LABORATORY RESEARCH Hematopoietic Stem Cell Survival and Transplantation Efficacy Is Limited by the BH3-Only Proteins Bim and Bmf Based on the analysis of cytokine deprivation-induced changes in mRNA expression levels of Bcl-2 family proteins, scientists determined the consequences of BH3-only protein depletion on hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell survival in culture and, for selected candidates, on engraftment in vivo. [EMBO Mol Med] Full Article EKLF-Driven PIT1 Expression Is Critical for Mouse Erythroid Maturation In Vivo and In Vitro Researchers demonstrated that Erythroid Krüppel-like Factor (EKLF) increases PIT1 expression during red blood cell maturation by binding to its promoter in vivo. They showed that shRNA-driven depletion of either PIT1 or EKLF impaired erythroid maturation of G1E cells in vitro, whereas re-expression of PIT1 in EKLF-depleted G1E cells partially restores erythroid maturation. [Blood] Abstract MLL-AF9 Mediated Immortalization of Human Hematopoietic Cells along Different Lineages Changes during Ontogeny The authors showed that depending on extrinsic cues, human neonatal CD34+ cells are readily immortalized along either the myeloid or lymphoid lineage upon MLL-AF9 expression and give rise to mainly lymphoid leukemia in immunocompromised mice. [Leukemia] Abstract Identification of a Clonally Expanding Hematopoietic Compartment in Bone Marrow Scientists showed with genetic labeling techniques, high-resolution imaging and functional experiments in mice that the periphery of the adult bone marrow cavity harbors previously unrecognized compartments with distinct properties. These units were composed of endothelial, hematopoietic and mesenchymal cells, were enriched in CD150+ CD48- putative hematopoietic stem cells, and enabled rapid hematopoietic cell proliferation and clonal expansion. [EMBO J] Abstract Long-Term Type 1 Diabetes Influences Hematopoietic Stem Cells by Reducing Vascular Repair Potential and Increasing Inflammatory Monocyte Generation in a Murine Model Investigators sought to determine the impact of long-standing type 1 diabetes on hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell number and function and to examine the impact of modulating glycoprotein 130 receptor in these cells. [Diabetologia] Abstract Properties of Monocytes Generated from Hematopoietic CD34+ Stem Cells from Bone Marrow of Colon Cancer Patients Scientists explored whether monocytes can be obtained from bone marrow hematopoietic CD34+ stem cells of colon cancer patients, using previously described protocol of expansion and differentiation to monocytes of cord blood-derived CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors. [Cancer Immunol Immunother] Full Article CLINICAL RESEARCH Rapid Mobilization of Cytotoxic Lymphocytes Induced by Dasatinib Therapy in Leukemia Patients Using a collection of 55 leukemia patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy investigators found that dasatinib, a second-generation broad-spectrum TKI, induced a rapid, dose-dependent and substantial mobilization of non-leukemic lymphocytes and monocytes in blood peaking 1 to 2 hours after an oral intake and the blood counts closely mirrored drug plasma concentration. [Leukemia] Abstract Mobilization of Hematopoietic Progenitors from Normal Donors Using the Combination of GM-CSF And G-CSF Results in Fewer pDC in the Graft and Enhanced Donor T-Cell Engraftment with Th1-Polarization: Results from a Randomized Clinical Trial To test the hypothesis that the content of plasmacytoid dendritc cells (pDC) in an allograft can be modulated with the cytokines used for mobilization, the authors randomized the HLA-matched sibling donors of 50 patients with hematological malignancies to a mobilization regimen of either Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) and Granulocyte-Colony-Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) or G-CSF alone. [Biol Blood Marrow Transplant] Abstract Folinic Acid Supplementation in Higher Doses Is Associated with Graft Rejection in Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation In this is single-center retrospective study researchers investigated folinic acid administration in 87 children undergoing stem cell transplantation between 2007 and 2010. [Biol Blood Marrow Transplant] Abstract |