Our research
Our research is focused at understanding how normal blood cell formation from blood forming stem cells in the bone marrow is organized and regulated to ensure replenishment of millions of blood cells per second, and on how normal blood stem cells upon acquisition of oncogenic mutations are transformed into preleukemic and leukemic stem cells. The Jacobsen Group has demonstrated that the bone marrow contains different normal blood forming stem cells with different functions. We have also identified and characterized leukemic stem cells in different blood malignancies and demonstrated that these are resistant to different types of standard treatments and responsible for the relapse of the disease after otherwise successful therapy.
An important goal of Jacobsen Group’s research program is to identify new therapies for blood disorders. We do that in part by exploring means to stimulate blood forming stem cells to enhance normal blood cell replenishment in patients in whom blood formation is defective, and in part by trying to more efficiently target the otherwise resistant leukemic stem cells in particular through immune-targeting.
Article from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation:
- (in Swedish)
- "" (in English)
Current research focus:
Unravelling normal and malignant hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell biology at the single cell level
The Jacobsen Group has for more than two decades had a focus on establishing key lineage commitment/restriction steps and blood lineage pathways in normal hematopoiesis (; ; ; ; ; , , , Carrelha Nature Immunology 2024, Yoshizato Nature Genetics 2025), and identified and characterized distinct and rare leukemic stem cells and their therapeutic resistance in chronic hematological malignancies (; ; ; , , ).
More recently, they have developed strategies to direct T lymphocytes to efficiently and specifically target leukemic stem cells ( , , Foldvari Nature Reviews Cancer 2025). Towards these goals the Jacobsen Group apply different genetic tools and functional, as well as molecular single cell analysis. The aim is to unravel the dynamics of stem and progenitor cells in unperturbed hematopoiesis, as well as in response to distinct challenges, in mice and normal human subjects. We also study in patients and model in mice the impact of recurrent genetic lesions at distinct stages of hematopoietic lineage commitment. This is to unravel key cellular targets and molecular events in the transformation from normal to malignant hematopoiesis. One important goal is to identify novel cellular and molecular therapeutic targets towards regenerative hematopoiesis and targeting of leukemic stem cells.
Collaborations
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- , Department of Medicine, Huddinge, KI.
- Petter Woll, Department of Medicine, Huddinge, KI.
- William Nyberg, Department of Medicine, Huddinge, KI.
- Magnus Tobiasson, Department of Medicine, Huddinge, KI.
- Sten Linnarsson, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, KI.
- Rickard Sandberg, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, KI.
International collaboration
- , MRC Molecular Hematology Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital University of Oxford
- MRC Molecular Hematology Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital University of Oxford
- , Department of Cancer Immunology, Oslo University Hospital
- , Department of Pathology and Tumor Biology, Kyoto University
- , Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge