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Joos M, Chang TH, Shimamura A, Newburger PE. Absence of Neutropenia in Patients With Early Exon Nonsense Mutations in ELANE : Clinical Evidence to Support Gene Therapy Approaches for Severe Congenital Neutropenia. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol 2024; 46:e463-e465. [PMID: 38934594 PMCID: PMC11272422 DOI: 10.1097/mph.0000000000002908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2024] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
Severe congenital neutropenia is an inherited bone marrow failure disorder characterized by profoundly low neutrophil counts and promyelocytic maturation arrest in bone marrow. Severe congenital neutropenia is most often caused by heterozygous ELANE mutations. In vitro and mouse xenograft studies using CRISPR/Cas9 have shown that introduction of frameshift/nonsense mutations in mutant ELANE may restore neutrophil counts, providing a model for gene therapy. Here, we present 2 children with inherited nonsense mutations in ELANE analogous to those proposed for gene therapy. Their normal peripheral blood neutrophil counts provide support for this approach through human "experiments of nature."
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Affiliation(s)
- Margret Joos
- Dana-Farber and Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Timothy H. Chang
- Dana-Farber and Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Akiko Shimamura
- Dana-Farber and Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Peter E. Newburger
- Dana-Farber and Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
- Departments of Pediatrics and of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
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2
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Naish E, Wood AJT, Stewart AP, Routledge M, Morris AC, Chilvers ER, Lodge KM. The formation and function of the neutrophil phagosome. Immunol Rev 2023; 314:158-180. [PMID: 36440666 PMCID: PMC10952784 DOI: 10.1111/imr.13173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Neutrophils are the most abundant circulating leukocyte and are crucial to the initial innate immune response to infection. One of their key pathogen-eliminating mechanisms is phagocytosis, the process of particle engulfment into a vacuole-like structure called the phagosome. The antimicrobial activity of the phagocytic process results from a collaboration of multiple systems and mechanisms within this organelle, where a complex interplay of ion fluxes, pH, reactive oxygen species, and antimicrobial proteins creates a dynamic antimicrobial environment. This complexity, combined with the difficulties of studying neutrophils ex vivo, has led to gaps in our knowledge of how the neutrophil phagosome optimizes pathogen killing. In particular, controversy has arisen regarding the relative contribution and integration of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase-derived antimicrobial agents and granule-delivered antimicrobial proteins. Clinical syndromes arising from dysfunction in these systems in humans allow useful insight into these mechanisms, but their redundancy and synergy add to the complexity. In this article, we review the current knowledge regarding the formation and function of the neutrophil phagosome, examine new insights into the phagosomal environment that have been permitted by technological advances in recent years, and discuss aspects of the phagocytic process that are still under debate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Naish
- National Heart and Lung InstituteImperial College LondonLondonUK
| | - Alexander JT Wood
- Medical SchoolUniversity of Western AustraliaPerthAustralia
- Department of Critical CareUniversity of MelbourneMelbourneAustralia
| | | | - Matthew Routledge
- Department of MedicineUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
- Division of Immunology, Department of PathologyUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
| | - Andrew Conway Morris
- Department of MedicineUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
- Division of Immunology, Department of PathologyUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
| | - Edwin R Chilvers
- National Heart and Lung InstituteImperial College LondonLondonUK
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Sabo P, Makaryan V, Dicken Y, Povodovski L, Rockah L, Bar T, Gabay M, Elinger D, Segal E, Haimov O, Antoshvili M, Drori AL, Poulsen T, Herman A, Emmanuel R, Dale DC. Mutant allele knockout with novel CRISPR nuclease promotes myelopoiesis in ELANE neutropenia. Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev 2022; 26:119-131. [PMID: 35795780 PMCID: PMC9240714 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtm.2022.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 06/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Severe congenital neutropenia (SCN) is a life-threatening marrow failure disorder, usually caused by heterozygous mutations in ELANE. Potential genetic treatment strategies include biallelic knockout or gene correction via homology-directed repair (HDR). Such strategies, however, involve the potential loss of the essential function of the normal allele product or limited coverage of diverse monogenic mutations within the patient population, respectively. As an alternative, we have developed a novel CRISPR-based monoallelic knockout strategy that precisely targets the heterozygous sites of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with most ELANE mutated alleles. In vitro studies demonstrate that patients' unedited hematopoietic CD34+ cells have significant abnormalities in differentiation and maturation, consistent with the hematopoietic defect in SCN patients. Selective knockout of the mutant ELANE allele alleviated these cellular abnormalities and resulted in about 50%-70% increase in normally functioning neutrophils (p < 0.0001). Genomic analysis confirmed that ELANE knockout was specific to the mutant allele and involved no off-targets. These results demonstrate the therapeutic potential of selective allele editing that may be applicable to SCN and other autosomal dominant disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Sabo
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Box 356422, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Room AA522, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Vahagn Makaryan
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Box 356422, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Room AA522, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Yosef Dicken
- EmendoBio, Inc., 400 W 61 Street, #2330, New York NY 10069, USA
| | | | - Liat Rockah
- EmendoBio, Inc., 400 W 61 Street, #2330, New York NY 10069, USA
| | - Tzlil Bar
- EmendoBio, Inc., 400 W 61 Street, #2330, New York NY 10069, USA
| | - Matan Gabay
- EmendoBio, Inc., 400 W 61 Street, #2330, New York NY 10069, USA
| | - Dalia Elinger
- EmendoBio, Inc., 400 W 61 Street, #2330, New York NY 10069, USA
| | - Ella Segal
- EmendoBio, Inc., 400 W 61 Street, #2330, New York NY 10069, USA
| | - Ora Haimov
- EmendoBio, Inc., 400 W 61 Street, #2330, New York NY 10069, USA
| | - Maya Antoshvili
- EmendoBio, Inc., 400 W 61 Street, #2330, New York NY 10069, USA
| | | | - Tanoya Poulsen
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Box 356422, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Room AA522, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Asael Herman
- EmendoBio, Inc., 400 W 61 Street, #2330, New York NY 10069, USA
| | - Rafi Emmanuel
- EmendoBio, Inc., 400 W 61 Street, #2330, New York NY 10069, USA
| | - David C. Dale
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Box 356422, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Room AA522, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
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Saha R, Pradhan SS, Shalimar, Das P, Mishra P, Singh R, Sivaramakrishnan V, Acharya P. Inflammatory signature in acute-on-chronic liver failure includes increased expression of granulocyte genes ELANE, MPO and CD177. Sci Rep 2021; 11:18849. [PMID: 34552111 PMCID: PMC8458283 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98086-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure (ACLF) is associated with innate immune dysfunction and high short-term mortality. Neutrophils have been identified to influence prognosis in ACLF. Neutrophil biology is under-evaluated in ACLF. Therefore, we investigated neutrophil-specific genes and their association with ACLF outcomes. This is an observational study. Enriched granulocytes, containing neutrophils, isolated from study participants in three groups- ACLF(n = 10), chronic liver disease (CLD, n = 4) and healthy controls (HC, n = 4), were analysed by microarray. Differentially expressed genes were identified and validated by qRT-PCR in an independent cohort of ACLF, CLD and HC (n = 30, 15 and 15 respectively). The association of confirmed overexpressed genes with ACLF 28-day non-survivors was investigated. The protein expression of selected neutrophil genes was confirmed using flow cytometry and IHC. Differential gene expression analysis showed 1140 downregulated and 928 upregulated genes for ACLF versus CLD and 2086 downregulated and 1091 upregulated genes for ACLF versus HC. Significant upregulation of neutrophilic inflammatory signatures were found in ACLF compared to CLD and HC. Neutrophil enriched genes ELANE, MPO and CD177 were highly upregulated in ACLF and their expression was higher in ACLF 28-day non-survivors. Elevated expression of CD177 protein on neutrophil surface in ACLF was confirmed by flow cytometry. IHC analysis in archival post mortem liver biopsies showed the presence of CD177+ neutrophils in the liver tissue of ACLF patients. Granulocyte genes ELANE, MPO and CD177 are highly overexpressed in ACLF neutrophils as compared to CLD or HC. Further, this three-gene signature is highly overexpressed in ACLF 28-day non-survivors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rohini Saha
- Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Lab 3002, 3rd floor Teaching Block, New Delhi, 110029, India
| | - Sai Sanwid Pradhan
- Disease Biology Lab, Department of Biosciences, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, India
| | - Shalimar
- Department of Gastroenterology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
| | - Prasenjit Das
- Department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
| | - Priyanka Mishra
- Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Lab 3002, 3rd floor Teaching Block, New Delhi, 110029, India
| | - Rohan Singh
- Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Lab 3002, 3rd floor Teaching Block, New Delhi, 110029, India
| | - Venketesh Sivaramakrishnan
- Disease Biology Lab, Department of Biosciences, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, India
| | - Pragyan Acharya
- Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Lab 3002, 3rd floor Teaching Block, New Delhi, 110029, India.
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Current Understanding of the Neutrophil Transcriptome in Health and Disease. Cells 2021; 10:cells10092406. [PMID: 34572056 PMCID: PMC8469435 DOI: 10.3390/cells10092406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2021] [Revised: 09/08/2021] [Accepted: 09/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Neutrophils are key cells of the innate immune system. It is now understood that this leukocyte population is diverse in both the basal composition and functional plasticity. Underlying this plasticity is a post-translational framework for rapidly achieving early activation states, but also a transcriptional capacity that is becoming increasingly recognized by immunologists. Growing interest in the contribution of neutrophils to health and disease has resulted in more efforts to describe their transcriptional activity. Whilst initial efforts focused predominantly on understanding the existing biology, investigations with advanced methods such as single cell RNA sequencing to understand interactions of the entire immune system are revealing higher flexibility in neutrophil transcription than previously thought possible and multiple transition states. It is now apparent that neutrophils utilise many forms of RNA in the regulation of their function. This review collates current knowledge on the nuclei structure and gene expression activity of human neutrophils across homeostasis and disease, before highlighting knowledge gaps that are research priority areas.
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Horwitz MS. Neutrophil elastase: Nonsense lost in translation. Cell Stem Cell 2021; 28:790-792. [PMID: 33961760 DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2021.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
In this issue of Cell Stem Cell, Daniel Bauer and colleagues investigate the pathogenesis of ELANE-associated severe congenital neutropenia (SCN) and describe two potentially universal gene correction strategies for autosomal dominant disorders (Rao et al., 2021). One exploits nonsense-mediated decay to prevent translation of the mutant allele. The other unexpectedly blocks translation by shortening the 3'-UTR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marshall S Horwitz
- Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
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Rydzynska Z, Pawlik B, Krzyzanowski D, Mlynarski W, Madzio J. Neutrophil Elastase Defects in Congenital Neutropenia. Front Immunol 2021; 12:653932. [PMID: 33968054 PMCID: PMC8100030 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.653932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Severe congenital neutropenia (SCN) is a rare hematological condition with heterogenous genetic background. Neutrophil elastase (NE) encoded by ELANE gene is mutated in over half of the SCN cases. The role of NE defects in myelocytes maturation arrest in bone marrow is widely investigated; however, the mechanism underlying this phenomenon has still remained unclear. In this review, we sum up the studies exploring mechanisms of neutrophil deficiency, biological role of NE in neutrophil and the effects of ELANE mutation and neutropenia pathogenesis. We also explain the hypotheses presented so far and summarize options of neutropenia therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zuzanna Rydzynska
- Department of Pediatrics, Oncology and Hematology, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
| | - Bartlomiej Pawlik
- Department of Pediatrics, Oncology and Hematology, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.,Postgraduate School of Molecular Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Damian Krzyzanowski
- Department of Pediatrics, Oncology and Hematology, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.,Laboratory of Epigenetics, Institute of Medical Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lodz, Poland
| | - Wojciech Mlynarski
- Department of Pediatrics, Oncology and Hematology, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
| | - Joanna Madzio
- Department of Pediatrics, Oncology and Hematology, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
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Tran NT, Graf R, Wulf-Goldenberg A, Stecklum M, Strauß G, Kühn R, Kocks C, Rajewsky K, Chu VT. CRISPR-Cas9-Mediated ELANE Mutation Correction in Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells to Treat Severe Congenital Neutropenia. Mol Ther 2020; 28:2621-2634. [PMID: 32822592 PMCID: PMC7704744 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2020.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2020] [Revised: 07/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Severe congenital neutropenia (SCN) is a monogenic disorder. SCN patients are prone to recurrent life-threatening infections. The main causes of SCN are autosomal dominant mutations in the ELANE gene that lead to a block in neutrophil differentiation. In this study, we use CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoproteins and adeno-associated virus (AAV)6 as a donor template delivery system to repair the ELANEL172P mutation in SCN patient-derived hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). We used a single guide RNA (sgRNA) specifically targeting the mutant allele, and an sgRNA targeting exon 4 of ELANE. Using the latter sgRNA, ∼34% of the known ELANE mutations can in principle be repaired. We achieved gene correction efficiencies of up to 40% (with sgELANE-ex4) and 56% (with sgELANE-L172P) in the SCN patient-derived HSPCs. Gene repair restored neutrophil differentiation in vitro and in vivo upon HSPC transplantation into humanized mice. Mature edited neutrophils expressed normal elastase levels and behaved normally in functional assays. Thus, we provide a proof of principle for using CRISPR-Cas9 to correct ELANE mutations in patient-derived HSPCs, which may translate into gene therapy for SCN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ngoc Tung Tran
- Immune Regulation and Cancer, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | - Robin Graf
- Immune Regulation and Cancer, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | | | | | | | - Ralf Kühn
- iPS Cell Based Disease Modeling, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | - Christine Kocks
- Immune Regulation and Cancer, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, 13125 Berlin, Germany; Transgenics, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | - Klaus Rajewsky
- Immune Regulation and Cancer, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, 13125 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Van Trung Chu
- Immune Regulation and Cancer, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, 13125 Berlin, Germany; iPS Cell Based Disease Modeling, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, 13125 Berlin, Germany.
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Garg B, Mehta HM, Wang B, Kamel R, Horwitz MS, Corey SJ. Inducible expression of a disease-associated ELANE mutation impairs granulocytic differentiation, without eliciting an unfolded protein response. J Biol Chem 2020; 295:7492-7500. [PMID: 32299910 PMCID: PMC7247317 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra120.012366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2020] [Revised: 04/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Severe congenital neutropenia (SCN) is characterized by a near absence of neutrophils, rendering individuals with this disorder vulnerable to recurrent life-threatening infections. The majority of SCN cases arise because of germline mutations in the gene elastase, neutrophil-expressed (ELANE) encoding the neutrophil granule serine protease neutrophil elastase. Treatment with a high dose of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor increases neutrophil production and reduces infection risk. How ELANE mutations produce SCN remains unknown. The currently proposed mechanism is that ELANE mutations promote protein misfolding, resulting in endoplasmic reticulum stress and activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR), triggering death of neutrophil precursors and resulting in neutropenia. Here we studied the ELANE mutation p.G185R, often associated with greater clinical severity (e.g. decreased responsiveness to granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and increased leukemogenesis). Using an inducible expression system, we observed that this ELANE mutation diminishes enzymatic activity and granulocytic differentiation without significantly affecting cell proliferation, cell death, or UPR induction in murine myeloblast 32D and human promyelocytic NB4 cells. Impaired differentiation was associated with decreased expression of genes encoding critical hematopoietic transcription factors (Gfi1, Cebpd, Cebpe, and Spi1), cell surface proteins (Csf3r and Gr1), and neutrophil granule proteins (Mpo and Elane). Together, these findings challenge the currently prevailing model that SCN results from mutant ELANE, which triggers endoplasmic reticulum stress, UPR, and apoptosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhavuk Garg
- Department of Pediatrics, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195; Department of Cancer Biology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195; Department of Translational Hematology and Oncology Research, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195
| | - Hrishikesh M Mehta
- Department of Pediatrics, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195; Department of Cancer Biology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195; Department of Translational Hematology and Oncology Research, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195
| | - Borwyn Wang
- Department of Pediatrics, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195; Department of Cancer Biology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195; Department of Translational Hematology and Oncology Research, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195
| | - Ralph Kamel
- Department of Pediatrics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia 23298
| | - Marshall S Horwitz
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98195
| | - Seth J Corey
- Department of Pediatrics, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195; Department of Cancer Biology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195; Department of Translational Hematology and Oncology Research, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195.
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