Gdf1 As a Regulator of Ceramide Metabolism and Hematopoiesis in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Spring 2021 GDF1 AS A REGULATOR OF CERAMIDE METABOLISM AND HEMATOPOIESIS IN ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA Weiyuan Wang University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Wang, Weiyuan, "GDF1 AS A REGULATOR OF CERAMIDE METABOLISM AND HEMATOPOIESIS IN ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA" (2021). Doctoral Dissertations. 2600. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/2600 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GDF1 AS A REGULATOR OF CERAMIDE METABOLISM AND HEMATOPOIESIS IN ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA BY WEIYUAN WANG Master of Medicine, Shandong First Medical University, China, 2016 Bachelor of Medicine, Shandong First Medical University, China, 2013 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Molecular and Evolutionary Systems Biology May, 2021 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2021 Weiyuan Wang ii GDF1 AS A REGULATOR OF CERAMIDE METABOLISM AND HEMATOPOIESIS IN ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA BY WEIYUAN WANG This dissertation has been examined and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Molecular and Evolutionary Systems Biology by: Dissertation Director, Brian Barth, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences Feixia Chu, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences W. Kelley Thomas, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences Paul C. Tsang, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences Krisztina Varga, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences On March 24, 2021 Approval signatures are on file with the University of New Hampshire Graduate School. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my advisor, Dr. Brian Barth, for taking me on as his first graduate student, offering me countless mentorship, and guiding me to achieve academic success throughout the years. In addition, I also appreciate his support in my daily life, such as picking me up at airports, taking the lab group and me to ice creams and lunches, and giving us surprises at our birthdays. Most importantly, I am thankful to him for always encouraging me to pursue a bigger dream. Second, I would like to thank my committee members. A big thank you goes to Dr. W. Kelley Thomas for introducing me to my doctoral advisor, offering me invaluable help in several classes, providing me with chances to meet guest professors, and guiding me through the doctoral defense. Many thanks go to Dr. Paul Tsang for being a role model in the lab which I teaching-assisted with him, being my reference when I applied for postdoc positions, writing recommendation letters for me, and guiding me through the doctoral defense. I am also grateful to Dr. Krisztina Varga for offering me invaluable help in her class, setting up the nicest neighbor lab, and guiding me through the defense. Lastly, I want to give special tribute to Dr. Feixia Chu for being a role model in the lab that I teaching-assisted with her, writing recommendation letters for me, and guiding me through the defense. Third, I would like to thank my teachers and colleagues who helped me throughout my doctoral study. First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my former advisor Qingliang Teng, who encouraged me to study abroad and from whom I learnt so much. A big thank you goes to Dr. Dean Elder and Dr. Linnea Morley for offering me tremendous support in the animal work and being my references when I applied for the postdoc position. Without their professional dedication, my research would definitely not be smooth. My gratitude also goes to iv Dr. Clyde Denis, Dr. Sarah Walker, and Dr. Xuanmao Chen, for giving me lots of invaluable advice. My sincere thank you goes to PhD candidate Melissa Kleinschmidt for all her selfless efforts and invaluable advice in helping me with all the writing assignments. I am very appreciative to Dr. David Plachetzki for being a wonderful program coordinator, writing recommendation letters for me, and guiding me through the PhD program. I am also grateful to Kristen Fuda for being a wonderful coordinator of my teaching lab. Last but not least, a huge thanks goes to the Office of International Students and Scholars at UNH for offering me so much help as an international student. I also would like to thank my lab mates who taught me the lab techniques, helped me overcome language barrier, and made my time in the lab such a pleasure. They are the postdoc Dr. Paul T. Toran; the graduate students including Kaitlyn C. Belknap, Vasiliki Papakotsi, and Devya Gurung; and the undergraduate students including Alexander J. Thorpe, Andrea L. Cote, Bert F. Prince, Emily C. Sullivan, Emma J. Arsenault, Jacqueline M. Marshall, Jacqueline M. Siciliano, Maria N. Clark, Mary A. Hurley, Noelle T. Labrecque, Sara E. Connell, and Tamara G. Hathorn. Special thanks go to Emma J. Arsenault, Alexander J. Thorpe, Andrea L. Cote, and Bert F. Prince for their invaluable help with editing the dissertation. I will always remember our happy times together. Last but not least, I would like to thank my friends and family. My friends include Yabin Zhang, Jonathan Sreter, Linghui Wu, Stefan Matissek, Weiguo Han, Xin Wang, Rongrong Yan, and Yixuan Gao. Without their unconditional support, I would not be able to persist till the end of the doctoral study. My family include my grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and most importantly, my parents. Words cannot express my gratitude. To all I forgot to mention, I apologize. v Funding to support this research was provided to my dissertation advisor, Dr. Brian Barth, by the NIH/NCI through K22 CA190674, P01 CA171983, and R03 CA252825, as well as by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) COBRE Pilot Project Grant by NIH/NIGMS through P20 GM113131. The Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences of UNH helped fund my travel to several conferences. The Graduate School of UNH also helped fund my travel to several conferences and provided summer funding through the Summer Teaching Assistant Fellowship in 2019. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…........................................................................................................iv LIST OF TABLES..........................................................................................................................ix LIST OF FIGURES..........................................................................................................................x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS........................................................................................................xii ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................ xvi CHAPTER PAGE 1. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................1 1.1. Influences on the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Niche.........................................................1 1.2. Brief Overview of Hematologic Disorders..................................................................22 1.3. Epigenetics and Sphingolipid Metabolism in Health and Disease...............................43 1.4. Therapeutic Potential of Ceramides in Cancer Treatment............................................61 1.5. Regulation of Growth/Differentiation Factor 1 in Human and Animals......................81 1.6. Rationale and Significance of Thesis Research...........................................................93 1.7. Aims and Hypotheses of Individual Chapters..............................................................94 2. GDF1 REGULATES CERAMIDE DETOXIFICATION IN ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA...................................................................................................................................95 2.1. Abstract.......................................................................................................................95 2.2. Introduction.................................................................................................................96 2.3. Results.........................................................................................................................97 2.4. Discussion.................................................................................................................103 2.5. Materials and Methods..............................................................................................105 vii 3. REGULATION OF HEMATOPOIESIS BY GDF1 IN ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA……….....................................................................................................................110 3.1. Abstract.....................................................................................................................110 3.2. Introduction...............................................................................................................111