Hypoxia and Haematopoiesis

Research focus

All cells in our body depend on an appropriate oxygen pressure (pO₂) to function. That’s why an inadequate oxygen supply (=hypoxia) is a prominent feature in various diseased tissues. During the past decade, research in our group is focused on unraveling the influence of hypoxia pathway proteins in physiological and pathological conditions, including cancer, inflammation, and a variety of processes in the bone/bone marrow environment, especially hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) maintenance.

In parallel, we are studying other fundamental questions related to HSC fate decisions as a consequence of external stress and in the context of the bone marrow niche.

Specific expertise

Inflammatory mouse models
Hematopoiesis
Tumor biology
Mouse genetics

Funding

Twitter

@UHSI-Team

Upcoming Conferences

Lab Members

Ermis, Cagdas	PhD student	E-Mail
Dr. Jaykar, Mangesh	Posdoc	E-Mail
Krüger, Anja	Lab manager	E-Mail
Rodriguez, Diego	PhD student	E-Mail
Tiebel, Johanna	PhD student	E-Mail
Dr. Watts, Deepika	Postdoc	E-Mail
Prof. Dr. Wielockx, Ben	Group leader	E-Mail
Zahran, Asmaa	Technician	E-Mail

Selected Publications

Rauner, M, Murray, M, Thiele, S, Watts, D, Neumann, D, Gabet, Y, Hofbauer, L C, Wielockx, B. EPO/EPOR signaling in osteoprogenitor cells is essential for bone homeostasis and EPO-induced bone loss. Bone Res., in press (2021)
Sormendi, S, Deygas, M, Sinha, A, Krüger, A, Kourtzelis, I, Le Lay, G, Bernard, M, Sáez, P. J, Gerlach, M, Franke, K, Meneses, A, Kräter, M, Palladini, A, Guck, J, Coskun, Ü, Chavakis, T, Vargas, P, Wielockx, B. HIF2α is a Direct Regulator of Neutrophil Motility. Blood, in press (2021)
Watts, D, Stein, J, Meneses, A, Bechmann, N, Neuwirth, A, Kaden, D, Kruger, A, Sinha, A, Alexaki, V. I, Luis Gustavo, P.-R, Kircher, S, Martinez, A, Theodoropoulou, M, Eisenhofer, G, Peitzsch, M, El-Armouche, A, Chavakis, T, Wielockx, B, HIF1alpha is a direct regulator of steroidogenesis in the adrenal gland. Cell Mol Life Sci, 78: 3577-3590 (2021)
Ramasz, B, Kruger, A, Reinhardt, J, Sinha, A, Gerlach, M, Gerbaulet, A, Reinhardt, S, Dahl, A, Chavakis, T, Wielockx, B* and Grinenko, T.* Hematopoietic stem cell response to acute thrombocytopenia requires signaling through distinct receptor tyrosine kinases. Blood 134: 1046-1058 (2019) (*equal contribution)
Grinenko, T, Eugster, A, Thielecke, L, Ramasz, B, Kruger, A, Dietz, S, Glauche, I, Gerbaulet, A, von Bonin, M, Basak, O, Clevers, H, Chavakis, T and Wielockx, B. Hematopoietic stem cells can differentiate into restricted myeloid progenitors before cell division in mice. Nat Commun 9: 1898 (2018)
Singh, R P*, Grinenko, T*, Ramasz, B, Franke, K, Lesche, M, Dahl, A, Gassmann, M, Chavakis, T, Henry, I and Wielockx, B. Hematopoietic Stem Cells but Not Multipotent Progenitors Drive Erythropoiesis during Chronic Erythroid Stress in EPO Transgenic Mice. Stem Cell Reports 10: 1908-1919 (2018) (*equal contribution)
Mitroulis, I, Chen, L S, Singh, R P, Kourtzelis, I, Economopoulou, M, Kajikawa, T, Troullinaki, M, Ziogas, A, Ruppova, K, Hosur, K, Maekawa, T, Wang, B, Subramanian, P, Tonn, T, Verginis, P, von Bonin, M, Wobus, M, Bornhauser, M, Grinenko, T, Di Scala, M, Hidalgo, A, Wielockx, B*, Hajishengallis, G* and Chavakis, T*. Secreted protein Del-1 regulates myelopoiesis in the hematopoietic stem cell niche. J Clin Invest 127: 3624-3639 (2017) (*equal contribution)
Rauner, M, Franke, K, Murray, M, Singh, R P, Hiram-Bab, S, Platzbecker, U, Gassmann, M, Socolovsky, M, Neumann, D, Gabet, Y, Chavakis, T, Hofbauer, L C and Wielockx, B. Increased EPO Levels Are Associated With Bone Loss in Mice Lacking PHD2 in EPO-Producing Cells. J Bone Miner Res 31: 1877-1887 (2016)