Dr. Halberg completed his graduate studies at the University of Copenhagen in 2009. Working in the laboratory of Dr. Philipp Scherer at the UT Southwestern Medical Center he studied the functional role of hypoxia and fibrosis in obese white adipose tissue. He did postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Dr. Sohail Tavazoie at the Rockefeller University studying the mechanisms of metastatic secretory programs in breast cancer. In 2015, he moved the University of Bergen to start his academic laboratory in the Department of Biomedicine. His laboratory seeks to better our understanding of the mechanistic connection between obesity and cancer.

Metastatic colonization, the spread of cancer cells from the primary tumor to secondary organ sites, is the major cause of death in patients with solid tumors. While its impact on human health has been recognized for years, the mechanistic framework that drives the colonization has only recently begun to be understood. Such mechanisms include intrinsic cellular pathways and interactions between cancer cells with neighboring cell types in the tumor microenvironment as immune cells, endothelial cells and fibroblast.

A critical health issue facing our society today is the connection between obesity and cancer. Extensive epidemiological evidence indicates that obesity is a driving factor for cancer development and spread—in particular for breast, endometrial and colon cancer. In spite of this clear connection, no unbiased in-depth mechanistic studies have been undertaken to establish how tumor cells take advantage of the altered energy state present in obese individuals. Without this mechanistic insight we are unable to develop effective therapeutic strategies to tackle this growing clinical problem.

Our laboratory utilizes in vitro and in vivo experimental cancer systems and metabolic analysis combined with contemporary molecular biology and clinical bioinformatics approaches to systemically elucidate the mechanisms by which cancer cells exploit an altered metabolic environment to promote metastatic colonization.

VG article on PITPNC1

BT article with Camilla Krakstadt and Karen Mauland on the connection between obesity and cancer

BMED331

BMED381

Masteroppgave

• Marcus Langeland Larsen Nygård; Nils Henrik Halberg; Kelly Marcela Velasco Pinto (2022). Deciphering the molecular interactions of HNF4Α in an obese model of pancreatic cancer. (ekstern lenke)
• Kristine Marie Monsen; Nils Halberg (2019). Cancer subpopulation dynamics in obese environments. (ekstern lenke)
• Johanna Lepland; Nils Henrik Halberg; Xiaozheng Liu (2021). Obesity-Induced Breast Cancer Stemness Through Epigenetic Regulation. (ekstern lenke)
• Sina Thorsen Takle; Nils Halberg; Cara Ellen Wogsland (2020). High Dimensional and Spatial Analysis of Solid Tumors. (ekstern lenke)
• Ghazal Lessan Toussi; Nils Henrik Halberg; Kelly Velasco (2023). Investigating the effects of one-carbon metabolism pathway on obesity-induced pancreatic cancer. (ekstern lenke)
• Diego Iglesias Lopez; Anders Molven; Nils Henrik Halberg et al. (2024). Interplay of the proteotoxic CEL-MODY protein and oncogenic KRAS in pancreatic cancer development. (ekstern lenke)
• Sunniva Senum Brownrigg; Nils Henrik Halberg; Line Pedersen et al. (2025). Spatial Exploration of Obesity-Induced Effects on the Microenvironment of Pancreatic Neoplastic Lesions. (ekstern lenke)
• Xiaozheng Liu; Nils Halberg; Line Pedersen (2017). Malignant Exploitation of the Altered Metabolic Landscape in Obese Hormone Receptor Negative Breast Cancer Patients. (ekstern lenke)
• Alexander Williams; Nils Henrik Halberg; Anders Molven (2023). The Effect of Alternate Day Fasting on a Mouse Model of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. (ekstern lenke)
• Hilde Eide Lien; Nils Halberg; Cara Ellen Wogsland (2019). High dimensional analysis of immune infiltrate in cancers associated with obesity. (ekstern lenke)
• Sergio Miguel Castaneda Zegarro; Valentyn Oksenbych; Nils Halberg (2019). Making in vivo models viable again: Synthetic lethality between DNA repair factors Xlf and Paxx is rescued by inactivation of Trp53. (ekstern lenke)
• Eric Holt; Nils Henrik Halberg; Eivind Valen (2024). The pancreas remembers: epigenetic memory of obesity as subtle, coordinated changes in promoter accessibility. (ekstern lenke)
• Oda Bellika Kjæmpenes; Nils Henrik Halberg; Sina Thorsen Takle (2024). Probing cellular interactions in breast cancer and mouse models thereof. (ekstern lenke)
• Susanne Helen Benjaminsen; Nils Halberg; Line Pedersen (2019). Development of an in vivo selection-based model system to study PDAC liver colonization in obese and non-obese microenvironments. (ekstern lenke)

Vitenskapelig artikkel

• Dawei Bu; Clair Crewe; Christine M. Kusminski et al. (2019). Human endotrophin as a driver of malignant tumor growth. (ekstern lenke)
• Cara Ellen Wogsland; Hilde Eide Lien; Line Pedersen et al. (2021). High-dimensional immunotyping of tumors grown in obese and non-obese mice. (ekstern lenke)
• Nils Halberg; Caitlin A. Sengelaub; Kristina Navrazhina et al. (2016). PITPNC1 recruits RAB1B to the Golgi network to drive malignant secretion. (ekstern lenke)
• JC Jun; R Devera; D Unnikrishnan et al. (2016). Adipose HIF-1α causes obesity by suppressing brown adipose tissue thermogenesis. (ekstern lenke)
• Xiaozheng Liu; Anastasiia Rulina; Man Hung Choi et al. (2022). C/EBPB-dependent adaptation to palmitic acid promotes tumor formation in hormone receptor negative breast cancer. (ekstern lenke)
• Agnete Engelsen; Katarzyna Wnuk-Lipinska; Sébastien Bougnaud et al. (2020). AXL is a driver of stemness in normal mammary gland and breast cancer. (ekstern lenke)
• Ina Katrine Nitschke Pettersen; Deusdedit Tusubira; Hanan Ashrafi et al. (2019). Upregulated PDK4 expression is a sensitive marker of increased fatty acid oxidation. (ekstern lenke)
• Line Pedersen; Pouda Panahandeh; Muntequa Ishtiaq Siraji et al. (2020). Golgi-Localized PAQR4 Mediates Antiapoptotic Ceramidase Activity in Breast Cancer. (ekstern lenke)
• Pravat Kumar Parida; Mauricio Marquez-Palencia; Suvranil Ghosh et al. (2023). Limiting mitochondrial plasticity by targeting DRP1 induces metabolic reprogramming and reduces breast cancer brain metastases. (ekstern lenke)
• Rodrigo Entrialgo-Cadierno; Cristina Cueto-Ureña; Connor Welch et al. (2023). The phospholipid transporter PITPNC1 links KRAS to MYC to prevent autophagy in lung and pancreatic cancer. (ekstern lenke)
• Qingzhang Zhu; Shiuhwei Chen; Jan-Bernd Funcke et al. (2024). PAQR4 regulates adipocyte function and systemic metabolic health by mediating ceramide levels. (ekstern lenke)

Doktorgradsavhandling

• Pouda Panahandeh; Nils Halberg (2019). Discovery and Targeting of the Cellular Functions of PAQR4 in Breast Cancer. (ekstern lenke)

Vitenskapelig litteraturgjennomgang

• Adam Leo Truskewycz; Hong Yin; Nils Henrik Halberg et al. (2022). Carbon Dot Therapeutic Platforms: Administration, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, Toxicity, and Therapeutic Potential. (ekstern lenke)
• Xiaozheng Liu; Line Pedersen; Nils Henrik Halberg (2021). Cellular mechanisms linking cancers to obesity. (ekstern lenke)

Rettelse i tidsskrift

• Rodrigo Entrialgo‑Cadierno; Cristina Cueto‑Ureña; Connor Welch et al. (2023). Correction: The phospholipid transporter PITPNC1 links KRAS to MYC to prevent autophagy in lung and pancreatic cancer (Molecular Cancer, (2023), 22, 1, (86), 10.1186/s12943-023-01788-w). (ekstern lenke)

Se en full oversikt over publikasjoner i Cristin

https://scholar.google.no/citations?hl=en&user=DvDo86sAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

Our studies on the obeisty-cancer connection has funding from the Bergen Research Foundation.