New treatments for leukaemia

Felipe Prósper

Universidad de Navarra, España

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a highly aggressive form of cancer that begins in bone marrow, where blood cells are produced. In many cases it passes rapidly to the blood.

Blood is composed of different types of cells each of which his its functions, from transporting oxygen to fighting infections. Control over the production of blood, which is influenced by multiple factors, is not fully understood, and consequently neither are its alterations in leukaemia. The production of blood cells is controlled by a series of regulatory mechanisms known as transcription factors (TF) and chromatin remodelling factors (CRF).

The goal of our project is to identify alterations produced at the level of these factors and which lead to the development of leukaemias, in order to find new treatments that address the cause of the disease. We will use healthy mice and mice with leukaemias in which we will eliminate the expression of these factors to see the effect they have on the illness. Once we have determined key elements in the development of leukaemias in the mice, we will design similar experiments in human leukaemia cells. If we obtain the same results we will develop drugs aimed at altering these TFs and CRFs, which may enable us to identify new treatments for the disease.

• Jesús San Miguel, Fundación para la Investigación Médica Aplicada (FIMA/CIMA), España

• David Gomez-Cabrero, Fundación Miguel Servet – Navarrabiomed, España

• Brian Huntly, University of Cambridge, Reino Unido

Gene regulatory NETworks in NORmal and MALignant Hematopoiesis-Identification and Targeting (GR-NET NORMAL-HIT)

999.410 €