Biographical sketch
Richard Groen (1978) studied Pharmacochemistry at the VU University in Amsterdam from 1997 to 2003. In 2003 he started his PhD studies at the Department of Pathology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam. In the research group of Prof. Steven Pals he studied the role of two potent oncogenic pathways, i.e. the HGF/MET and Wnt signaling pathways, substantiated the role of heparan sulphate proteoglycans (HSPGs) and identified N-cadherin as a new player in the pathogenesis of malignant lymphoma and multiple myeloma. In November 2010 he obtained his PhD from the University of Amsterdam.
In May 2008 he started as a postdoc in the group of Dr. Anton Martens, situated in the Molecular Immunology Lab of Prof. Paul Coffer in the University Medical Centre Utrecht. The focus for his research is to unravel bone marrow niche-interactions in normal hematopoiesis and in malignant disease.
Research area
Studying the pathogenesis of multiple myeloma (MM) is seriously hampered by the lack of appropriate in vitro and in vivo conditions for the engraftment of patient-derived MM cells (pMM). Unlike MM cell lines, pMM cells strongly depend on a human microenvironment to engraft, survive and expand, indicating that the interaction of MM cells with the cellular and extracellular components of the human BM microenvironment plays a crucial role in the growth behavior of MM cells.
To study the pathogenesis of MM in more detail we developed a unique mouse model by implementing a technology for creating a natural human bone environment in the immune deficient RAG2(-/-)gc(-/-) mouse. Hence, this novel humanized mouse model provides the first opportunity to investigate pMM cells in their natural environment, which may lead to better insights in the pathogenesis of this disease and serve as a model for preclinical testing.
Publications
Tjin EP, Groen RW, Vogelzang I, Derksen PW, Klok MD, Meijer HP, van Eeden S, Pals ST, Spaargaren M. Functional analysis of HGF/MET signaling and aberrant HGF-activator expression in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Blood. 2006 Jan 15;107(2):760-8.
Rozemuller H, van der Spek E, Bogers-Boer LH, Zwart MC, Verweij V, Emmelot M, Groen RW, Spaapen R, Bloem AC, Lokhorst HM, Mutis T, Martens AC. A bioluminescence imaging based in vivo model for preclinical testing of novel cellular immunotherapy strategies to improve the graft-versus-myeloma effect. Haematologica. 2008 Jul;93(7):1049-57.
Groen RW, Oud ME, Schilder-Tol EJ, Overdijk MB, ten Berge D, Nusse R, Spaargaren M, Pals ST. Illegitimate WNT pathway activation by beta-catenin mutation or autocrine stimulation in T-cell malignancies. Cancer Res. 2008 Sep 1;68(17):6969-77.
Groen RW *, Reijmers RM *, Rozemuller H, Kuil A, de Haan-Kramer A, Csikós T, Martens AC, Spaargaren M, Pals ST. Targeting EXT1 reveals a crucial role for heparan sulfate in the growth of Multiple Myeloma. Blood. 2010 Jan 21;115(3):601-4.
*: contributed equally.
Spaapen RM, Groen RW, van den Oudenalder K, Guichelaar T, van Elk M, Aarts T, Bloem AC, Storm G, Martens AC, Lokhorst HM and Mutis T. Eradication of medullary Multiple Myeloma by CD4 cytotoxic human T lymphocytes directed at a single minor histocompatibility antigen. Clin Can Res. 2010 Nov 15;16(22):5481-8.
Reijmers RM, Groen RW, Kuil A, Weijer K, Kimberley FC, Medema JP, Li JP, Spaargaren M, Pals ST. Disruption of Glce reveals a role for heparan sulfate proteoglycans in B cell maturation and APRIL-mediated plasma cell survival. Blood. 2011 Apr 6.