Research Description

My laboratory is analyzing the genetic consequences of the recurring chromosome abnormalities seen in human leukemia cells. Initially we focused on cloning new genes at translocation breakpoints and investigated how the chromosome rearrangements altered the structure of the genes and how this in turn alters the structure and function of the proteins. More recently, we have focused on patterns of gene expression in human acute leukemia of both the lymphoid and myeloid leukemias. First we studied the expression levels of poly A plus RNA using Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE). This was expanded to custom microarrays and more recently we have investigated the expression patterns of microRNAs (miR). We have analyzed correlation of the expression patterns of mRNA and microRNA to identify miR targets and to determine the regulation of miR expression.

Selected Publications

Identification of a 24-Gene Prognostic Signature That Improves the European LeukemiaNet Risk Classification of Acute Myeloid Leukemia: An International Collaborative Study.

Li Z, Herold T, He C, Valk PJ, Chen P, Jurinovic V, Mansmann U, Radmacher MD, Maharry KS, Sun M, Yang X, Huang H, Jiang X, Sauerland MC, Büchner T, Hiddemann W, Elkahloun A, Neilly MB, Zhang Y, Larson RA, Le Beau MM, Caligiuri MA, Döhner K, Bullinger L, Liu PP, Delwel R, Marcucci G, Lowenberg B, Bloomfield CD, Rowley JD, Bohlander SK, Chen J

(Mar 2013) Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 31(9):1172-81 PMID:23382473 (Full Text)

Critical role of miR-9 in myelopoiesis and EVI1-induced leukemogenesis.

Senyuk V, Zhang Y, Liu Y, Ming M, Premanand K, Zhou L, Chen P, Chen J, Rowley JD, Nucifora G, Qian Z

(Mar 2013) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America PMID:23509296

PBX3 is an important cofactor of HOXA9 in leukemogenesis.

Li Z, Zhang Z, Li Y, Arnovitz S, Chen P, Huang H, Jiang X, Hong GM, Kunjamma RB, Ren H, He C, Wang CZ, Elkahloun AG, Valk PJ, Döhner K, Neilly MB, Bullinger L, Delwel R, Löwenberg B, Liu PP, Morgan R, Rowley JD, Yuan CS, Chen J

(Feb 2013) Blood 121(8):1422-31 PMID:23264595 (Full Text)

MiR-495 is a tumor-suppressor microRNA down-regulated in MLL-rearranged leukemia.

Jiang X, Huang H, Li Z, He C, Li Y, Chen P, Gurbuxani S, Arnovitz S, Hong GM, Price C, Ren H, Kunjamma RB, Neilly MB, Salat J, Wunderlich M, Slany RK, Zhang Y, Larson RA, Le Beau MM, Mulloy JC, Rowley JD, Chen J

(Nov 2012) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109(47):19397-402 PMID:23132946 (Full Text)

Two isoforms of HOXA9 function differently but work synergistically in human MLL-rearranged leukemia.

He M, Chen P, Arnovitz S, Li Y, Huang H, Neilly MB, Wei M, Rowley JD, Chen J, Li Z

(Aug 2012) Blood cells, molecules & diseases 49(2):102-6 PMID:22633751 (Full Text)

Up-regulation of a HOXA-PBX3 homeobox-gene signature following down-regulation of miR-181 is associated with adverse prognosis in patients with cytogenetically abnormal AML.

Li Z, Huang H, Li Y, Jiang X, Chen P, Arnovitz S, Radmacher MD, Maharry K, Elkahloun A, Yang X, He C, He M, Zhang Z, Dohner K, Neilly MB, Price C, Lussier YA, Zhang Y, Larson RA, Le Beau MM, Caligiuri MA, Bullinger L, Valk PJ, Delwel R, Lowenberg B, Liu PP, Marcucci G, Bloomfield CD, Rowley JD, Chen J

(Mar 2012) Blood 119(10):2314-24 PMID:22251480 (Full Text)

New fusion transcripts identified in normal karyotype acute myeloid leukemia.

Wen H, Li Y, Malek SN, Kim YC, Xu J, Chen P, Xiao F, Huang X, Zhou X, Xuan Z, Mankala S, Hou G, Rowley JD, Zhang MQ, Wang SM

(2012) PloS one 7(12):e51203 PMID:23251452 (Full Text)

Distinct microRNA expression profiles in acute myeloid leukemia with common translocations.

Li Z, Lu J, Sun M, Mi S, Zhang H, Luo RT, Chen P, Wang Y, Yan M, Qian Z, Neilly MB, Jin J, Zhang Y, Bohlander SK, Zhang DE, Larson RA, Le Beau MM, Thirman MJ, Golub TR, Rowley JD, Chen J

(Oct 2008) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105(40):15535-40 PMID:18832181 (Full Text)

MicroRNA expression signatures accurately discriminate acute lymphoblastic leukemia from acute myeloid leukemia.

Mi S, Lu J, Sun M, Li Z, Zhang H, Neilly MB, Wang Y, Qian Z, Jin J, Zhang Y, Bohlander SK, Le Beau MM, Larson RA, Golub TR, Rowley JD, Chen J

(Dec 2007) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104(50):19971-6 PMID:18056805 (Full Text)

Chromatin structural elements and chromosomal translocations in leukemia.

Zhang Y, Rowley JD

(Sep 2006) DNA repair 5(9-10):1282-97 PMID:16893685

Gene expression profiles in acute myeloid leukemia with common translocations using SAGE.

Lee S, Chen J, Zhou G, Shi RZ, Bouffard GG, Kocherginsky M, Ge X, Sun M, Jayathilaka N, Kim YC, Emmanuel N, Bohlander SK, Minden M, Kline J, Ozer O, Larson RA, LeBeau MM, Green ED, Trent J, Karrison T, Liu PP, Wang SM, Rowley JD

(Jan 2006) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103(4):1030-5 PMID:16418266 (Full Text)

Local gene density predicts the spatial position of genetic loci in the interphase nucleus.

Murmann AE, Gao J, Encinosa M, Gautier M, Peter ME, Eils R, Lichter P, Rowley JD

(Nov 2005) Experimental cell research 311(1):14-26 PMID:16202404