About Dr. N. (Nitika) Taneja, PhD
Dr. Nitika Taneja, PhD is an Associate Professor and Principal Investigator at the Department of Molecular Genetics, Erasmus University Medical Center (Erasmus MC) and also affiliated with Technical University, Delft (TU, Delft) since 2018. She is an Oncode Investigator and consequently her group became part of Oncode Institute since 2024. The central theme of her research activities has been focused on understanding complex molecular mechanisms of chromatin remodeling upon DNA replication and replication stress in maintaining genome stability.
"Since replication stress is one of the main causes of inducing DNA damage upon chemotherapy treatment, dr. Taneja is exploring the potential role of histone modifications and chromatin remodeling pathways involved in re-organizing chromatin locally & spatially to develop tolerance towards replication stress and acquiring chemoresistance in cancer cells."
|
Email Taneja visit Taneja Lab |
 |
She obtained her Master’s degree in Biotechnology from the School of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (2008). She received her PhD from the University of Zurich, Switzerland (2013), where she studied transgenerational inheritance of histone variants in Drosophila. As a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, USA (2017), she investigated heterochromatin inheritance during DNA replication in fission yeast.
In her own lab, she employs mammalian systems, including human and mouse cell lines, tumor organoids, and patient-derived material (ovarian and prostate cancer samples such as ascites, circulating tumor cells, and biopsy-derived cells), to study chromatin organization at replication forks, particularly in the context of chemotherapy-induced replication stress. Her work addresses a major knowledge gap in understanding how three-dimensional chromatin architecture mediates replication fork stability under stress. By uncovering these connections and identifying the key molecular factors involved, her research opens new avenues in the fields of cancer and disease. To this end, her group develops state-of-the-art single-molecule and 3D genomics tools to overcome the limitations of conventional methods, enabling investigation of transient chromatin changes both locally at replication forks and at the genome-wide level to capture spatial reorganization of chromatin under replication stress.
3-D Chromatin Remodeling & Replication
Our lab investigates local and spatial re-organization of chromatinized replication forks in response to replication stress. We use a combination of super-resolution imaging, genomics and proteomics based approaches to understand the complex mechanisms of chromatin regulation in maintaining replication fork stability in normal as well as cancer cells.
We use mammalian system (human/mouse cell lines, tumor organoids and patient tumor samples including PDX) to study chromatin organization upon replication stress.
Chromatin loops protect stressed replication forks
 |
 |
 |
ChromStretch: translating replication-fork biology into patient diagnostics
ChromStretch is a single-molecule platform developed in our laboratory to measure chromatin-associated treatment responses directly on newly replicated DNA. Using fewer than 300 cells, it visualizes biomarkers such as H3K9me3 and RAD51 along individual replication tracks, providing a functional readout of replication-fork protection and drug sensitivity.
We are developing ChromStretch as a rapid precision-oncology tool to predict how individual tumours will respond to chemotherapy and targeted treatments, including platinum compounds and PARP inhibitors. The technology is covered by international patent application PCT/NL2023/050120; published as WO2023172142A1; EP4490312A1; US20250207177A1, and is currently being evaluated using patient-derived ovarian cancer samples.
Publications
- Choudhury A, Courtes M, Taneja N. Genome Instability Goes Mobile: Damaged DNA Transfer Between Human Cells. (Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, 2026, in press)
- Uruci S, Hoitsma N†, Heuvel Dv†, Bakker C†, Bayona-Feliu A, Fonseca CS, Gaggioli V, García-Rubio, Lo SY, Pasewald SM, Solér-Oliva E, Marinello J, Manolika EM, Capranico G, Aguilera A*, Luger K*, Luijsterburg M*, Taneja N*. SMARCAD1 Regulates R-Loops at Active Replication Forks Linked to Cancer Mutation Hotspots. (Nature Communications, 2026, accepted)
- Gaggioli V†, Sengupta K†, Choudhury A, Paulson J, Kuthethur R, Bakker C, Li J, Lo SY, Whale A, Berg Jvd, Intxausti LA, Lanza NG, Femenía IG, Manolika EM, Eswaran S, Khan H, Ferré E, Stik G, Oudenaarden Av, Papantonis A, Houseley J, Sridharan S, Ray Chaudhuri A, Bayona-Feliu A, Taneja N. Replication Stress-Induced Chromatin Loops Protect Forks Stability. (Nature 2026, doi: 10.1038/s41586-026-10695-1)
- Duzanic F, Natarajan VM, Fisicaro S, Bakker C, Amara G, Taneja N, Penengo L. H2BK120ub and its reader RNF169 differentially regulate replication fork remodeling and stability. (EMBO 2025, PMID: 41145912)
- Bakker C†, Paulson J†, Taneja N. Fencing the genome: ubiquitin signaling restricts heterochromatin spread. (Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, Nature/articles/s41392-025-02349-x, 2025)
- Galloy M, Blodeau A, Vion E, Kim D, Bakker CA, Gaggioli C, Thomas M, Lavoie EG, Marois I, Monterroso ADD, Masson JY, Taneja N, Miller K, Maréchal A, Fradet-Turcotte A. Ubiquitination of the histone variant mH2A1.2 prevents toxic RAD18 accumulation at a subset of genomic loci upon replication stress. (Molecular Cell 2025, PMID: 40812313)
- Cherdyntseva V, Paulson J, Adakli S, Gagné, Aouami, Ubieto-Capella, González-Acosta C, Bakker C, Poirier G, Taneja N, Lopes M. Nucleoplasmic Lamin A/C controls replication fork restart upon stress by modulating local H3K9me3 and ADP-ribosylation levels. (Nature Communications 2025, Accepted. BioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.18.633737)
- Lingeman J, Heuvel Dvd, Berg Jvd, Singh JK, van Hooijdonk R, Wiegant WW, Boer DEC, Lo SY, Panagopoulos A, Gonzalez-Prieto R, Franken M, Kolsters N, de Jong OG, Vertegaal ACO, Altmeyer M, Taneja N, van Oudernaarden A, Luijsterburg M, Kasri NN, Latour B, van Attikum H. The NSL complex promotes neural development by preventing R-loop induced replication stress. (BioRxiv, DOI: 10.1101/2025.08.22.671281)
- Lo CSY, Taneja N*, Ray Chaudhuri A*. Enhancing quantitative imaging to study DNA damage response: A guide to automated liquid handling and imaging. (DNA repair 2024, DOI: 10.1016/j.dnarep.2024.103769)
- Uruci S, Hoitsma N, Solér-Oliva E, Bayona-Feliu A, Gaggioli V, García-Rubio, Lo CSY, Bakker C, Marinello, Manolika EM, Capranico G, Luijsterburg M, Luger K, Aguilera A, Taneja N. SMARCAD1 Regulates R-Loops at Active Replication Forks Linked to Cancer Mutation Hotspots. (BioRxiv https://doi.org/.09.13.612941)
- Davó-Martínez C, Helfricht A, Ribeiro-Silva C, Raams A, Tresini M, Uruci S, van Cappellen WA, Taneja N, Demmers JAA, Pines A, Theil AF, Vermeulen W, Lans W. Different SWI/SNF complexes coordinately promote R-loop- and RAD52-dependent transcription-coupled homologous recombination. (Nucleic Acid Research 2023, DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad609)
- Gaggioli V, Lo CSY, Reverón-Gómez N, Jasencakova Z, Domenech H, Nguyen H, Sidoli S, Tvardovskiy A, Uruci S, Slotman JA, Chai Y, Goncalves JG, Manolika EM, Jensen ON, Wheeler D, Sridharan S, Chakraborty S, Demmers J, Kanaar R, Groth A, Taneja N. Dynamic de novo heterochromatin assembly and disassembly at replication forks ensure fork stability. (Nature Cell Biology 2023, DOI: 10.1038/s41556-023-01167-z)
- This article was selected for News & Views in Nature Cell Biology by Susan M. Gasser. Transient chromatin compaction in fork restart. (Nature Cell Biology 2023, DOI: 10.1038/s41556-023-01181-1)
PATENTS
DUTCH NATIONAL PATENT #NL-EP-PCT/P132000EP00. Methods, compositions and devices for spreading of chromatin fibers.
Lead Inventor: Nitika Taneja, Co-inventors: Vincent Gaggioli, Roland Kanaar
- 2026: BRIDGING: Daniel den Hoed/Erasmus Foundation
- 2026: ERC-Proof of Concept grant “PRECISE”
- 2025: KWF Exploration Funding
- 2024: Oncode Technology Development Funding
- 2024: Junior Oncode Investigator Award
- 2023: ERC Starting Grant “ChOReS”
- 2023: Talent funding on “Accelerate on Health” program by NFU
(Dutch federation of Education, Culture, and Science) - 2023: NWO - Aspasia premium award
- 2022: NWO - VIDI Talent award
- 2021: NWO - Women in STEM Incentive grant
- 2021: Convergence Health & Technology: Open Mind Call
- 2020: Erasmus+ fellowship
- 2018: Daniel den Hoed Stichting Foundation- Young Investigator Award
 |
 |
Read more about this story and public openbaar jaarverslag |
| Read more about this story: |
 |
| Read more about this story |
|
|
|
 |
 |
| Read more about this story | Read more about this story |
 |
 |
| Read more about this story | Read more about this story |
The Chromatin Remodeling and Replication group.
