Grant Challen, PhD
Associate Professor, Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine
Core Usage & WUSTL affiliations:
- Genome Technology Access Center (GTAC)
- Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences
- Siteman Cancer Center
Selected Awards:
- V Foundation Scholar
- Edward J. Mallinckrodt, Jr Foundation Scholar
- NIH K99/R00 Pathways to Independence Award
Epigenetic Control of Normal and Malignant Hematopoiesis
Research in the Challen lab is focused on how chemical (epigenetic) marks on DNA direct the choices of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). HSCs reside in the bone marrow and are defined by their capacity to maintain the blood and bone marrow throughout the lifetime of an organism. However, the instructions that tell HSCs to create more HSCs or to generate specialized blood cell types are still relatively poorly understood. A number of transcription factors have been identified as critical for HSC maintenance and self-renewal but there is little insight into how these factors are orchestrated by epigenetic mechanisms to ensure blood homeostasis. Thus, the central theme of Dr. Challen’s research is understanding how epigenetic marks, such as histone methylation and acetylation, DNA methylation, and 5-hydroxymethylation coordinately act to regulate normal HSC function and how these processes go awry in blood diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma. In addition to using cell culture models, the Challen lab also uses various mouse genetic models to study the roles of genetic mutations of different components of the epigenetic machinery in cancers of the blood and bone marrow.
Recent Publications & News
Inflammatory cytokines promote clonal hematopoiesis with specific mutations in ulcerative colitis patients (Links to an external site)
Kdm6b regulates context-dependent hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal and leukemogenesis (Links to an external site)
