Mette Louise Trempenau

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is the most common malignant myeloid disorder in adults, characterized by rapid accumulation of immature myeloid blasts at the expense of normal hematopoiesis. As very limited improvements in standard treatment and in overall survival have been achieved over the last 3-4 decades, there is a strong need for a broadened understanding of particularly the epigenetic mechanisms underlying tumor maintenance, thereby providing the basis for improved disease stratification and treatment.

Many studies have implicated epigenetic factors as crucial regulators of tumor biology. Through in vivo shRNA screens we have identified a histone demethylase as a tumor suppressor in AML. The main goal of my project is to characterize the role and mechanisms of this factor in AML maintenance and in normal hematopoiesis.