Laboratory of Haematooncology
Head: Alberich Jordà Meritxell
Prague node
HOME INSTITUTION
Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences
RESEARCH PROGRAMME(S)
RP 1 - Molecular basis of cancer and molecular targets
Unlocking stem cell secrets for leukemia treatment!
- Mission: To pioneer cutting-edge research to unravel the mechanisms driving acute myeloid leukemia, and to develop precise targeted therapies that eradicate leukemic stem cells while preserving the integrity of healthy hematopoietic stem cell pools.
- Vision: To drive a future where every patient has access to personalized therapies, and where leukemia is conquered with compassion and precision through stem cell research.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive hematologic malignancy with fast clinical progression and poor prognosis. Despite the remarkable understanding of the molecular mechanisms that drive AML transformation, the current therapeutic options remain limited. In fact, only 50% of AML patients respond to the initial anthracycline-plus-cytarabine induction treatment, followed by an atrocious 5 year overall survival rate that does not exceed 20-30%. AML is characterized by the expansion of hyperproliferative dysfunctional myeloid precursors and is composed of multiple genetically heterogeneous clonal populations that evolve from a single leukemic stem cell (LSC).
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
- Vanickova K, Milosevic M, Ribeiro Bas I, Burocziova M, Yokota A, Danek P, Grusanovic S, Chiliński M, Plewczynski D, Rohlena J, Hirai H, Rohlenova K, Alberich-Jorda M. Hematopoietic stem cells undergo a lymphoid to myeloid switch in early stages of emergency granulopoiesis. EMBO J. 2023 Dec 1;42(23):e113527. DOI: 10.15252/embj.2023113527
- Burocziova M, Danek P, Oravetzova A, Chalupova Z, Alberich-Jorda M, Macurek L. Ppm1d truncating mutations promote the development of genotoxic stress-induced AML. Leukemia. 2023 Nov;37(11):2209-2220. DOI: 10.1038/s41375-023-02030-8
- Grusanovic S, Danek P, Kuzmina M, Adamcova MK, Burocziova M, Mikyskova R, Vanickova K, Kosanovic S, Pokorna J, Reinis M, Brdicka T, Alberich-Jorda M. Chronic inflammation decreases HSC fitness by activating the druggable Jak/Stat3 signaling pathway. EMBO Rep. 2022:e54729. DOI: 10.15252/embr.202254729
- Danek P, Kardosova M, Janeckova L, Karkoulia E, Vanickova K, Fabisik M, Lozano-Asencio C, Benoukraf T, Tirado-Magallanes R, Zhou Q, Burocziova M, Rahmatova S, Pytlik R, Brdicka T, Tenen DG, Korinek V, Alberich-Jorda M. β-Catenin-TCF/LEF signaling promotes steady-state and emergency granulopoiesis via G-CSF receptor upregulation. Blood. 2020;136(22):2574-2587. DOI: 10.1182/blood.2019004664
- Wurm AA, Zjablovskaja P, Kardosova M, Gerloff D, Bräuer-Hartmann D, Katzerke C, Hartmann JU, Benoukraf T, Fricke S, Hilger N, Müller AM, Bill M, Schwind S, Tenen DG, Niederwieser D, Alberich-Jorda M, Behre G. Disruption of the C/EBPα-miR-182 balance impairs granulocytic differentiation. Nat Commun. 2017;8(1):46. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00032-6
SPECIALIZED EXPERTISE AND TECHNOLOGY
In vitro and in vivo models of leukemia
Flow cytometry and sorting of rare populations
Stem cell manipulation and cultures
Drug efficacy testing
COLLABORATION WITH LARGE RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES AND RESEARCH CENTRES
National infrastructure for biological and biomedical imaging Czech-Bioimaging
Biotechnology and Biomedicine Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Charles University BIOCEV