About D. C. (Dik) van Gent, PhD
Dik van Gent studied biology in Utrecht and did his PhD research at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (Amsterdam) under the supervision of Prof. R.H.A. Plasterk. He investigated various aspect of the HIV DNA integration reaction. After receiving his PhD in 1993, he did three years of post doc research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda (USA) under the supervision of Dr. M. Gellert.
During most of this time he was supported by an EMBO long term fellowship. He unraveled the basic mechanism of RAG1/2 mediated V(D)J recombination, which generates the antigen receptor diversity in B and T cells. For this work he received the biennial prize of the Netherlands Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (NVBMB) in 1997. In 1996 he moved to the Erasmus University Rotterdam (now Erasmus MC), Department of Molecular Genetics. He received a KNAW fellowship to establish his own line of research here. Since then he received research funding from various sources, including The Netherlands Scientific Organization (NWO), the Netherlands Cancer Foundation (KWF), the Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) and the European Union.
He studied many aspects of DNA double strand break repair, with emphasis on the non-homologous end-joining pathway. More recently, he concentrated on studying the effects of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and targeted therapy in various types of cancer tissues using ex vivo culture methods, including organ-on-chip approaches. Together with Life Chip BV he is currently developing a device for live imaging of 3D tissue samples in the BioChip project. He authored approximately 150 peer-reviewed papers.
He is currently a course director of the Research Master program Molecular Medicine and coordinator of the teaching block 'growth and development 1' of the medical Bachelor program.
Research
The group studies various aspects of DNA double strand break repair, with an emphasis on a better understanding of DNA damaging anti-tumor therapies and how these therapies can be optimized for specific tumors. For this purpose we have developed novel technology to allow direct investigation of DNA damage responses in tumor tissue slices derived from fresh clinical samples. We also carry out more mechanistic studies, which currently concentrate mainly mechanistic aspects of resistance to radiotherapy.
DNA damage responses in tissues and tumors
We study DNA damage responses in cells within tissues and tumours. In collaboration with the Departments of Medical Oncology, Radiotherapy and Pathology we develop novel techniques to study DNA repair, cell cycle checkpoint activation and apoptosis in living breast, head-and-neck and lung tumour slices, with the ultimate goal to develop methods to predict treatment response in the tumour. An important focus is at this moment on tumour sensitivity to various types of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We try to understand how sensitivity to treatment can be predicted and how treatment resistance can be counteracted.
In collaboration with the Department of Radiotherapy we are currently developing methods to predict head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) response to radiotherapy (X-rays and proton radiotherapy). Within the IMMUNOPROT consortium we collaborate with University Medical Center Groningen, Radboud University and Maastricht University (Maastro) how proton radiotherapy affects the immune system and how the combination of immunotherapy and radiotherapy can be optimized.
Publications
- Chakrabarty S, Quiros-Solano WF, Kuijten MMP, Haspels B, Mallya S, Lo CSY, Othman A, Silvestri C, van de Stolpe A, Gaio N, Odijk H, van de Ven M, de Ridder CMA, van Weerden WM, Jonkers J, Dekker R, Taneja N, Kanaar R, van Gent DC. (2022) A Microfluidic Cancer-on-Chip Platform Predicts Drug Response Using Organotypic Tumor Slice Culture. Cancer Res. 82:510-520
- Komar ZM, Verkaik NS, Dahmani A, Montaudon E, Kanaar R, Houtsmuller AB, Jager A, Marangoni E, van Gent DC (2025) Development and validation of a functional ex vivo paclitaxel and eribulin sensitivity assay for breast cancer, the REMIT assay. NPJ Breast Cancer 11:17
- Pachler KS, Lauwers I, Verkaik NS, Rovituso M, Mast H, Jonker BP, Kremer B, Koppes SA, van den Bosch TPP, Verduijn GM, Petit S, Sørensen BS, van Gent DC, Capala ME (2026) Motion-based tissue ex vivo (MOTEX) assay to assess proton and X-ray irradiation responses in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol. 58:101124. PMID: 41743370
Mechanisms of DNA double strand break repair and PARP radioresistance
We study various aspects of DNA double strand break repair, with an emphasis on the Non-homologous end-joining (NEHJ) pathway and resistance against radiotherapy. We are defining the various pathways that determine radiosensitivity and the various resistance mechanisms that develop under fractionated irradiation schedules.
Publications
- Meijer T.G., Verkaik, N.S., van Deurzen, C.H.M., Dubbink, H.J., …, van Gent, D.C., Jager, A. (2019) Direct Ex Vivo Observation of Homologous Recombination Defect Reversal After DNA-Damaging Chemotherapy in Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer. JCO Precision Oncology 3: 1-12
- Meijer TG, Martens JWM, Prager-van der Smissen WJC, Verkaik NS, Beaufort CM, van Herk S, Robert-Finestra T, Hoogenboezem RM, Ruigrok-Ritstier K, Paul MW, Gribnau J, Bindels EMJ, Kanaar R, Jager A, van Gent DC, Hollestelle A. (2024) Functional Homologous Recombination (HR) Screening Shows the Majority of BRCA1/2-Mutant Breast and Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines Are HR-Proficient. Cancers 16:741.
- Komar ZM, Ladan MM, Verkaik NS, Dahmani A, Montaudon E, Marangoni E, Kanaar R, Nonnekens J, Houtsmuller AB, Jager A, van Gent DC (2025) Curcumin Induces Homologous Recombination Deficiency by BRCA2 Degradation in Breast Cancer and Normal Cells. Cancers 17:2109
Key publications
- Meijer T.G., Verkaik, N.S., van Deurzen, C.H.M., Dubbink, H.J., …, van Gent, D.C., Jager, A. (2019) Direct Ex Vivo Observation of Homologous Recombination Defect Reversal After DNA-Damaging Chemotherapy in Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer. JCO Precision Oncology 3: 1-12
- Meijer TG, Nguyen L, Van Hoeck A, Sieuwerts AM, Verkaik NS, Ladan MM, Ruigrok-Ritstier K, van Deurzen CHM, van de Werken HJG, Lips EH, Linn SC, Memari Y, Davies H, Nik-Zainal S, Kanaar R, Martens JWM, Cuppen E, Jager A, van Gent DC (2022) Functional RECAP (REpair CAPacity) assay identifies homologous recombination deficiency undetected by DNA-based BRCAness tests. Oncogene 41:3498-3506
- Chakrabarty S, Quiros-Solano WF, Kuijten MMP, Haspels B, Mallya S, Lo CSY, Othman A, Silvestri C, van de Stolpe A, Gaio N, Odijk H, van de Ven M, de Ridder CMA, van Weerden WM, Jonkers J, Dekker R, Taneja N, Kanaar R, van Gent DC. (2022) A Microfluidic Cancer-on-Chip Platform Predicts Drug Response Using Organotypic Tumor Slice Culture. Cancer Res. 82:510-520
- Ladan MM, Meijer TG, Verkaik NS, de Monye C, Koppert LB, Oomen-de Hoop E, van Deurzen CHM, Kanaar R, Nonnekens J, van Gent DC, Jager A. (2023) Proof-of-concept study linking ex vivo sensitivity testing to neoadjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy response in breast cancer patients. NPJ Breast Cancer 9:80
- Komar ZM, Verkaik NS, Dahmani A, Montaudon E, Kanaar R, Houtsmuller AB, Jager A, Marangoni E, van Gent DC (2025) Development and validation of a functional ex vivo paclitaxel and eribulin sensitivity assay for breast cancer, the REMIT assay. NPJ Breast Cancer 11:1
- Komar ZM, Bavelaar M, Kageler E, Verkaik NS, van Rosmalen MM, van Deurzen CHM, den Bakker MA, Kanaar R, Houtsmuller AB, van den Bosch TPP, Jager A, van Gent DC (2025) Motion based ex vivo (MOTEX) culture of breast tumor slices sustains microenvironment composition. Neoplasia 68:101221
- Pachler KS, Lauwers I, Verkaik NS, Rovituso M, Mast H, Jonker BP, Kremer B, Koppes SA, van den Bosch TPP, Verduijn GM, Petit S, Sørensen BS, van Gent DC, Capala ME (2026) Motion-based tissue ex vivo (MOTEX) assay to assess proton and X-ray irradiation responses in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol. 58:101124. PMID: 41743370
Teaching
Dik van Gent is involved in teaching at various levels.
He is coordinator of the teaching block 'growth and development 1' for first year medical students. Furthermore, he is a course director in the MSc program Molecular Medicine, which offers a two year master of science curriculum for medical and biomedical students, where student study molecular cell biology in the context of medically relevant research topics.
Contact information:
Dr. Dik C. van Gent
Dept. of Molecular Genetics
Erasmus MC
PO Box 2040
3000 CA Rotterdam
The Netherlands
Tel. +31-10-7043932
e-mail: d.vangent@erasmusmc.nl
