Skip Navigation LinksHome » Research Labs » Andrew Weng
andy pic

About

Dr. Andrew P. Weng, MD, PhD
Senior Scientist

Education:

Post-Graduate Training:

  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Pathology (Supervisor: Dr. Jon Aster)
    Brigham & Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School
    July 2000 – May 2004
  • Clinical Fellow in Hematopathology
    Brigham & Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School
    July 1999 – June 2000
  • Resident in Anatomic Pathology
    Brigham & Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School
    July 1997 – June 1999

Professional Experience (Research):

Professional Experience (Clinical):

Expertise:

  • Hematology
  • Hematopathology
  • Leukemia
  • Lymphoma
  • Notch Signaling

Research Interest

My research focuses on signal transduction via the Notch receptor in lymphoid cells. Notch signaling plays an important role in directing lymphoid progenitors towards T cell fate, and when dysregulated leads to transformation of immature T cells and the development of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (T-ALL). By modulating Notch signals both in normal lymphoid development and in established human and mouse T-ALL tumors, we have been investigating molecular events responsible for cell fate determination and oncogenic transformation. Many of our findings have direct relevance to the development of rational therapies in the treatment of T-ALL.

Mammalian Notch1 is a heterodimeric transmembrane receptor expressed on the surface of T cell progenitors, and has been demonstrated to transduce signals that guide normal T cell development. When activated by ligand, the Notch receptor undergoes a series of proteolytic cleavages that result in release of the intracellular domain. The intracellular domain, then translocates to the nucleus where it stimulates transcription of downstream target genes as part of a multiprotein complex containing the DNA binding repressor/activator CSL and co-activators of the Mastermind family.

Spontaneous and engineered mutations of the Notch receptor lead to constitutive, ligand-independent signaling, and in the context of immature T cells, promotes oncogenic transformation. Such mutations occur at remarkably high frequencies in primary human T-ALLs (~50-60% of cases), a recent finding which has substantial implications for the development of novel therapeutic approaches. In addition to characterizing the functional effects of various mutations, we have been focusing on identification of downstream target genes that mediate T lineage commitment and/or oncogenic transformation.

Techniques utilized in my laboratory include a wide array of standard molecular biology approaches, chromatin immunoprecipitation, lymphoid cell line tissue culture, retroviral gene delivery, flow cytometry, expression profiling/bioinformatic analysis, yeast two-hybrid screening, fetal thymic organ culture, and murine bone marrow transplantation.

Publications

Medyouf H, Gao XH, Armstrong F, Gusscott S, Liu Q, Gedman AL, Matherly LH, Schultz KR, Pflumio F, You MJ & Weng AP. Acute T-cell leukemias remain dependent on notch signaling despite PTEN and INK4A/ARF loss.  Blood 2010 (Epub ahead of print).
View Abstract

Hahne F*, Khodabakhshi AH*, Bashashati A, Wong C-J, Gascoyne RD, Weng AP, Seifert-Margolis S, Bourcier K, Asare A, Lumley T, Gentleman R & Brinkman RR. Per-channel basis normalization methods for flow cytometry data.  Cytometry A 77: 121-31, 2010.
View Abstract

Heuser M, Sly LM, Argiropoulos B, Kuchenbauer F, Lai C, Weng A, Leung M, Lin G, Brookes C, Fung S, Valk PJ, Delvel R, Lowenberg B, Krystal G & Humphries RK. Modeling the functional heterogeneity of leukemia stem cells: Role of STAT5 in leukemia stem cell self-renewal. Blood, 114:3983-3993, 2009.
View Abstract

Johnson NA, Boyle M, Bashashati A, Leach S, Brooks-Wilson A, Sehn LH, Chhanabhai M, Brinkman RR, Connors JM, Weng AP & Gascoyne RD. Diffuse large B cell lymphoma: reduced CD20 expression is associated with an inferior survival. Blood 113: 3773-80, 2009.
View Abstract

Chan SM, Weng AP, Tibshirani R, Aster JC, & Utz PJ. Notch signals positively regulate activity of the mTOR pathway in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blood 110 (1): 278-86, 2007.
View Abstract

Rodig SJ, Savage KJ, LaCasce AS, Weng AP, Harris NL, Shipp MA, Hsi ED, Gascoyne RD, & Kutok JL. Expression of TRAF1 and nuclear c-Rel distinguishes primary mediastinal large cell lymphoma from other types of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Am J Surg Pathol 31 (1): 106-12, 2007.
View Abstract

Palomero T, Lim WK, Odom DT, Sulis ML, Real PJ, Margolin A, Barnes KC, O’Neil J, Neuberg D, Weng AP, Aster JC, Sigaux F, Soulier J, Look AT, Young RA, Califano A, & Ferrando AA. NOTCH1 directly regulates c-MYC and activates a feed-forward-loop transcriptional network promoting leukemic cell growth. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103 (48): 18261-6, 2006.
View Abstract

Weng AP, Millholland JM, Yashiro-Ohtani Y, Arcangeli ML, Lau A, Wai C, Del Bianco C, Rodriguez CG, Sai H, Tobias J, Li Y, Wolfe MS, Shachaf C, Felsher D, Blacklow SC, Pear WS, & Aster JC. c-Myc is an important direct target of Notch1 in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma. Genes Dev 20 (15): 2096-109, 2006.
View Abstract

Ringrose A, Zhou Y, Pang E, Zhou L, Lin AE, Sheng G, Li XJ, Weng A, Su MW, Pittelkow MR, & Jiang X. Evidence for an oncogenic role of AHI-1 in Sezary syndrome, a leukemic variant of human cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. Leukemia 20 (9): 1593-601, 2006.
View Abstract

Weng AP, & Lau A. Notch signaling in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Future Oncol 1 (4): 511-9, 2005.
View Abstract

Sanchez-Irizarry C, Carpenter AC, Weng AP, Pear WS, Aster JC, & Blacklow SC. Notch subunit heterodimerization and prevention of ligand-independent proteolytic activation depend, respectively, on a novel domain and the LNR repeats. Mol Cell Biol 24 (21): 9265-73, 2004.
View Abstract

Weng AP, Ferrando AA, Lee W, Morris JPt, Silverman LB, Sanchez-Irizarry C, Blacklow SC, Look AT, & Aster JC. Activating mutations of NOTCH1 in human T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Science 306 (5694): 269-71, 2004.
View Abstract

Maillard I, Weng AP, Carpenter AC, Rodriguez CG, Sai H, Xu L, Allman D, Aster JC, & Pear WS. Mastermind critically regulates Notch-mediated lymphoid cell fate decisions. Blood 104 (6): 1696-702, 2004.
View Abstract

Lacasce A, Howard O, Lib S, Fisher D, Weng A, Neuberg D, & Shipp M. Modified magrath regimens for adults with Burkitt and Burkitt-like lymphomas: preserved efficacy with decreased toxicity. Leuk Lymphoma 45 (4): 761-7, 2004.
View Abstract

Brown JR, Weng AP, & Freedman AS. Hodgkin disease associated with T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas: case reports and review of the literature. Am J Clin Pathol 121 (5): 701-8, 2004.
View Abstract

Das I, Craig C, Funahashi Y, Jung KM, Kim TW, Byers R, Weng AP, Kutok JL, Aster JC, & Kitajewski J. Notch oncoproteins depend on gamma-secretase/presenilin activity for processing and function. J Biol Chem 279 (29): 30771-80, 2004.
View Abstract

Weng AP, & Aster JC. Multiple niches for Notch in cancer: context is everything. Curr Opin Genet Dev 14 (1): 48-54, 2004.
View Abstract

Weng AP, & Aster JC. No T without D3: a critical role for cyclin D3 in normal and malignant precursor T cells. Cancer Cell 4 (6): 417-8, 2003.
View Abstract

Dorfman DM, van den Elzen P, Weng AP, Shahsafaei A, & Glimcher LH. Differential expression of T-bet, a T-box transcription factor required for Th1 T-cell development, in peripheral T-cell lymphomas. Am J Clin Pathol 120 (6): 866-73, 2003.
View Abstract

Weng AP, Shahsafaei A, & Dorfman DM. CXCR4/CD184 immunoreactivity in T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas with an overall Th1- Th2+ immunophenotype. Am J Clin Pathol 119 (3): 424-30, 2003.
View Abstract

Nam Y, Weng AP, Aster JC, & Blacklow SC. Structural requirements for assembly of the CSL.intracellular Notch1.Mastermind-like 1 transcriptional activation complex. J Biol Chem 278 (23): 21232-9, 2003.
View Abstract

Weng AP, Nam Y, Wolfe MS, Pear WS, Griffin JD, Blacklow SC, & Aster JC. Growth suppression of pre-T acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells by inhibition of notch signaling. Mol Cell Biol 23 (2): 655-64, 2003.
View Abstract

Wohlschlegel JA, Kutok JL, Weng AP, & Dutta A. Expression of geminin as a marker of cell proliferation in normal tissues and malignancies. Am J Pathol 161 (1): 267-73, 2002.
View Abstract

Gaudet G, Friedberg JW, Weng A, Pinkus GS, & Freedman AS. Breast lymphoma associated with breast implants: two case-reports and a review of the literature. Leuk Lymphoma 43 (1): 115-9, 2002.
View Abstract

Izon DJ, Aster JC, He Y, Weng A, Karnell FG, Patriub V, Xu L, Bakkour S, Rodriguez C, Allman D, & Pear WS. Deltex1 redirects lymphoid progenitors to the B cell lineage by antagonizing Notch1. Immunity 16 (2): 231-43, 2002.
View Abstract

Shipp MA, Ross KN, Tamayo P, Weng AP, Kutok JL, Aguiar RC, Gaasenbeek M, Angelo M, Reich M, Pinkus GS, Ray TS, Koval MA, Last KW, Norton A, Lister TA, Mesirov J, Neuberg DS, Lander ES, Aster JC, & Golub TR. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma outcome prediction by gene-expression profiling and supervised machine learning. Nat Med 8 (1): 68-74, 2002.
View Abstract

Weng A, Magnuson T, & Storb U. Strain-specific transgene methylation occurs early in mouse development and can be recapitulated in embryonic stem cells. Development 121 (9): 2853-9, 1995.
View Abstract

Weng A, Engler P, & Storb U. The bulk chromatin structure of a murine transgene does not vary with its transcriptional or DNA methylation status. Mol Cell Biol 15 (1): 572-9, 1995.
View Abstract

Engler P, Weng A, & Storb U. Influence of CpG methylation and target spacing on V(D)J recombination in a transgenic substrate. Mol Cell Biol 13 (1): 571-7, 1993.
View Abstract

Storb U, Engler P, Klotz E, Weng A, Haasch D, Pinkert C, Doglio L, Glymour M, & Brinster R. Rearrangement and expression of immunoglobulin genes in transgenic mice. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol 182: 137-41, 1992.
View Abstract

Chensue SW, Shmyr-Forsch C, Weng A, Otterness IG, & Kunkel SL. Biologic and immunohistochemical analysis of macrophage interleukin- 1 alpha, - 1 beta, and tumor necrosis factor production during the peritoneal exudative response. J Leukoc Biol 46 (6): 529-37, 1989.
View Abstract

Lab Members



Postdoctoral Fellows Graduate Students Research/Summer Students
Dr. Hind Medyouf
Dr. Vincenzo Giambra
Chris Cochrane

Sam Gusscott

Sonya Lam
Oksana Nemirovsky
Christopher Jenkins

Open Position

A full-time postdoctoral fellowship position is currently available in the lab, located in the newly constructed BC Cancer Research Center at 675 West 10th Avenue in the Terry Fox Laboratory Group. Utilizing molecular biology, cell culture, and animal modeling techniques, the successful applicant will study Notch signaling as it relates to leukemogenesis and normal early hematolymphoid development, with particular focus on identification and characterization of downstream target genes.

Applicants should have a recent PhD with a strong background in molecular biology. Prior experience in cancer biology and/or lymphoid development is desirable, and experience with animal models would be an asset. The successful candidate will be encouraged to apply for external funding during the first year. Salary/benefits are according to CIHR/NCIC guidelines. This position will remain open until filled. Please submit a letter of interest with CV by email to aweng@bccrc.ca.

Mailing Address:

   

Terry Fox Laboratory
BC Cancer Agency
675 West 10th Avenue,
Vancouver BC
Canada V5Z 1L3

Email:
aweng@bccrc.ca
Phone Numbers:
Tel: 604-675-8136
Fax: 604-877-0712

Terry Fox Laboratory
BC Cancer Agency
675 West 10th Avenue,
Vancouver BC
Canada V5Z 1L3





© 2007. BC Cancer Agency. All rights reserved.
www.terryfoxlab.ca  =  tfl.bccrc.ca