Thomas Graf (biologist)

Thomas Graf (born 28 September 1944) is a biologist

at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Thomas Graf
Barcelona, Spain. He is a pioneer in cell
reprogramming, showing that blood cells can be
transdifferentiated by transcription factors.[1][2] He is
also known for his early work on oncogenes carried by
retroviruses and oncogene cooperation in leukemia
formation.[3]

Research
In the late 70s Graf co-discovered several cell-derived
oncogenes acquired by avian retroviruses, designated Born 28 September 1944
Mac (later changed into Myc), Erb and Myb.[4] He Vienna, Austria
found that several naturally occurring virus strains
Alma mater University of Tübingen
have acquired various pairwise combinations of
oncogenes and that these cooperate to cause acute Scientific career
leukemia,[5] an early example for the multigenic origin Fields stem cells biology
of cancers. He also showed that the transcription factor Institutions European Molecular Biology
Myb can reversibly block the differentiation of white Laboratory, Albert Einstein
blood cells, one of the first demonstrations of induced College of Medicine, Centre for
[6]
cell fate changes. In his more recent research he Genomic Regulation
showed that different types of specialized blood cells
can be induced to convert into each other by forced transcription factor expression.[7] In 1995 he
pioneered this technique permitting the transdifferentiation of white blood cells into red blood cell
precursors and vice versa induced by Gata1[8] and PU.1, respectively. Later (2004) he managed to
convert B lymphocytes into functional macrophages, using C/EBPa as a driver.[9] Using the same
approach he was also first to induce a conversion of more distantly related cells, namely that of non-blood
cells into macrophages.[10] Finally, he found that forced C/EBPa expression in malignant lymphocyte
precursors leads to the formation of macrophages and loss of tumorigenicity,[11] suggesting
transdifferentiation as an alternative avenue for therapeutic interventions.

Awards
1983 Wilhelm-Warner-Foundation Award
1983 Main Award, German Society for Microbiology and Hygiene
1983 Kind-Philipp-Foundation Leukemia Research Award
1988 Josef-Steiner-Foundation Prize
1988 Theodor Boveri Lecture and Award
 1989 Paul Ehrlich-Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize

References
1. Graf, Thomas (2011-12-02). "Historical Origins of Transdifferentiation and Reprogramming"
(https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.stem.2011.11.012). Cell Stem Cell. 9 (6): 504–516.
doi:10.1016/j.stem.2011.11.012 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.stem.2011.11.012).
ISSN 1934-5909 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1934-5909). PMID 22136926 (https://pub
med.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22136926).
2. Baker, Monya (2008-10-23). "Thomas Graf: Cellular identity and transdifferentiation" (http://
www.nature.com/stemcells/2008/0810/081023/full/stemcells.2008.140.html). Nature Reports
Stem Cells: 1. doi:10.1038/stemcells.2008.140 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fstemcells.2008.1
40).
3. Metz, T.; Graf, T. (1991-07-12). "Fusion of the nuclear oncoproteins v-Myb and v-Ets is
required for the leukemogenicity of E26 virus". Cell. 66 (1): 95–105. doi:10.1016/0092-
8674(91)90142-L (https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0092-8674%2891%2990142-L). ISSN 0092-
8674 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0092-8674). PMID 2070421 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/2070421). S2CID 29746161 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:29746161).
4. Roussel, M.; Saule, S.; Lagrou, C.; Rommens, C.; Beug, H.; Graf, T.; Stehelin, D. (1979-10-
11). "Three new types of viral oncogene of cellular origin specific for haematopoietic cell
transformation". Nature. 281 (5731): 452–455. Bibcode:1979Natur.281..452R (https://ui.ads
abs.harvard.edu/abs/1979Natur.281..452R). doi:10.1038/281452a0 (https://doi.org/10.103
8%2F281452a0). PMID 226888 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/226888). S2CID 4371767
(https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4371767).
5. Graf, Thomas; Beug, Hartmut (1983-08-01). "Role of the v-erbA and v-erbB oncogenes of
avian erythroblastosis virus in erythroid cell transformation". Cell. 34 (1): 7–9.
doi:10.1016/0092-8674(83)90130-7 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0092-8674%2883%299013
0-7). ISSN 0092-8674 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0092-8674). PMID 6309413 (https://
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6309413). S2CID 41243358 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/Corp
usID:41243358).
6. Beug, H.; Blundell, P. A.; Graf, T. (May 1987). "Reversibility of differentiation and proliferative
capacity in avian myelomonocytic cells transformed by tsE26 leukemia virus" (https://doi.or
g/10.1101%2Fgad.1.3.277). Genes & Development. 1 (3): 277–286.
doi:10.1101/gad.1.3.277 (https://doi.org/10.1101%2Fgad.1.3.277). ISSN 0890-9369 (https://
search.worldcat.org/issn/0890-9369). PMID 2824281 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2824
281).
7. Graf, Thomas; Enver, Tariq (2009). "Forcing cells to change lineages". Nature. 462 (7273):
587–594. Bibcode:2009Natur.462..587G (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Natur.462..
587G). doi:10.1038/nature08533 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature08533). PMID 19956253
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19956253). S2CID 4417323 (https://api.semanticscholar.or
g/CorpusID:4417323).
8. Kulessa, H.; Frampton, J.; Graf, T. (1995-05-15). "GATA-1 reprograms avian
myelomonocytic cell lines into eosinophils, thromboblasts, and erythroblasts" (https://doi.org/
10.1101%2Fgad.9.10.1250). Genes & Development. 9 (10): 1250–1262.
doi:10.1101/gad.9.10.1250 (https://doi.org/10.1101%2Fgad.9.10.1250). ISSN 0890-9369 (ht
tps://search.worldcat.org/issn/0890-9369). PMID 7758949 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
7758949).
9. Xie, Huafeng; Ye, Min; Feng, Ru; Graf, Thomas (2004-05-28). "Stepwise Reprogramming of
B Cells into Macrophages" (https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0092-8674%2804%2900419-2).
Cell. 117 (5): 663–676. doi:10.1016/S0092-8674(04)00419-2 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0
092-8674%2804%2900419-2). ISSN 0092-8674 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0092-867
4). PMID 15163413 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15163413).
10. Feng, R.; Desbordes, S. C.; Xie, H.; Tillo, E. S.; Pixley, F.; Stanley, E. R.; Graf, T. (2008).
"PU.1 and C/EBP / convert fibroblasts into macrophage-like cells" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/pmc/articles/PMC2327209). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105
(16): 6057–6062. doi:10.1073/pnas.0711961105 (https://doi.org/10.1073%2Fpnas.0711961
105). PMC 2327209 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2327209).
PMID 18424555 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18424555).
11. Rapino, Francesca; Robles, Eloy F.; Richter-Larrea, Jose A.; Kallin, Eric M.; Martinez-
Climent, Jose A.; Graf, Thomas (2013-04-25). "C/EBPα Induces Highly Efficient
Macrophage Transdifferentiation of B Lymphoma and Leukemia Cell Lines and Impairs Their
Tumorigenicity" (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.celrep.2013.03.003). Cell Reports. 3 (4):
1153–1163. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2013.03.003 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.celrep.2013.03.0
03). ISSN 2211-1247 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2211-1247). PMID 23545498 (https://
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23545498).

External links
Thomas Graf laboratory (http://www.crg.eu/thomas_graf) at the Centre for Genomic
Regulation.
Profile at EuroStemCell (http://www.eurostemcell.org/thomas-graf)
News article "Nobel Prize-winning ‘iPSC’ Stem Cell Method Vastly Improved (https://www.bi
osciencetechnology.com/article/2014/09/nobel-prize-winning-ipsc-stem-cell-method-vastly-i
mproved)" at Bioscience Technology

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Graf_(biologist)&oldid=1045742741"