Grant: Operating Grant

All blood cells, including those that help fight infection, transport oxygen or stop bleeding by forming clots at the site of a wound are derived from a very rare stem cell in the bone marrow. These cells are an extremely valuable clinical commodity since they can be used to regenerate all blood cells of the body in patients with genetic diseases or undergoing treatment for cancer. My laboratory is studying a family of cell surface proteins expressed by these rare cells in order to understand how they help regulate stem cell behavior. We have preliminary data to suggest that one of these proteins, podocalyxin, regulates the trafficking of the stem cells to the appropriate site in the bone marrow during transplantation and that it also regulates the expansion of these cells once they reach this site. The goal of this project is to clarify the molecular mechanisms governing this behavior with the long-term goal of manipulating podocalyxin's role in stem cell migration and expansion for clinical therapy. Since we also have evidence that this mechanism is subverted by a variety of tumors, this could also lead to approaches to suppressing tumor metastasis.