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José Besso M, Bitto V, Koi L, Wijaya Hadiwikarta W, Conde-Lopez C, Euler-Lange R, Bonrouhi M, Schneider K, Linge A, Krause M, Baumann M, Kurth I. Transcriptomic and epigenetic landscape of nimorazole-enhanced radiochemotherapy in head and neck cancer. Radiother Oncol 2024:110348. [PMID: 38823583 DOI: 10.1016/j.radonc.2024.110348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2023] [Revised: 04/27/2024] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 06/03/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hypoxia remains a challenge for the therapeutic management of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The combination of radiotherapy with nimorazole has shown treatment benefit in HNSCC, but the precise underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. PURPOSE To assess and to characterize the transcriptomic/epigenetic landscape of HNSCC tumor models showing differential therapeutic response to fractionated radiochemotherapy (RCTx) combined with nimorazole. MATERIALS/METHODS Bulk RNA-sequencing and DNA methylation experiments were conducted using untreated and treated HNSCC xenografts after 10 fractions of RCTx with and without nimorazole. These tumor models (FaDu, SAS, Cal33, SAT and UT-SCC-45) previously showed a heterogeneous response to RCTx with nimorazole. The prognostic impact of candidate genes was assessed using clinical and gene expression data from HNSCC patients treated with primary RCTx within the DKTK-ROG. RESULTS Nimorazole responder and non-responder tumor models showed no differences in hypoxia gene signatures However, non-responder models showed upregulation of metabolic pathways. From that, a subset of 15 differentially expressed genes stratified HNSCC patients into low and high-risk groups with distinct outcome. CONCLUSION In the present study, we found that nimorazole non-responder models were characterized by upregulation of genes involved in Retinol metabolism and xenobiotic metabolic process pathways, which might contribute to identify mechanisms of resistance to nitroimidazole compounds and potentially expand the repertoire of therapeutic options to treat HNSCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- María José Besso
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Division of Radiooncology Radiobiology, Germany.
| | - Verena Bitto
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Division of Radiooncology Radiobiology, Germany; German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Division of Applied Bioinformatics, Germany; Faculty for Mathematics and Computer Science, Heidelberg University, Germany; HIDSS4Health - Helmholtz Information and Data Science School for Health, Karlsruhe/Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Lydia Koi
- OncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany; Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf, Institute of Radiooncology - OncoRay, Dresden, Germany
| | - Wahyu Wijaya Hadiwikarta
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Division of Radiooncology Radiobiology, Germany; National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology (NCRO), Heidelberg Institute for Radiation Oncology (HIRO), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Cristina Conde-Lopez
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Division of Radiooncology Radiobiology, Germany
| | - Rosemarie Euler-Lange
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Division of Radiooncology Radiobiology, Germany
| | - Mahnaz Bonrouhi
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Division of Radiooncology Radiobiology, Germany
| | - Karolin Schneider
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Division of Radiooncology Radiobiology, Germany
| | - Annett Linge
- OncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany; Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany; German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site Dresden, Heidelberg, Germany; National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Partner Site Dresden, Germany; Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, and Helmholtz Association / Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden, Germany
| | - Mechthild Krause
- OncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany; Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf, Institute of Radiooncology - OncoRay, Dresden, Germany; German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site Dresden, Heidelberg, Germany; National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Partner Site Dresden, Germany; Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, and Helmholtz Association / Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden, Germany
| | - Michael Baumann
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Division of Radiooncology Radiobiology, Germany; OncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany; German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Core Center Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology (NCRO), Heidelberg Institute for Radiation Oncology (HIRO), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ina Kurth
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Division of Radiooncology Radiobiology, Germany; German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Core Center Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology (NCRO), Heidelberg Institute for Radiation Oncology (HIRO), Heidelberg, Germany
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Bitto V, Hönscheid P, Besso MJ, Sperling C, Kurth I, Baumann M, Brors B. Enhancing mass spectrometry imaging accessibility using convolutional autoencoders for deriving hypoxia-associated peptides from tumors. NPJ Syst Biol Appl 2024; 10:57. [PMID: 38802379 PMCID: PMC11130291 DOI: 10.1038/s41540-024-00385-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) allows to study cancer's intratumoral heterogeneity through spatially-resolved peptides, metabolites and lipids. Yet, in biomedical research MSI is rarely used for biomarker discovery. Besides its high dimensionality and multicollinearity, mass spectrometry (MS) technologies typically output mass-to-charge ratio values but not the biochemical compounds of interest. Our framework makes particularly low-abundant signals in MSI more accessible. We utilized convolutional autoencoders to aggregate features associated with tumor hypoxia, a parameter with significant spatial heterogeneity, in cancer xenograft models. We highlight that MSI captures these low-abundant signals and that autoencoders can preserve them in their latent space. The relevance of individual hyperparameters is demonstrated through ablation experiments, and the contribution from original features to latent features is unraveled. Complementing MSI with tandem MS from the same tumor model, multiple hypoxia-associated peptide candidates were derived. Compared to random forests alone, our autoencoder approach yielded more biologically relevant insights for biomarker discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verena Bitto
- Division of Applied Bioinformatics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
- Division of Radiooncology/Radiobiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
- HIDSS4Health - Helmholtz Information and Data Science School for Health, Karlsruhe/Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
- Faculty for Mathematics and Computer Science, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Pia Hönscheid
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Partner Site Dresden, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus (UKD), Technische Universität Dresden, Institute of Pathology, Dresden, Germany
- Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - María José Besso
- Division of Radiooncology/Radiobiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Christian Sperling
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Partner Site Dresden, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus (UKD), Technische Universität Dresden, Institute of Pathology, Dresden, Germany
- Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Ina Kurth
- Division of Radiooncology/Radiobiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- OncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Core Center Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Michael Baumann
- Division of Radiooncology/Radiobiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- OncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Core Center Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Benedikt Brors
- Division of Applied Bioinformatics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Core Center Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg, Germany
- Medical Faculty Heidelberg and Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
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Kristensen MH, Sørensen MK, Tramm T, Alsner J, Sørensen BS, Maare C, Johansen J, Primdahl H, Bratland Å, Kristensen CA, Andersen M, Lilja-Fischer JK, Holm AIS, Samsøe E, Hansen CR, Zukauskaite R, Overgaard J, Eriksen JG. Tumor volume and cancer stem cell expression as prognostic markers for high-dose loco-regional failure in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma - A DAHANCA 19 study. Radiother Oncol 2024; 193:110149. [PMID: 38341096 DOI: 10.1016/j.radonc.2024.110149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Reliable and accessible biomarkers for patients with Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) are warranted for biologically driven radiotherapy (RT). This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of putative cancer stem cell (CSC) markers, hypoxia, and tumor volume using loco-regional high-dose failure (HDF) as endpoint. MATERIALS AND METHODS Tumor tissue was retrieved from patients treated with primary chemo-(C-)RT and nimorazole for HNSCC in the Danish Head and Neck Cancer Study Group (DAHANCA) 19 study. Tumor volume, hypoxic classification, and expression of CSC markers CD44, SLC3A2, and MET were analyzed. For patients with eligible data on all parameters (n = 340), the risk of HDF following primary chemo-(C-)RT were analyzed by these biomarkers as a whole and stratified for p16-positive oropharynx (p16 + OPSCC) vs p16-negative (p16-) tumors (oral cavity, p16- oropharynx, hypopharynx and larynx). RESULTS Higher risk of HDF was seen for patients with larger primary and nodal volume (>25 cm3, Hazard Ratio (HR): 3.00 [95 % CI: 1.73-5.18]), high SLC3A2 (HR: 2.99 [1.28-6.99]), CD44 (>30 % positive, HR: 2.29 [1.05-5.00]), and p16- tumors (HR: 2.53 [1.05-6.11]). p16- tumors had a higher CSC marker expression than p16 + OPSCC. The factors associated with the highest risk of HDF were larger volume (HR: 3.29 [1.79-6.04]) for p16- tumors (n = 178) and high SLC3A2 (HR: 6.19 [1.58-24.23]) for p16 + OPSCC (n = 162). CONCLUSION Tumor volume, p16, and CSC markers are potential biomarkers for HDF for patients with HNSCC treated with (C-)RT. Lower expression of CSC in p16 + OPSCC may contribute to better tumor control.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mia Kristina Sørensen
- Department of Experimental Clinical Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Pathology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Trine Tramm
- Department of Experimental Clinical Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Pathology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Jan Alsner
- Department of Experimental Clinical Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Brita Singers Sørensen
- Department of Experimental Clinical Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; Danish Centre for Particle Therapy, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | | | - Jørgen Johansen
- Department of Oncology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark
| | - Hanne Primdahl
- Department of Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Åse Bratland
- Department of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | | | - Maria Andersen
- Department of Oncology, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Jacob Kinggaard Lilja-Fischer
- Department of Experimental Clinical Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark
| | | | - Eva Samsøe
- Zealand University Hospital, Department of Oncology, Næstved, Denmark
| | - Christian Rønn Hansen
- Danish Centre for Particle Therapy, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; Odense University Hospital, Laboratory of Radiation Physics, Odense, Denmark; University of Southern Denmark, Department of Clinical Research, Odense, Denmark
| | - Ruta Zukauskaite
- Department of Oncology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark
| | - Jens Overgaard
- Department of Experimental Clinical Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Jesper Grau Eriksen
- Department of Experimental Clinical Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
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Schniewind I, Besso MJ, Klicker S, Schwarz FM, Hadiwikarta WW, Richter S, Löck S, Linge A, Krause M, Dubrovska A, Baumann M, Kurth I, Peitzsch C. Epigenetic Targeting to Overcome Radioresistance in Head and Neck Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2024; 16:730. [PMID: 38398123 PMCID: PMC10886471 DOI: 10.3390/cancers16040730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Revised: 01/02/2024] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
(1) Background: The sensitivity of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) to ionizing radiation, among others, is determined by the number of cells with high clonogenic potential and stem-like features. These cellular characteristics are dynamically regulated in response to treatment and may lead to an enrichment of radioresistant cells with a cancer stem cell (CSC) phenotype. Epigenetic mechanisms, particularly DNA and histone methylation, are key regulators of gene-specific transcription and cellular plasticity. Therefore, we hypothesized that specific epigenetic targeting may prevent irradiation-induced plasticity and may sensitize HNSCC cells to radiotherapy. (2) Methods: We compared the DNA methylome and intracellular concentrations of tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolites in radioresistant FaDu and Cal33 cell lines with their parental controls, as well as aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH)-positive CSCs with negative controls. Moreover, we conducted a screen of a chemical library targeting enzymes involved in epigenetic regulation in combination with irradiation and analyzed the clonogenic potential, sphere formation, and DNA repair capacity to identify compounds with both radiosensitizing and CSC-targeting potential. (3) Results: We identified the histone demethylase inhibitor GSK-J1, which targets UTX (KDM6A) and JMJD3 (KDM6B), leading to increased H3K27 trimethylation, heterochromatin formation, and gene silencing. The clonogenic survival assay after siRNA-mediated knock-down of both genes radiosensitized Cal33 and SAS cell lines. Moreover, high KDM6A expression in tissue sections of patients with HNSCC was associated with improved locoregional control after primary (n = 137) and post-operative (n = 187) radio/chemotherapy. Conversely, high KDM6B expression was a prognostic factor for reduced overall survival. (4) Conclusions: Within this study, we investigated cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying irradiation-induced cellular plasticity, a key inducer of radioresistance, with a focus on epigenetic alterations. We identified UTX (KDM6A) as a putative prognostic and therapeutic target for HNSCC patients treated with radiotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iñaki Schniewind
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology, 01307 Dresden, Germany; (I.S.)
- OncoRay—National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- Department of Neurology, Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital, Dresden University of Technology, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Maria José Besso
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Division Radiooncology/Radiobiology, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sebastian Klicker
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology, 01307 Dresden, Germany; (I.S.)
| | - Franziska Maria Schwarz
- OncoRay—National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- Institute of Radiooncology—OncoRay, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Wahyu Wijaya Hadiwikarta
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Division Radiooncology/Radiobiology, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Susan Richter
- Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Steffen Löck
- OncoRay—National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Annett Linge
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology, 01307 Dresden, Germany; (I.S.)
- OncoRay—National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Mechthild Krause
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology, 01307 Dresden, Germany; (I.S.)
- OncoRay—National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- Institute of Radiooncology—OncoRay, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), 01307 Dresden, Germany
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Anna Dubrovska
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology, 01307 Dresden, Germany; (I.S.)
- OncoRay—National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- Institute of Radiooncology—OncoRay, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Michael Baumann
- OncoRay—National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Division Radiooncology/Radiobiology, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ina Kurth
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Division Radiooncology/Radiobiology, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Claudia Peitzsch
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology, 01307 Dresden, Germany; (I.S.)
- OncoRay—National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), Dresden University of Technology, 01307 Dresden, Germany
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