Marta Derecka, PhD

The major focus of this proposal is to dissect the “seed and the soil” hypothesis explaining how blood cells communicate with their environment in the bone marrow. We have identified several genes that are important for this process. To further study the crosstalk of the blood stem cells with their surrounding microenvironment, we will remove these genes from the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment in mice. The function of the cells that assemble BM microenvironment is often altered in disease conditions like blood cancers. The prime example of such functional alterations is a type of BM cancer called myelofibrosis (MF). In MF, the communication between the environment and blood cells is perturbed causing the microenvironment cells to produce excessive amount of scar tissue (fibrous) in the BM. Due to BM scarring, normal production of blood cells is disrupted, which leads to anemia and fatigue. Moreover, around twenty percent of patients suffering from MF eventually develop aggressive leukemia. Stem cell transplantation is currently the only treatment option for patients with MF since there is no curative drug therapy available. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the communication between the blood cells and their environment and to learn how we can leverage this communication to prevent scar tissue formation in the BM. Our work will provide insights into mechanisms that lead to blood cancers development and identify potential novel therapeutic avenues.