SEMINAR ; Dr Rima HADDAD - The early stages of human hemato-lymphopoiesis: Bridging fundamental biology and pediatric TEL: AML1 B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Our research work on the early stages of normal human lymphopoiesis has contributed to providing new insight into the cellular and ontogenetic dynamics of lymphoid progenitors and their relationship with the hematopoietic microenvironment (Haddad et al., Blood 2004; Haddad et al., Immunity 2006; Haddad et al., Leukemia 2007; Haddad et al., Stem Cells 2008; Larbi et al., PLoS One 2012; Larbi et al., Stem Cells & Development 2014; Chabi et al., Cell Reports 2019).While it is now accepted that some cases of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are initiated in utero, the question of the identity of the cell of origin remains unresolved. We are focusing on the pre-leukemic stages of pediatric B-ALL with the TEL::AML1 fusion and are exploring the feasibility of an ex vivo model of the disease that would allow us to link progenitor cells endowed with lymphoid potential to the earliest stages of disease development.