Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

Julien Sage, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar '05-'07) and colleagues at Stanford University, Stanford, have discovered how the tumor suppressor family retinoblastoma (Rb) proteins affect stem cells.  Removing Rb function resulted in overproliferation of a subclass of blood stem cells (myeloid cells); these actively-diving cells were also unable to repopulate the immune system in a mouse model of bone marrow transplantation.  The researchers’ results indicate a critical role for Rb in suppressing tumors originating in stem cell populations, such as blood cancers.  These findings were published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

Click here for more.