Page 23 - Gates-AnnualReport-2018

Kunhua Song, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Cardiology
Using cardiomyocytes (CMs) derived from induced pluripotent stem cells generated from patients suffering from Danon disease, Dr. Song reports that these CMs exhibit profound defects in autophagic fusion, as well as mitochondrial and contractile abnormalities (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2018). Correction of the mutation in the lysosomal-associated membrane protein 2 (LAMP-2) gene, which is associated with Danon disease, rescued the Danon phenotype.
Michael Verneris, M.D., Professor, Department of Pediatrics
In acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients that relapse to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapy against CD19, Dr. Verneris and his colleagues discovered genetic mutations in CD19 that result in loss of expression of CD19 on the cell surface (Nat Med., 2018). This loss of CD19 expression advocates for a combination CAR approach against an additional surface antigen in addition to CD19.
Xiao-Jing Wang, M.D./Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pathology and Antonio Jimeno, M.D./Ph.D., Professor, Division of Medical Oncology
In this report, Drs. Wang and Jimeno demonstrate that the use of both human hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells enhances engraftment and immune cell trafficking in an allogeneic humanized mouse model of head and neck cancer (Mol Carcinog., 2018). This improved humanized mouse model more accurately recapitulates the human tumor microenvironment in the original patient’s tumor and may aid in the development of more effective immune therapies for these cancers.
HONORS
Gates Center Director Dennis Roop was named the 2018-2019 ARCS Foun
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