Browsing by Author "Ebert, Benjamin L."

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    Obesity-induced inflammation exacerbates clonal hematopoiesis
    (The American Society for Clinical Investigation, 2023-06-01) Pasupuleti, Santhosh Kumar; Ramdas, Baskar; Burns, Sarah S.; Palam, Lakshmi Reddy; Kanumuri, Rahul; Kumar, Ramesh; Pandhiri, Taruni Reddy; Dave, Utpal P.; Yellapu, Nanda Kumar; Zhou, Xinyu; Zhang, Chi; Sandusky, George E.; Yu, Zhi; Honigberg, Michael C.; Bick, Alexander G.; Griffin, Gabriel K.; Niroula, Abhishek; Ebert, Benjamin L.; Paczesny, Sophie; Natarajan, Pradeep; Kapur, Reuben; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Characterized by the accumulation of somatic mutations in blood cell lineages, clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) is frequent in aging and involves the expansion of mutated hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSC/Ps) that leads to an increased risk of hematologic malignancy. However, the risk factors that contribute to CHIP-associated clonal hematopoiesis (CH) are poorly understood. Obesity induces a proinflammatory state and fatty bone marrow (FBM), which may influence CHIP-associated pathologies. We analyzed exome sequencing and clinical data for 47,466 individuals with validated CHIP in the UK Biobank. CHIP was present in 5.8% of the study population and was associated with a significant increase in the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). Mouse models of obesity and CHIP driven by heterozygosity of Tet2, Dnmt3a, Asxl1, and Jak2 resulted in exacerbated expansion of mutant HSC/Ps due in part to excessive inflammation. Our results show that obesity is highly associated with CHIP and that a proinflammatory state could potentiate the progression of CHIP to more significant hematologic neoplasia. The calcium channel blockers nifedipine and SKF-96365, either alone or in combination with metformin, MCC950, or anakinra (IL-1 receptor antagonist), suppressed the growth of mutant CHIP cells and partially restored normal hematopoiesis. Targeting CHIP-mutant cells with these drugs could be a potential therapeutic approach to treat CH and its associated abnormalities in individuals with obesity.
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    Utility of CRISPR/Cas9 systems in hematology research
    (Elsevier, 2017) Lucas, Daniel; O'Leary, Heather A.; Ebert, Benjamin L.; Cowan, Chad A.; Tremblay, Cedric S.; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, IU School of Medicine
    Since the end of the 20th century, the development of novel approaches have emerged to manipulate experimental models of hematological disorders, so they would more accurately mirror what is observed in the clinic. Despite these technological advances, the characterization of crucial genes for benign or malignant hematological disorders remains challenging, mainly because of the dynamic nature of the hematopoietic system and the genetic heterogeneity of these disorders. To overcome this limitation, genome editing technologies have been developed to specifically manipulate the genome via deletion, insertion or modification of targeted loci. These technologies have swiftly progressed, allowing their common use to investigate genetic function in experimental hematology. Amongst them, homologous recombination (HR)-mediated targeting technologies have facilitated the manipulation of specific loci by generating knockout and knock-in models. Despite promoting significant advances in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in hematology, these inefficient, time-consuming and labor-intensive approaches did not permit the development of cellular or animal models recapitulating the complexity of hematological disorders. In October 2016, Dr. Ben Ebert and Dr. Chad Cowan shared their knowledge and experiences with the utilization of CRISPR for models of myeloid malignancy, disease, and novel therapeutics. Here we provide an overview of the topics they covered including insights into the novel applications of the technique as well as its strengths and limitations.