Expertise in the Study of Leukemia

The Deininger lab expertise is in the translational research of leukemia. The lab's research program focuses on the biology of myeloproliferative neoplasms and the development of molecular targeted therapies. We are especially interested in developing novel anti-neoplastic targeted therapies in myeloid leukemia, as well as understanding the molecular mechanisms of cancer stem cell persistence and leukemia drug resistance.

Our lab orchestrates a multi-disciplinary cancer research program, straddling genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, and biomedical engineering. We are proud of our vibrant team of scientists who strive to improve the diagnosis, deep analysis, and therapeutics of myeloid leukemia.

• NCI R01 "Strategies to target BCR-ABL1 compound mutants in CML and Ph+ ALL"
• NCI R01 "Targeting the Metabolic Regulator SIRT5 in Acute Myeloid Leukemia"
• NCI R21 "A Bioluminescent Assay for Direct Measurement of Sirtuin Activity in Cancer Cells"

Click Here for a full list of publications from Dr. Michael Deininger, MD, PhD

Selected Publications

1. Cortes J, Apperley JF, Lomaia E, Moiraghi B, Undurraga MS, Pavlovsky C, Chuah C, Sacha T, Lipton JH, Schiffer CA, McCloskey J, Hochhaus A, Rousselot P, Rosti G, de Lavallade H, Turkina A, Rojas C, Arthur C, Maness LJ, Talpaz M, Mauro MJ, Hall T, Lu V, Srivastava S, Deininger MW. Ponatinib Dose-Ranging Study in Chronic-Phase Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: A Randomized, Open-Label Phase 2 Clinical Trial. Blood. 2021 Aug 18:blood.2021012082. doi: 10.1182/blood.2021012082. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34407543.
2. Yan D, Franzini A, Pomicter AD, Halverson BJ, Antelope O, Mason CC, Ahmann JM, Senina AV, Vellore NA, Jones CL, Zabriskie MS, Than H, Xiao MJ, van Scoyk A, Patel AB, Clair PM, Heaton WL, Owen SC, Andersen JL, Egbert CM, Reisz JA, D'Alessandro A, Cox JE, Gantz KC, Redwine HM, Iyer SM, Khorashad JS, Rajabi N, Olsen CA, O'Hare T, Deininger MW. SIRT5 IS A DRUGGABLE METABOLIC VULNERABILITY IN ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA. Blood Cancer Discov. 2021 May;2(3):266-287. doi: 10.1158/2643-3230.bcd-20-0168. Epub 2019 Dec 2. PMID: 34027418; PMCID: PMC8133360.
3. Zhao H, Deininger MW. Declaration of Bcr-Abl1 independence. Leukemia. 2020 Nov;34(11):2827-2836. doi: 10.1038/s41375-020-01037-9. Epub 2020 Sep 10. PMID: 32908250.
4. Than H, Pomicter AD, Yan D, Beaver LP, Eiring AM, Heaton WL, Senina A, Clair PM, Shacham S, Mason CC, Hare TO, Deininger MW. Coordinated inhibition of nuclear export and Bcr-Abl1 selectively targets chronic myeloid leukemia stem cells. Leukemia. 2020 Jun;34(6):1679-1683. doi: 10.1038/s41375-020-0708-1. Epub 2020 Jan 24. PMID: 31980730; PMCID: PMC7364821.
5. Patel AB, Franzini A, Leroy E, Kim SJ, Pomicter AD, Genet L, Xiao M, Yan D, Ahmann JM, Agarwal AM, Clair P, Addada J, Lambert J, Salmon M, Gleich GJ, Cross NCP, Constantinescu SN, O'Hare T, Prchal JT, Deininger MW. JAK2 ex13InDel drives oncogenic transformation and is associated with chronic eosinophilic leukemia and polycythemia vera. Blood. 2019 Dec 26;134(26):2388-2398. doi: 10.1182/blood.2019001385. PMID: 31697804; PMCID: PMC6933291.
6. Franzini A, Pomicter AD, Yan D, Khorashad JS, Tantravahi SK, Than H, Ahmann JM, O'Hare T, Deininger MW. The transcriptome of CMML monocytes is highly inflammatory and reflects leukemia-specific and age-related alterations. Blood Adv. 2019 Oct 22;3(20):2949-2961. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2019000585. PMID: 31648319; PMCID: PMC6849944.
7. Eide CA, Zabriskie MS, Savage Stevens SL, Antelope O, Vellore NA, Than H, Schultz AR, Clair P, Bowler AD, Pomicter AD, Yan D, Senina AV, Qiang W, Kelley TW, Szankasi P, Heinrich MC, Tyner JW, Rea D, Cayuela JM, Kim DW, Tognon CE, O'Hare T, Druker BJ, Deininger MW. Combining the Allosteric Inhibitor Asciminib with Ponatinib Suppresses Emergence of and Restores Efficacy against Highly Resistant BCR-ABL1 Mutants. Cancer Cell. 2019 Oct 14;36(4):431-443.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2019.08.004. Epub 2019 Sep 19. PMID: 31543464; PMCID: PMC6893878.
8. Yan D, Pomicter AD, Tantravahi S, Mason CC, Senina AV, Ahmann JM, Wang Q, Than H, Patel AB, Heaton WL, Eiring AM, Clair PM, Gantz KC, Redwine HM, Swierczek SI, Halverson BJ, Baloglu E, Shacham S, Khorashad JS, Kelley TW, Salama ME, Miles RR, Boucher KM, Prchal JT, O'Hare T, Deininger MW. Nuclear-Cytoplasmic Transport Is a Therapeutic Target in Myelofibrosis. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Apr 1;25(7):2323-2335. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-18-0959. Epub 2018 Dec 18. PMID: 30563936; PMCID: PMC6445677.
9. Heaton WL, Senina AV, Pomicter AD, Salama ME, Clair PM, Yan D, Bell RN, Gililland JM, Prchal JT, O'Hare T, Deininger MW. Autocrine Tnf signaling favors malignant cells in myelofibrosis in a Tnfr2-dependent fashion. Leukemia. 2018 Nov;32(11):2399-2411. doi: 10.1038/s41375-018-0131-z. Epub 2018 Apr 18. PMID: 29749399; PMCID: PMC6224399.
10. Deininger MW, Hodgson JG, Shah NP, Cortes JE, Kim DW, Nicolini FE, Talpaz M, Baccarani M, Müller MC, Li J, Parker WT, Lustgarten S, Clackson T, Haluska FG, Guilhot F, Kantarjian HM, Soverini S, Hochhaus A, Hughes TP, Rivera VM, Branford S. Compound mutations in BCR-ABL1 are not major drivers of primary or secondary resistance to ponatinib in CP-CML patients. Blood. 2016 Feb 11;127(6):703-12. doi: 10.1182/blood-2015-08-660977. Epub 2015 Nov 24. PMID: 26603839; PMCID: PMC4760131.