Hematopoiesis News Volume 2.05 | Feb 8 2011

New Induced Stem Cells May Unmask Cancer at Earliest Stage
By coaxing healthy and diseased human bone marrow to become embryonic-like stem cells, a team of Wisconsin scientists has laid the groundwork for observing the onset of the blood cancer leukemia in the laboratory dish. [Press release from the University of Wisconsin-Madison discussing online prepublication in Blood]

Early Infusion of Donor T Regulatory Cells Prevents Graft-versus-Host Disease and Enhances Immune Recovery in High-Risk Blood Cancer Patients
A study highlights updated results for a potential new strategy for preventing graft-versus-host disease and promoting the patient’s immune system recovery after transplant. [Press release from the American Society of Hematology discussing online prepublication in Blood]

LABORATORY RESEARCH

Dynamic Variation in Cycling of Hematopoietic Stem Cells in Steady State and Inflammation
The findings suggest a model in which all hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) undergo dynamic and demand-adapted entry into and exit out of the cell cycle over time. This may facilitate a similar degree of turnover of the entire HSC pool at the end of life. [J Exp Med]

Efficient Generation of Transgene-Free Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Normal and Neoplastic Bone Marrow and Cord Blood Mononuclear Cells
Scientists demonstrated that induced pluripotent stem cells free of transgene and vector sequences could be efficiently generated from human bone marrow and cord blood mononuclear cells using non-integrating episomal vectors. [Blood]

Evi1 Represses PTEN Expression by Interacting With Polycomb Complexes and Activates PI3K/AKT/mTOR Signaling
Researchers show that Evi1 directly represses PTEN transcription in the murine bone marrow, which leads to activation of AKT/mTOR signaling. [Blood]

Lentiviral Gene Transfer Regenerates Hematopoietic Stem Cells in a Mouse Model for Mpl-Deficient Aplastic Anemia
Investigators show that restoration of Mpl expression from transcriptionally targeted vectors prevents lethal adverse reactions of ectopic Mpl expression, replenishes the hematopoietic stem cells pool, restores stem cell properties and corrects platelet production. [Blood]

Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Protects ATM-Deficient Hematopoietic Stem Cells from ROS-Induced Apoptosis through a Telomere Independent Mechanism
The current study used ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) doubly deficient mice to evaluate the contributions of two aging-regulating molecules, TERT and ATM, to aging process. [Blood]

An Anti-PR1/HLA-A2 T Cell Receptor-Like Antibody Mediates Complement Dependent Cytotoxicity Against Acute Myeloid Leukemia Progenitor Cells
Scientists report a novel T cell receptor-like IgG2a antibody (8F4) with high specific binding affinity (KD=9.9nM) for a combined epitope of the PR1/HLA-A2 complex. [Blood]

Novel Functions for Mda-7/IL-24 and IL-24 delE5: Regulation of Differentiation of Acute Myeloid Leukemic Cells
The aim of this study is to investigate whether the expression of melanoma differentiation associated gene-7/interleukin-24 (mda-7/IL-24) could be induced during leukemia differentiation, and whether mda-7/IL-24 plays a role in leukemia differentiation. [Mol Cancer Ther]

The Nrf2 Transcription Factor is a Positive Regulator of Myeloid Differentiation of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells
The findings suggest that the Nrf2/antioxidant response element pathway plays an important part in the cooperative induction of myeloid leukemia cell differentiation by 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and a plant polyphenol. [Cancer Biol Ther]

Characterization of Cytarabine-Resistant Leukemic Cell Lines Established from Five Different Blood Cell Lineages Using Gene Expression and Proteomic Analyses
The present study was conducted to search for new candidate cytarabine resistance factors, including those that are unrelated to cytarabine triphosphate production. [Int J Oncol]

CLINICAL RESEARCH

Impact of Pretransplantation Minimal Residual Disease, as Detected by Multiparametric Flow Cytometry, on Outcome of Myeloablative Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Investigators retrospectively studied 99 consecutive patients receiving myeloablative hematopoietic cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia in first morphologic remission. [J Clin Oncol]

Tregs Prevent GvHD and Promote Immune Reconstitution in HLA-Haploidentical Transplantation
The present study evaluated the impact of early infusion of T regulatory cells (Tregs), followed by conventional T cells, on GvHD prevention and immunological reconstitution, in 28 patients with high risk hematological malignancies who underwent HLA-haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. [Blood]

Caffeine Enhances Osteoclast Differentiation from Bone Marrow Hematopoietic Cells and Reduces Bone Mineral Density in Growing Rats
Scientists investigated the effects of caffeine on the differentiation of bone progenitor cells and bone mineral density by in vitro and in vivo experiments. [J Orthop Res]

New Leukemia Vaccine Enters Clinical Trials
United Kingdom scientists have launched an early clinical trial – Phase-II – of a new cancer vaccine designed to help patients with leukemia to fight the disease. [Cancer Research UK Press Release]

The Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation Surpasses $1 Million
The Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation has given The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) a $100,000 gift, surpassing $1 million in its support for LLS’s cancer research programs over the past 11 years. The donation will be applied to LLS’s pediatric portfolio, funding research to find better therapies for children with cancer. [The Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation Press Release]

Cellerant Therapeutics Announces Key Additions to Senior Management Team
Cellerant Therapeutics Inc. announced that it has strengthened its senior management team with the appointments of Margaret Dillon, Ph.D., as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Robert Tressler, Ph.D., as Vice President of Research & Development. [Cellerant Therapeutics Inc. Press Release]

Food and Drug Administration (United States)
 
Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (United States)
 
European Medicines Agency (European Union)

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (United Kingdom)

Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia)

Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the hematopoietic community.

Lab Technologist – Human Embryonic and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (STEMCELL Technologies)

Lab Technologist – Tissue Culture (STEMCELL Technologies)

Assistant Professor (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Center for Cellular and Molecular Engineering)

Field Applications Specialist – Cell Therapy (Medical) (Pall Corporation)

Postdoctoral Positions – Stem Cell Biology (Joslin Diabetes Center/Harvard Stem Cell Institute)

Hematologist (NorthShore University Health System Medical Group)

Research Associate (University of Massachusetts Medical School)

Associate Scientist (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital)

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