8/30 – Sandra Pinho, University of Illinois Chicago
CBQB Seminar
August 30, 2021
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Address
Chicago, IL
Calendar
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Title: Regulation of healthy and leukemic stem cells by VCAM1
Abstract: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive hematologic cancer characterized by clonal expansion of undifferentiated myeloid precursors, resulting in impaired hematopoiesis and bone marrow failure. Patient outcomes in AML remains poor, with relapses representing the major cause of treatment failure due to resistant disease, often by non-eradication of the leukemic stem cells (LSC). Hence, novel LSC-targeted therapies are urgently needed. Our results show that Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 (VCAM1) is expressed on healthy hematopoietic stem cells and significantly upregulated on LSC. VCAM1 overexpression in human AML promotes disease progression while VCAM1 blockade reduces leukemia burden and extends survival. Furthermore, our studies indicate that VCAM1 expression on LSC cells serves as a quality-control immune-checkpoint promoting evasion from phagocytes. Thus, targeting VCAM1 may represent a promising approach to eliminate AML via modulation of innate immune tolerance.
Date posted
Aug 19, 2021
Date updated
Aug 19, 2021