LABORATORY RESEARCH Targeted Deletion of the Mouse Mitoferrin1 Gene: From Anemia to Protoporphyria Results show that the activity of mitoferrin1 is required to manage an increase in heme synthesis. The data also show that alterations in heme synthesis within hepatocytes can lead to protophorphyria and hepatotoxicity. [Blood] KDM2b/JHDM1b, A Histone H3 Lysine 36 Dimethyl-Specific Demethylase, Is Required for Initiation and Maintenance of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Investigators demonstrate that ectopic expression of Kdm2b/Jhdm1b is sufficient to transform hematopoietic progenitors. [Blood] Integrated Genome-Wide Chromatin Occupancy and Expression Analyses Identify Key Myeloid Pro-Differentiation Transcription Factors Repressed by Myb To gain insight into the mechanisms by which the Myb transcription factor controls normal hematopoiesis and particularly, how it contributes to leukemogenesis, researchers mapped the genome-wide occupancy of Myb by chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by massively parallel sequencing in ERMYB myeloid progenitor cells. [Nucleic Acid Res] Coordinated Involvement of Cathepsins S, D and Cystatin C in the Commitment of Hematopoietic Stem Cells to Dendritic Cells The identity of biochemical players which underpin the commitment of CD34+hematopoietic stem cells to immunogenic or tolerogenic dendritic cells is largely unknown. To explore this issue, scientists employed a previously established cell-based system amenable to shift dendritic cell differentiation from the immunogenic into the tolerogenic pathway upon supplementation with a conventional cytokine cocktail containing thrombopoietin and IL-16. [Int J Biochem Cell Biol] Adaptor Protein Lnk Binds to PDGF Receptor and Inhibits PDGF-Dependent Signaling Investigators show that Lnk binds to platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor after exposure of cells to PDGF. Furthermore, Lnk can bind the FIP1L1-PDGFR alpha fusion protein. [Exp Hematol] Induction of Apoptosis by Cordycepin via Reactive Oxygen Species Generation in Human Leukemia Cells Results support a mechanism whereby cordycepin induces apoptosis of human leukemia cells through a signaling cascade involving a reactive oxygen species-mediated caspase pathway. [Toxicol In Vitro] DIGE-Based Proteomic Analysis Identifies Nucleophosmin/B23 and Nucleolin C23 as Over-Expressed Proteins in Relapsed/Refractory Acute Leukemia To investigate novel protein changes involved in resistance, protein expression profiles between leukemia cell line HL-60 and adriamycin-resistant HL-60 were compared based on a proteomic approach-2D-differential in gel electrophoresis (DIGE) followed by MALDI-TOF/MS. [Leuk Res] CLINICAL RESEARCH Ancestry and Pharmacogenomics of Relapse in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Interrogating genome-wide germline SNP genotypes in an unselected large cohort of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, researchers observed that the component of genomic variation that co-segregated with Native American ancestry was associated with risk of relapse (P = 0.0029) even after adjusting for known prognostic factors (P = 0.017). [Nat Genet] Absence of Class II-Associated Invariant Chain Peptide on Leukemic Blasts of Patients Promotes Activation of Autologous Leukemia-Reactive CD4+ T Cells Investigators evaluated the functional significance of class II-associated invariant chain peptide expression on leukemic blasts of acute myeloid leukemia patients. [Cancer Res] Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Blood Eosinophils Reveals Redox Signaling Modifications in Patients with FIP1L1-PDGFRA-Associated Chronic Eosinophilic Leukemia To define more precisely intrinsic molecular events associated with FIP1L1-PDGFRA (F/P) gene, scientists performed a proteomic analysis comparing F/P+ eosinophils and eosinophils from healthy donors. [J Proteome Res] |