Raaijmakers Lab

Hematopoietic stem cells and their stromal niches in health and disease

Marc (H.G.P.) Raaijmakers

E-mail: m.h.g.raaijmakers@erasmusmc.nl

Scopus: link

PubMed: link

Contact:

Tessa Mannee, secretary, t.mannee@erasmusmc.nl

Marc H.G.P. Raaijmakers, MD, PhD is a clinical hematologist and full professor of Hematology in the Department of Hematology. He received his MD from University Utrecht and clinical training in Internal Medicine and Hematology at the Radboud University Hospital in Nijmegen and Brigham &Women Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston U.S.A. He completed postdoctoral research at the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University.

His clinical focus is in the management of patients with leukemia predisposition syndromes (including genetic predisposition syndromes and MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia. He is the deputy-head of the department of Hematology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, a board member of HOVON and the HOVON Leukemia Working Group, chair of the European Hematology Association (EHA) specialized working group (SWG) on Genetic Predisposition in Hematologic Cancer, deputy-chair Erasmus MC Research Council, past chair of the Dutch Cancer Society scientific assessment committee and a visiting professor at the Center for Hematology and Regenerative Medicine (HERM) at the Karolinska Institutet.

He (co)-authored papers and comments in leading journals including Nature, Cell, Cell Stem Cell, J. Exp. Med, Blood, Leukemia and Nature Communications, served in the editorial boards of leading journals in the field of Hematology and provided numerous invited lectures at international meetings, including (keynote) lectures at national societies of Hematology (U.S.A., France, Germany, Spain and Japan), EMBO and FASEB. He received scholar awards and funding from many organizations, including the Dutch Cancer Society, the Dutch Society of Hematology, the Dutch Ministry of Science and Innovation, Worldwide Cancer Research and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society U.S.A.


Our research

The Raaijmakers laboratory studies micro-environmental contributions to stem cell regulation and transformation, with an emphasis on the initiation, evolution and treatment of myeloid malignancies. The work revealed a concept of niche-induced oncogenesis in the hematopoietic system and made pivotal contributions to our understanding of the underlying mechanisms and the origins of stem cell niches in the bone marrow.


Our team

Marc Raaijmakers, principal investigator

Claire van Dijk, research technician

Joke Zink, research technician

Aleksandra Makowiecka, postdoc

Patricia Silva Santos Ribeiro, postdoc

Yujie Bian, PhD student

Martijn Ernst, PhD student

Alumni

Lanpeng Chen

Si Chen

Jacqueline Feyen

Keane Kenswil

Zhen Ping

Paola Pisterzi

Noemi Zambetti


Key publications

Marc Raaijmakers and DT Scadden. Divided within: Heterogeneity within adult stem cell pools. Cell 2008: 6; 1006-1008.

 

Marc Raaijmakers, S Mukherjee, S.Guo, T Kobayashi, S Zhang, J Schoonmaker, B Ebert, C Lin, J Rommens, DT Scadden. Osteoprogenitor cell dysfunction induces myelodysplasia and secondary leukemia. Nature 2010 Apr 8;464 (7290):852-7.


Marc Raaijmakers. Disease progression in myelodysplastic syndromes: do mesenchymal cells pave the way? Cell Stem Cell. 2014 Jun 5;14(6):695-7.


Noemi A. Zambetti, Zhen Ping, Si Chen, Keane J. G. Kenswil, Maria A. Mylona, Mathijs A. Sanders, Remco M. Hoogenboezem, Eric M. J. Bindels, Maria N. Adisty, Paulina M. H. Van Strien, Cindy S. van der Leije, Theresia M. Westers, Eline M. P. Cremers, Chiara Milanese, Pier G. Mastroberardino, Johannes P. T. M. van Leeuwen, Bram C. J. van der Eerden, Ivo P. Touw, Taco W. Kuijpers, Roland Kanaar, Arjan A. van de Loosdrecht, Thomas Vogl and Marc Raaijmakers. Mesenchymal inflammation drives genotoxic stress in hematopoietic stem cells and predicts disease evolution in human pre-leukemia. Cell Stem Cell. 2016 Nov 3;19(5):613-627.


Martín-Pardillos A, Tsaalbi-Shtylik A, Chen S, Lazare S, van Os RP, Dethmers-Ausema A, Fakouri NB, Bosshard M, Aprigliano R, van Loon B, Salvatori DCF, Hashimoto K, Dingemanse-van der Spek C, Moriya M, Rasmussen LJ, de Haan G, Raaijmakers MHGP*, de Wind N*. Genomic and functional integrity of the hematopoietic system requires tolerance of oxidative DNA lesions.  Blood. 2017 Sep 28;130(13):1523-1534.(*co-corresponding author).

 

Pronk E, Marc Raaijmakers. The mesenchymal niche in MDS. Blood. 2019 Mar 7;133(10):1031-1038.

 

Marc Raaijmakers. Aging of the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Niche: An Unnerving Matter. Cell Stem Cell 2019 Sep 5;25(3):301-303.

 

KJG Kenswil, P Pisterzi, G Sánchez-Duffhues, C van Dijk, A Lolli, C Knuth, B Vanchin, AC Jaramillo, RM Hoogenboezem, MA Sanders, J Feyen, T Cupedo, IG Costa, R Li, EMJ Binders, K Lodder, B Blom, PK Bos, M-J Goumans, P ten Dijke, Marc Raaijmakers. Endothelium-derived stromal cells contribute to hematopoietic bone marrow niche formation. Cell Stem Cell. 2021 Apr 284p. 653-670.e11

 

Feyen J, Ping Z, Chen L, Van Dijk C, Van Tienhoven TVD, Van Strien PMH, Hoogenboezem RM, Wevers MJW, Sanders MA, Touw IP, Marc Raaijmakers. Myeloid cells promote interferon signaling-associated deterioration of the hematopoietic system. Nature Commun. 2022 Dec 10;13(1):7657.

 

Chen L, Pronk E, van Dijk C, Bian Y, Feyen J, van Tienhoven T, Yildirim M, Pisterzi P, de Jong MME, Bastidas A, Hoogenboezem RM, Wevers C, Bindels EM, Löwenberg B, Cupedo T, Sanders MA, Marc Raaijmakers. A Single-Cell Taxonomy Predicts Inflammatory Niche Remodeling to Drive Tissue Failure and Outcome in Human AML. Blood Cancer Discov. 2023 Sep 1;4(5):394-417.