DFG funding for Tatyana Grinenko

The MSNZ fellow Dr. Tatyana Grinenko has been awarded a competitive DFG funding for her work on stem cells of the blood lineage. Tatyana Grinenko, leading a MSNZ group since 2020, dedicates her time to understanding how blood and immune cells are continuously made in our body. 

Most stem cells are quiescent and only some divide. The delicate coordination between differentiation and proliferation of these cells regulates the maintenance of hematopoietic system. Increased self-renewal division, when stem cells divide give rise to two new stem cells, or disturbance of differentiation processes will lead to malignant transformation. Preliminary work from the Grinenko group suggests that activity of UTX during the G1 phase could regulate stem cell self-renewal, division and differentiation. UTX protein is an enzyme with the capacity to selectively modify histones in order to control the expression of individual genes. The DFG funding will allow Tatyana Grinenko to decipher the role of UTX in hematopoietic stem cells fate decision. With the 300.000 Euro funding Tatyana Grinenko plans to expand her team by recruiting a PhD student who will tackle the role of UTX in hematopoiesis. 

Understanding stem cell regulation will ultimately also allow the Grinenko group to apply this knowledge to human diseases characterized by hematopoietic stem cell misregulation such as blood cancers.