Scientists Create Novel Model That Shows Progression From Normal Blood Cells to Leukemia
Mount Sinai researchers have created a novel model that shows the step-by-step progression from normal blood cells to leukemia and its precursor diseases, creating replicas of the stages of the disease to test the efficacy of therapeutic interventions at each stage, according to a study to be published in Cell Stem Cell.
This research marked the first time scientists have been able to transplant leukemia from humans to a test tube and then into mice for study, a landmark feat that will allow for valuable research to help find therapies for blood cancer patients in the future.
“The new model will empower investigation into the cellular and molecular events underlying the development of leukemia in ways that were not possible before,” said Eirini P. Papapetrou, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Oncological Sciences, Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “These findings provide a framework to aid investigation into disease mechanisms, drug responses, and the cellular and molecular events driving leukemia progression.”
Scientists used CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat), a new, cutting-edge genome editing technology, to convert blood cells from patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) to particular stem cells (called induced pluripotent stem cells) that can mimic all stages of disease progression, from a healthy state to pre-malignancy and finally full-blown leukemia. Though scientists believe that cancer develops through a step-by-step process by which a normal cell transforms to a fully malignant cell through intermediate stages, recreating the steps was challenging with previous tools.
Scientists were able to manipulate the leukemia in a test tube environment, both by genetically modifying the disease-ridden stem cells at certain stages to revert to a pre-cancerous state, and by altering them so they would either progress to a severe or mild form of MDS. The ability to manipulate the leukemia to regress or progress will allow future researchers to test therapies that may be most potent at a particular stage, thus saving or extending a patient’s life.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center was a valuable collaborator in this research. The lab of Michael G. Kharas, PhD, performed some of the mouse transplantation experiments in the study.
“We are encouraged by the discovery that it was possible to generate potent engraftable leukemia derived from AML induced pluripotent stem cells,” said Dr. Kharas, the co-corresponding author. “This work shows that integrated patient cell reprogramming and cancer genetics is a powerful way to dissect cancer progression.”
The progression model created through this research could also be used to develop models for more complex cancers, including solid tumors, the researchers said.
The research was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01HL121570 and R00DK087923); the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, the Edward P. Evans Foundation, the Ellison Medical Foundation, the Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation, the Babich Family Foundation and Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the nation’s leading integrated academic health systems and one of the largest in the New York metropolitan area. Its comprehensive system includes seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, over 600 research and clinical laboratories, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing. Together, the Health System comprises approximately 48,000 employees, more than 9,000 physicians, and 8,600 nurses.
As a leading learning health system, Mount Sinai combines clinical expertise with scientific discovery to improve patient care while training the next generation of health care and biomedical leaders. The Health System provides care across every stage of life, from prenatal care through geriatrics, while advancing personalized medicine through artificial intelligence, data science, and biomedical research.
Mount Sinai is consistently recognized among the nation’s leading academic health systems for patient care, research, and education. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 1 in New York by Newsweek and No. 5 on the magazine’s World’s Best Hospitals list. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai ranks No. 11 among U.S. medical schools and No. 1 among freestanding medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding, reflecting the strength of its scientific enterprise and leadership in biomedical research.
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