 29 (2001) Nr. 8, pp. 1653 - 1660
    ISSN: 0305-1048; 1362-4962
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ Online Full Text (Open Access)
  • Peters, K B; Wang, H; Brown, J M; Iliakis, George
    Inhibition of DNA replication by tirapazamine
    In: Cancer Research Vol. 61 (2001) Nr. 14, pp. 5425 - 5431
    ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445
    Online Full Text
  • Wang, H; Zeng, Z C; Bui, T A; DiBiase, S J; Qin, W; Xia, F; Powell, S N; Iliakis, George
    Nonhomologous end-joining of ionizing radiation-induced DNA double-stranded breaks in human tumor cells deficient in BRCA1 or BRCA2
    In: Cancer Research Vol. 61 (2001) Nr. 1, pp. 270 - 277
    ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445
    Online Full Text
  • Wang, H; Guan, J; Perrault, A R; Wang, Y; Iliakis, George
    Replication protein A2 phosphorylation after DNA damage by the coordinated action of ataxia telangiectasia-mutated and DNA-dependent protein kinase
    In: Cancer Research Vol. 61 (2001) Nr. 23, pp. 8554 - 8563
    ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445
    Online Full Text
  • DiBiase; Zeng; Chen; Hyslop; Curran; Iliakis, George
    DNA-dependent protein kinase stimulates an independently active, nonhomologous, end-joining apparatus.
    In: Cancer Research Vol. 60 (2000) Nr. 5, pp. 1245 - 1253
    ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445
    Online Full Text
  • Guan, Jun; DiBiase, Steven; Iliakis, George
    The catalytic subunit DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs) facilitates recovery from radiation-induced inhibition of DNA replication
    In: Nucleic Acids Research Vol. 28 (2000) Nr. 5, pp. 1183 - 1192
    ISSN: 0305-1048; 1362-4962
    Online Full Text: dx.doi.org/ (Open Access)
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