Prof. Dr. med. Darjus Tschaharganeh

Senior Pathologist, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg

Consultant in Clinical Pathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg

Board Certification, Pathology

Head, Routine Diagnostic Lab, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg

Professorship for Translational Tumorpathology, University Hospital Heidelberg

Clinical Residency (part-time), Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg

MD thesis „mit Auszeichnung“ (summa cum laude), RWTH Aachen

Clinical Residency, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg

License to practice medicine

Study of Medicine, RWTH Aachen (Staatsexamen)

Study of Medicine, University of Rostock (Physikum)

Group Leader, Helmholtz-University Young Investigator Group, German Cancer Research Center and Institute of Pathology University Hospital Heidelberg

Research Associate, Department of Cancer Biology & Genetics, Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York, USA (Dr. Scott W. Lowe)

Research Scientist, Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital Aachen, Germany (Prof. C. Trautwein)

ERC Starting Grant

Klaus Tschira Boost Fund Fellow

Helmholtz Young Investigator

Poster Price from the German Society of Pathology

Research Fellowship of the DFG

Borchersplakette, RWTH Aachen

Clinical leave Fellowship, Helmholtz Alliance on Immunotherapy of Cancer

h-Index: 29                                                                 cumulative Impact Factor: 675,287

Average citations per item: 71,3                                 5 year Impact Factor:     444,784

Sum of times cited: 3850                   

Original Articles:

Li X, Huang CH, Sánchez-Rivera FJ, Kennedy MC, Tschaharganeh DF, Morris JP 4th, Montinaro A, O'Rourke KP, Banito A, Wilkinson JE, Chen CC, Ho YJ, Dow LE, Tian S, Luan W, de Stanchina E, Zhang T, Gray NS, Walczak H, Lowe SW. A preclinical platform for assessing antitumor effects and systemic toxicities of cancer drug targets. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Apr 26;119(17):e2110557119.

Revia S, Seretny A, Wendler L, Banito A, Eckert C, Breuer K, Mayakonda A, Lutsik P, Evert M, Ribback S, Gallage S, Chikh Bakri I, Breuhahn K, Schirmacher P, Heinrich S, Gaida MM, Heikenwälder M, Calvisi DF, Plass C, Lowe SW, Tschaharganeh DF. Histone H3K27 demethylase KDM6A is an epigenetic gatekeeper of mTORC1 signalling in cancer Gut. 2022 Aug;71(8):1613-1628.

Billon P, Nambiar TS, Hayward SB, Zafra MP, Schatoff EM, Oshima K, Dunbar A, Breinig M, Park YC, Ryu HS, Tschaharganeh DF, Levine RL, Baer R, Ferrando A, Dow LE, Ciccia A. Detection of Marker-Free Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Variation through the Capture of Genomic Signatures. Cell Reports. 2020 Mar 10;30(10):3280-3295.e6.

Rusu P, Shao C, Neuerburg A, Acikgöz AA, Wu Y, Zou P, Phapale P, Shankar TS, Döring K, Dettling S, Körkel-Qu H, Bekki G, Costa B, Guo T, Friesen O, Schlotter M, Heikenwalder M, Tschaharganeh DF, Bukau B, Kramer G, Angel P, Herold-Mende C, Radlwimmer B, Liu HK. GPD1 Specifically Marks Dormant Glioma Stem Cells with a Distinct Metabolic Profile. Cell Stem Cell. 2019 Aug 1;25(2):241-257.e8.

Moon SH, Huang CH, Houlihan SL, Regunath K, Freed-Pastor WA, Morris JP 4th, Tschaharganeh DF, Kastenhuber ER, Barsotti AM, Culp-Hill R, Xue W, Ho YJ, Baslan T, Li X, Mayle A, de Stanchina E, Zender L, Tong DR, D'Alessandro A, Lowe SW, Prives C. p53 Represses the Mevalonate Pathway to Mediate Tumor Suppression. Cell. 2019 Jan 24;176(3):564-580.e19.

Breinig M, Schweitzer AY, Herianto AM, Revia S, Schaefer L, Wendler L, Cobos Galvez A, Tschaharganeh DF. Multiplexed orthogonal genome editing and transcriptional activation by Cas12a. Nat Methods. 2019 Jan;16(1):51-54.

Zafra MP, Schatoff EM, Katti A, Foronda M, Breinig M, Schweitzer AY, Simon A, Han T, Goswami S, Montgomery E, Thibado J, Kastenhuber ER, Sánchez-Rivera FJ, Shi J, Vakoc CR, Lowe SW, Tschaharganeh DF, Dow LE. Optimized base editors enable efficient editing in cells, organoids and mice. Nat Biotechnol. 2018 Oct;36(9):888-893.

Faletti L, Peintner L, Neumann S, Sandler S, Grabinger T, Mac Nelly S, Merfort I, Huang CH, Tschaharganeh DF, Kang TW, Heinzmann F, D'Artista L, Maurer U, Brunner T, Lowe S, Zender L, Borner C. TNFα sensitizes hepatocytes to FasL-induced apoptosis by NFκB-mediated Fas upregulation. Cell Death Dis. 2018 Sep 5;9(9):909.

Banito A, Li X, Laporte AN, Roe JS, Sanchez-Vega F, Huang CH, Dancsok AR, Hatzi K, Chen CC, Tschaharganeh DF, Chandwani R, Tasdemir N, Jones KB, Capecchi MR, Vakoc CR, Schultz N, Ladanyi M, Nielsen TO, Lowe SW. The SS18-SSX Oncoprotein Hijacks KDM2B-PRC1.1 to Drive Synovial Sarcoma. Cancer Cell. 2018 Mar 12;33(3):527-541.e8.

González-Vallinas M, Rodríguez-Paredes M, Albrecht M, Sticht C, Stichel D, Gutekunst J, Pitea A, Sass S, Sánchez-Rivera FJ, Lorenzo-Bermejo J, Schmitt J, De La Torre C, Warth A, Theis FJ, Müller NS, Gretz N, Muley T, Meister M, Tschaharganeh DF, Schirmacher P, Matthäus F, Breuhahn K. Epigenetically Regulated Chromosome 14q32 miRNA Cluster Induces Metastasis and Predicts Poor Prognosis in Lung Adenocarcinoma Patients. Mol Cancer Res. 2018 Mar;16(3):390-402

Shamay Y, Shah J, Işık M, Mizrachi A, Leibold J, Tschaharganeh DF, Roxbury D, Budhathoki-Uprety J, Nawaly K, Sugarman JL, Baut E, Neiman MR, Dacek M, Ganesh KS, Johnson DC, Sridharan R, Chu KL, Rajasekhar VK, Lowe SW, Chodera JD, Heller DA. Quantitative self-assembly prediction yields targeted nanomedicines. Nat Mater. 2018 Feb 5.

Kastenhuber ER, Lalazar G, Houlihan SL, Tschaharganeh DF, Baslan T, Chen CC, Requena D, Tian S, Bosbach B, Wilkinson JE, Simon SM, Lowe SW. DNAJB1-PRKACA fusion kinase interacts with β-catenin and the liver regenerative response to drive fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Dec 12;114(50):13076-13084.

Wan S, Meyer AS, Weiler SME, Rupp C, Tóth M, Sticht C, Singer S, Thomann S, Roessler S, Schorpp-Kistner M, Schmitt J, Gretz N, Angel P, Tschaharganeh DF, Marquardt J, Schirmacher P, Pinna F, Breuhahn K. Cytoplasmic localization of the cell polarity factor Scribble supports liver tumor formation and tumor cell invasiveness. Hepatology. 2017 Nov 20.

Wall MA, Shaffer TM, Harmsen S, Tschaharganeh DF, Huang CH, Lowe SW, Drain CM, Kircher MF. Chelator-Free Radiolabeling of SERRS Nanoparticles for Whole-Body PET and Intraoperative Raman Imaging. Theranostics. 2017 Jul 22;7(12):3068-3077.

Méndez-Lucas A, Li X, Hu J, Che L, Song X, Jia J, Wang J, Xie C, Driscoll PC, Tschaharganeh DF, Calvisi DF, Yuneva M, Chen X. Glucose Catabolism in Liver Tumors Induced by c-MYC Can Be Sustained by Various PKM1/PKM2 Ratios and Pyruvate Kinase Activities. Cancer Res. 2017 Aug 15;77(16):4355-4364.

Yuan D, Huang S, Berger E, Liu L, Gross N, Heinzmann F, Ringelhan M, Connor TO, Stadler M, Meister M, Weber J, Öllinger R, Simonavicius N, Reisinger F, Hartmann D, Meyer R, Reich M, Seehawer M, Leone V, Höchst B, Wohlleber D, Jörs S, Prinz M, Spalding D, Protzer U, Luedde T, Terracciano L, Matter M, Longerich T, Knolle P, Ried T, Keitel V, Geisler F, Unger K, Cinnamon E, Pikarsky E, Hüser N, Davis RJ, Tschaharganeh DF, Rad R, Weber A, Zender L, Haller D, Heikenwalder M. Kupffer Cell-Derived Tnf Triggers Cholangiocellular Tumorigenesis through JNK due to Chronic Mitochondrial Dysfunction and ROS. Cancer Cell. 2017 Jun 12;31(6):771-789.e6.

Pelossof R, Fairchild L, Huang CH, Widmer C, Sreedharan VT, Sinha N, Lai DY, Guan Y, Premsrirut PK, Tschaharganeh DF, Hoffmann T, Thapar V, Xiang Q, Garippa RJ, Rätsch G, Zuber J, Lowe SW, Leslie CS, Fellmann C. Prediction of potent shRNAs with a sequential classification algorithm. Nat Biotechnol. 2017 Apr;35(4):350-353.

Tasdemir N, Banito A, Roe JS, Alonso-Curbelo D, Camiolo M, Tschaharganeh DF, Huang CH, Aksoy O, Bolden JE, Chen CC, Fennell M, Thapar V, Chicas A, Vakoc CR, Lowe SW. BRD4 Connects Enhancer Remodeling to Senescence Immune Surveillance. Cancer Discov. 2016 Jun;6(6):612-29.

Dow LE, O'Rourke KP, Simon J, Tschaharganeh DF, van Es JH, Clevers H, Lowe SW. APC restoration promotes cellular differentiation and reestablishes crypt homeostasis in colorectal cancer. Cell. 2015 Jun 18;161(7):1539-52.

Dow LE, Fisher J, O'Rourke KP, Muley A, Kastenhuber ER, Livshits G, Tschaharganeh DF, Socci ND, Lowe SW. Inducible in vivo genome editing with CRISPR-Cas9. Nat Biotechnol. 2015 Apr;33(4):390-4.

Huang CH, Lujambio A, Zuber J, Tschaharganeh DF, Doran MG, Evans MJ, Kitzing T, Zhu N, de Stanchina E, Sawyers CL, Armstrong SA, Lewis JS, Sherr CJ, Lowe SW. CDK9 mediated transcriptional elongation is required for Myc addiction in hepatocellular carcinoma. Genes Dev. 2014 Aug 15,28(16):1800-14

Tschaharganeh DF, Xue W, Calvisi DF, Evert M, Michurina TV, Dow LE, Banito A, Katz SF, Kastenhuber ER, Weissmueller S, Huang CH, Lechel A, Andersen JB, Capper D, Zender L, Longerich T, Enikolopov G, Lowe SW p53 dependent Nestin regulation links tumor suppression to cellular plasticity in liver cancer. Cell. 2014 Jul 31;158(3):579-92.

Weissmueller S, Manchado E, Saborowski M, Morris JP 4th, Wagenblast E, Davis CA, Moon SH, Pfister NT, Tschaharganeh DF, Kitzing T, Aust D, Markert EK, Wu J, Grimmond SM, Pilarsky C, Prives C, Biankin AV, Lowe SW. Mutant p53 drives pancreatic cancer metastasis through cell-autonomous PDGF receptor β signaling. Cell. 2014 Apr 10;157(2):382-94.

Tschaharganeh DF, Chen X, Latzko P, Malz M, Gaida MM, Felix K, Ladu S, Singer S, Pinna F, Gretz N, Sticht C, Tomasi ML, Delogu S, Evert M, Fan B, Ribback S, Jiang L, Brozzetti S, Bergmann F, Dombrowski F, Schirmacher P, Calvisi DF, Breuhahn K. Yes-associated protein up-regulates Jagged-1 and activates the Notch pathway in human hepatocellular carcinoma. Gastroenterology. 2013 Jun;144(7):1530-1542.e12.

Lujambio A, Akkari L, Simon J, Grace D, Tschaharganeh DF, Bolden JE, Zhao Z, Thapar V, Joyce JA, Krizhanovsky V, Lowe SW. Non-cell-autonomous tumor suppression by p53.  Cell. 2013 Apr 11;153(2):449-60.

Gaida MM, Steffen TG, Günther F, Tschaharganeh DF, Felix K, Bergmann F, Schirmacher P, Hänsch GM. Polymorphonuclear neutrophils promote dyshesion of tumor cells and elastase-mediated degradation of E-cadherin in pancreatic tumors. Eur J Immunol. 2012 Dec;42(12):3369-80.

Kaldenbach M, Giebeler A, Tschaharganeh DF, Erschfeld S, Wasmuth HE, Dolle L, Floege J, Trautwein C, Streetz KL. Hepatocyte growth factor/c-Met signalling is important for the selection of transplanted hepatocytes. Gut. 2012 Aug;61(8):1209-18.

Gaida MM, Welsch T, Herpel E, Tschaharganeh DF, Fischer L, Schirmacher P, Hänsch GM, Bergmann F. MHC class II expression in pancreatic tumors: a link to intratumoral inflammation. Virchows Arch. 2012 Jan;460(1):47-60.

Gaida MM, Bach ST, Günther F, Baseras B, Tschaharganeh DF, Welsch T, Felix K, Bergmann F, Hänsch GM, Wente MN. Expression of galectin-3 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Pathol Oncol Res. 2012 Apr;18(2):299-307.