Publications by authors named "Karli J Wittorf"

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have unique characteristics where they can both contribute to all three germ layers in vivo and self-renewal indefinitely in vitro. Post-translational modifications of proteins, particularly by the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS), control cell pluripotency, self-renewal, and differentiation. A significant number of UPS members (mainly ubiquitin ligases) regulate pluripotency and influence ESC differentiation with key elements of the ESC pluripotency network (including the "master" regulators NANOG and OCT4) being controlled by ubiquitination.

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Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by clonal expansion of myeloid blasts in the bone marrow (BM). Despite advances in therapy, the prognosis for AML patients remains poor, and there is a need to identify novel molecular pathways regulating tumor cell survival and proliferation. F-box ubiquitin E3 ligase, FBXO21, has low expression in AML, but expression correlates with survival in AML patients and patients with higher expression have poorer outcomes.

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Hematopoietic cell fate decisions such as self-renewal and differentiation are highly regulated through multiple molecular pathways. One pathway, the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS), controls protein levels by tagging them with polyubiquitin chains and promoting their degradation through the proteasome. Ubiquitin E3 ligases serve as the substrate-recognition component of the UPS.

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Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a devastating cancer affecting the hematopoietic system. Previous research has relied on RNA sequencing and microarray techniques to study the downstream effects of genomic alterations. While these studies have proven efficacious, they fail to capture the changes that occur at the proteomic level.

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Hematopoiesis is responsible for numerous functions, ranging from oxygen transportation to host defense, to injury repair. This process of hematopoiesis is maintained throughout life by hematopoietic stem cells and requires a controlled balance between self-renewal, differentiation, and quiescence. Disrupting this balance can result in hematopoietic malignancies, including anemia, immune deficiency, leukemia, and lymphoma.

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The hematopoietic system is maintained throughout life by stem cells that are capable of differentiating into all hematopoietic lineages. An intimate balance between self-renewal, differentiation, and quiescence is required to maintain hematopoiesis and disruption of this balance can result in malignant transformation. , the substrate recognition component from the SCF E3 ubiquitin ligase family, is downregulated in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) compared to healthy bone marrow, and this downregulation is particularly evident in patients with inv(16) AML.

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