In the new paper published online at nature.com on November 8, we describe how high levels of the BCAT1 enzyme in leukemia stem can lead to DNA hypermethylation and detrimental effects in cancer cells. The work, which is based on a close cooperation with group of Bernhard Radlwimmer also at the DKFZ, opens up new options for therapy via a blockade of BCAT1. Within HI-STEM, the PhD Students Simon Raffel and Mattia Falcone are together with Niclas Kneisel from the Radlwimmer team the first authors of this study.

Further Reading:

·         Read the paper online at Nature.com:
Raffel, S., Falcone, M., Kneisel, N., Hansson, J., Wang, W., Lutz, C., Bullinger, L., Poschet, G., Nonnenmacher, Y., Barnert, A., Bahr, C., Zeisberger, P., Przybylla, A., Sohn, M., Tönjes, M., Erez, A., Adler, L., Jensen, P., Scholl, C., Fröhling, S., Cocciardi, S., Wuchter, P., Thiede, C., Flörcken, A., Westermann, J., Ehninger, G., Lichter, P., Hiller, K., Hell, R., Herrmann, C., Ho, A.D., Krijgsveld, J., Radlwimmer, B., & Trumpp, A. (2017). BCAT1 restrictsαKG levels in AML stem cells leading to IDHmut-like DNA hypermethylation. Nature, advance online publication. doi: 10.1038/nature24294

·         DKFZ Press Release (English/ Deutsch)

 

Blood cancer is initiated by leukemic stem cells characterized by a specific protein expression pattern.

HI-STEM Mini-Symposium on Normal and Malignant Hematopoietic Stem Cells on August 28
 
The topic of the symposium will be normal and malignant hematopoietic stem cells, and there will be three talks of 30 minutes each from the following international speakers:
 
Dr. Steven Sykes, Fox Chase Comprehensive Cancer Center, Philadelphia, USA
“Mitochondrial redox biology: a therapeutic vulnerability in leukemia.”
 
Dr. Marie-Dominique Filippi, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, USA.
“Hematopoietic stem cell regeneration; it’s all about the mitochondria.”
 
Dr. Steven Lane, Queensland Institute for Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.
"The role of Dnmt3a in advanced myeloproliferative neoplasm."
 
The symposium will take place on Monday August 28th at 3pm in the ZMBH, ground floor seminar room (Im Neuenheimer Feld 282).
 
For questions or contact to the speakers, please contact Dr. Michael D. Milsom (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Human haematopoietic stem cell lineage commitment is a continuous process (Nature Cell Biology, 2017)

Velten, L.*, Haas, S.F.*, Raffel, S.*, Blaszkiewicz, S., Islam, S., Hennig, B.P., Hirche, C., Lutz, C., Buss, E.C., Nowak, D., Boch, T., Hofmann, W.K., Ho, A.D., Huber, W., Trumpp, A.@, Essers, M.A.@, & Steinmetz, L.M.@ (2017). Human haematopoietic stem cell lineage commitment is a continuous process. Nature Cell Biology, 19(4), 271-281. doi: 10.1038/ncb3493 Cover Story *Shared first author @Shared corresponding author 


Prince William and his wife, Duchess Catherine, visited the HI-STEM laboratory on July 20, 2017
As part of their official visit to Germany, Prince William and his wife, Duchess Catherine, visited the HI-STEM laboratory on July 20, 2017. Here, HI-STEM group leader Mick Milsom had the chance to introduce them into latest results of his group. The visit was part of a tour through the DKFZ, which was the first stop of the royal visit to Heidelberg.
During the visit, Milsom explained to the royal couple how a misdirected gene in blood stem cells can cause a particularly aggressive form of blood cancer. “The Duchess and the Duke were very interested in how our work relates to the development of new therapies for cancer patients and asked a number of great questions about this.” says Milsom.
“The visit was a great honor for the whole HI-STEM team and will be remembered for a long time by all of us.” says Andreas Trumpp, the managing director of HI-STEM.
 
 
  • Hematopoiesis
  • Kate Microscope
  • William Microscope
  • Explaining Microscope
  • Mick describes the normal hematopoietic system to the Duke and Duchess, and explains how this is perturbed in the setting of leukemia.
  • The Duchess of Cambridge looks at colonies formed by leukemic cells under the microscope.
  • The Duke of Cambridge looks at colonies formed by leukemic cells under the microscope.
  • Mick fields a question from the Duke of Cambridge.

Dr. Michael Milsom was recently awarded the 2016 Fanconi Anemia Research Fund’s David B. Frohnmeyer Early Investigator Award.  The award is given to independent investigators of high accomplishment within 10 years of starting their own group. Dr. Milsom is the second recipient of this award, which was established in 2015 in memory of David Frohnmayer, former Attorney General of the US state of Oregon, President of the University of Oregon, and founder of the Fanconi Anemia Research Foundation.

Dr. Milsom received this award in light of his pioneering work on the roles of DNA damage and Fanconi anemia signaling pathway function in governing the attrition of hematopoietic stem cells. Dr. Ray Monnat, Chair of the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund Scientific Advisory Board commented that “This is a topic of high, and growing, interest both within the Fanconi anemia community and experimental hematology in general.”

 

 

  1. Mechanism of therapy resistance in pancreatic cancer uncovered
  2. Oncogene controls stem cells during pregnancy – HI-STEM Paper featured as cover story in Cell
  3. HI-STEM scientist’s work recognized with DKFZ award
  4. Andreas Trumpp featured in GSCN Video Clip on Stem Cell Research

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