LABORATORY RESEARCH BCL6 Enables Ph+ Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Cells to Survive BCR–ABL1 Kinase Inhibition Scientists report the discovery of a novel mechanism of drug resistance, which is based on protective feedback signaling of leukemia cells in response to treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. [Nature] Ptpn11/Shp2 Acts as a Tumor Suppressor in Hepatocellular Carcinogenesis In contrast to the leukemogenic effect of dominant-active mutants, Ptpn11/Shp2 has a tumor-suppressor function in liver. [Cancer Cell] High-Throughput Analysis of Single Hematopoietic Stem Cell Proliferation in Microfluidic Cell Culture Arrays Scientists show that this platform mimics conventional cultures in reproducing the responses of various types of primitive mouse hematopoietic cells with retention of their functional properties, as demonstrated by subsequent in vitro and in vivo (transplantation) assays of recovered cells. [Nat Methods] Modulation of TGF-Beta Signaling by Endoglin in Murine Hemangioblast Development and Primitive Hematopoiesis Using doxycycline-inducible ES cell lines, researchers interrogated the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathway by expressing activated forms of ALK-1 and ALK-5, type I receptors for TGF-β. [Blood] SALL4 Is a Robust Stimulator for the Expansion of Hematopoietic Stem Cells Investigators show that either SALL4A- or B-transduced human hematopoietic stem cells obtained from the mobilized peripheral blood are capable of rapid and efficient expansion ex vivo by more than 10,000 fold for both CD34+/CD38- and CD34+/CD38+ cells in the presence of appropriate cytokines. [Blood] Sumoylation of CCAAT/Enhancer-Binding Protein α Promotes the Biased Primitive Hematopoiesis of Zebrafish Investigators show that loss of SUMO paralogs triggers a sharp up-regulation of the myeloid-specific marker mpo and down-regulation of the erythroid-specific marker gata1 in myelo-erythroid progenitor cells in the intermediate cell mass during primitive hematopoiesis. [Blood] A Tumor Suppressor Function of the Msr1 Gene in Leukemia Stem Cells of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Scientists sought to dissect the Alox5 pathway by comparing the gene expression profiles of wild type and Alox5-/- leukemia stem cells derived from their mouse model for BCR-ABL-induced chronic myeloid leukemia. [Blood] CLINICAL RESEARCH Success Story of Targeted Therapy in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: A Population-Based Study of Patients Diagnosed in Sweden From 1973 to 2008 Using data from the population-based Swedish Cancer Registry and population life tables, researchers estimated relative survival for all patients diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia from 1973 to 2008 (n = 3,173; 1,796 males and 1,377 females; median age, 62 years). [J Clin Oncol] Multiple Hodgkin Lymphoma-Associated Loci within the HLA Region at Chromosome 6p21.3 Using SNP data to impute alleles at classical HLA loci, investigators have conducted an integrated analysis of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) risk within the HLA region in 582 early-onset HL cases and 4,736 controls. [Blood] Discovery of New MicroRNAs by Small RNAome Deep Sequencing in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia In order to discover the microRNAs relevant to acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), scientists applied high-throughput sequencing to pooled fractions of leukemic cells obtained from 89 pediatric cases covering seven well-defined genetic types of ALL and normal hematopoietic cells. [Leukemia] |