Description of Research Program

Studies in the Virology and Cellular Immunology Section are focused on understanding mechanisms involved in normal B-cell differentiation and function and in the development of B-cell lymphomas. Other work centers on understanding host and viral determinants of murine leukemia virus (MuLV) expression and their effects on the immune system. Basic biologic problems are probed through the use of congenic, transgenic, and knockout mice; analyses of lymphoma cell lines; DNA and tissue microarrays; and molecular and cell biology.

Studies in LIP were the first to define mouse marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) as the murine counterpart of the human disorder.  LIP scientists and collaborators showed that p53-knockout mice developed MZL at high frequency and much earlier than wild type mice. Mutations of caretake genes in MZL are suspected but yet to be defined.

Work from the Virology and Cellular Immunology Section provided the foundation for developing new consensus nomenclatures for mouse hematopoietic neoplasms based primarily on histopathologic criteria. This classification system is being strengthened and revised through the use of gene expression profiling, immunohistochemical analyses of tissue arrays and examination of genes affected by MuLV proviral insertional mutagenesis.

A variety of bioinformatic approaches to examining data from DNA microarrays are used to identify genes involved in processes of B-cell differentiation and transformation. All this work is facilitated by the availability of a large, unparalleled repository of tissue samples, DNA, and material for frozen sections from primary lymphomas; and a large number of derivative cell lines. Important directions can be extended to human B cells and lymphomas through productive collaborations.

Selected Recent Publications

(View list in PubMed.)

Hentges KE, Weiser KC, Schountz T, Woodward LS, Morse HC III, Justice MJ. Evi3, a zinc-finger protein related to EBFAZ, regulates EBF activity in B-cell leukemia. Oncogene. 2005. 24(7): 1220-1230.

Park SS, Kim JS, Han SS, Tessarollo L, Owens JD, Peng L, Han SS, Chung ST, Torrey TA, Cheung WC, Polakiewicz RD, McNeil N, Ried T, Mushinski JF, Morse HC III, Janz S. Insertion of c-Myc into Igh induces B-cell and plasma-cell neoplasms in mice. Cancer Res. 2005. 65(4): 1306-1315.

Adams S, Robbins F-M, Chen D, Wagage D, Holbeck SL, Morse HC III, Stroncek D, Marincola FM. HLA class I and II genotype of the NCI-60 cell lines. J Transl Med. 2005. 3: 11.

Kim H, Zhou JX, Park H, Morse HC III. A three-stage framework for gene expression data analysis by L1-norm support vector regression. Int'l J Bioinfo Res & App. 2005. 1(1): 51-62.

Qi C-F, Xiang S, Shin MS, Hao X, Lee C-H, Zhou JX, Torrey TA, Hartley JW, Fredrickson TN, Morse HC III. Expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27 and its deregulation in mouse B cell lymphomas. Leuk Res. 2006. 30(2): 153-163. 

Hao XP, Morse HC III, Shin MS, Zhou JX, Hartley JW, Ward JM, Fredrickson TN, Lee CH, Qi C-F, Naghashfar Z. Histologic and molecular characterizations of megakaryocytic leukemia in mice. Leuk Res. 2006. 30(4): 397-406.

View publications before 2000 

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