Hematopoiesis News Volume 7.27 | Jul 12 2016

TOP STORY

Open Chromatin Profiling Key to Identifying Leukemia Cells of Origin

Every cancer starts with a single cell, and researchers have found a precise and reliable way — whole-genome profiling of open chromatin — to identify the kind of cell that leads to a given case of leukemia, a valuable key to cancer prognosis and outcome. [Press release from Jackson Laboratory discussing online prepublication in Nature Communications] Press Release | Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Restoration of MYC-Repressed Targets Mediates the Negative Effects of GM-CSF on RUNX1-ETO Leukemogenicity

Scientists conducted gene expression profiling of primary RE hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells treated with granulocyte macrophage-colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) to elucidate the mechanisms mediating the negative effects of GM on RE leukemogenicity. [Leukemia] Abstract

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells Polarize Macrophages towards a Leukemia Supporting State in a Growth Factor Independence 1 Dependent Manner

Researchers report that acute myeloid leukemia leads to the invasion of acute myeloid leukemia-associated macrophages into the bone marrow and spleen of leukemic patients and mice. [Haematologica] Abstract

Cooperative Leukemogenesis in Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia Reveal C/EBPα as a Common Target of TRIB1 and PML/RARA

Investigators tested the hypothesis that both MYC and TRIB1 have functional roles underlying leukemogenesis of trisomy 8 by using retroviral vectors to express MYC and TRIB1 in wild-type bone marrow and in marrow that expressed a PML/RARA transgene. [Haematologica] Abstract

Superior Red Blood Cell Generation from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells via a Novel Microcarrier Based Embryoid Body Platform

Scientists report the development of a serum-free and chemically defined, microcarrier-based suspension culture platform for scalable human pluripotent stem cell expansion and embryoid body formation. [Tissue Eng Part C Methods] Abstract

Histone Deacetylases Differentially Regulate the Proliferative Phenotype of Mouse Bone Marrow Stromal and Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells

Immunodepletion of granulo-monocytic (CD11b) and erythroid (Ter119) population yielded CD11b^–/Ter119^– cells, capable of differentiating into chondrogenic, osteogenic and adipogenic cells. [Stem Cell Res] Full Article

Insights into Blood Cell Formation from Hemogenic Endothelium in Lesser-Known Anatomic Sites

Researchers examined sites of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell formation in well-studied and in less well-known sites by mapping the expression of the key endothelial to hematopoietic transition factor Runx1 along with several other markers via confocal microscopy. [Dev Dyn] Abstract

CLINICAL RESEARCH

Therapeutic Regulatory T-Cell Adoptive Transfer Ameliorates Established Murine Chronic GvHD in a CXCR5 Dependent Manner

Researchers explored two means to increase regulatory T-cells (Tregs) in chronic graft-versus-host disease: IL-2/mAb complexes and donor Treg infusions. [Blood] Abstract

Recipient and Donor JAK2 46/1 Haplotypes Are Associated with Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease following Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Researchers assessed the association of recipient and donor JAK2 46/1 haplotypes and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation outcome in a cohort of 124 acute myeloid leukemia patients. [Leuk Lymphoma] Abstract

Haploidentical Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation with Posttransplant Cyclophosphamide in Children and Adolescents with Hematological Malignancies

Scientists report a retrospective analysis of 25 consecutive outpatients under 21 years of age with high-risk hematological malignancies, who received a haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation using posttransplant cyclophosphamide as graft versus host disease prophylaxis. [Pediatr Blood Cancer] Abstract

Recent Advances in the In Vitro Derivation of Blood Cell Populations

The authors review the current state of knowledge on the directed differentiation of embryonic stem cells and the reprogramming of somatic cells toward the generation of blood stem cells and derivatives. [Stem Cells Transl Med] Abstract

Generating Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells In Vitro: Exploring Endothelial to Hematopoietic Transition as a Portal for Stemness Acquisition

The author summarizes historical perspectives and recent advances in the investigation of endothelial-hematopoietic transition and hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) formation in the context of aiding in vitro approaches to instruct HSC fate from human pluripotent stem cells. [FEBS Lett] Abstract

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the hematopoiesis research field.

Kiadis Pharma and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Strengthen Partnership around the Development of ATIR101™ in ALL and AML Patients

Kiadis Pharma N.V. announced that its partnership with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has been strengthened with a second equity investment by LLS into the development of Kiadis Pharma’s lead product ATIR101™. [Kiadis Pharma N.V.] Press Release

Juno Therapeutics Reports Clinical Hold on the JCAR015 Phase II ROCKET Trial

Juno Therapeutics, Inc. announced that it has received notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that a clinical hold has been placed on the Phase II clinical trial of JCAR015 in adult patients with relapsed or refractory B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, known as the “ROCKET” trial. The clinical hold was initiated after two patient deaths, which followed the recent addition of fludarabine to the pre-conditioning regimen. [Juno Therapeutics, Inc.] Press Release

FDA Should Stand Firm on Stem-Cell Treatments

You may have heard that regulators in the United States are too strict when it comes to stem-cell treatments. The assumption in these accusations — that these treatments work — is at the heart of the problem. The FDA is right to insist that only proper clinical trials can make that case. [Nature News] Editorial

House Panel Would Give NIH a 4% Raise to $33 Billion

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is slated to receive a $1.25 billion increase, to $33.3 billion, in a proposed spending measure released by a House of Representatives spending panel. That 4% boost is good news for an agency that has been flat funded for a decade, although it falls short of a 6% raise approved by a Senate panel. [Nature News] Editorial | Press Release

Canada’s Health Funder Agrees to Meet with Researchers Outraged by Peer-Review Changes

Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) President Alain Beaudet said the agency will heed Jane Philpott’s request to “convene a working meeting in the very near future with key representatives of the research community, including those who have raised this issue publicly, to find common ground and move forward with solutions that address the issues raised with regard to the quality and integrity of CIHR’s peer review system.” [ScienceInsider] Editorial

U.K. Research Charity Will Self-Publish Results from Its Grantees

Starting sometime this fall, the Wellcome Trust will launch its own open-access online journal. Publication will be limited to the thousands of scientists worldwide working on research funded by a Wellcome grant, and it will be free not only for readers, but authors—the charity is covering the costs charged by the company that will provide the journal’s software and online platform. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Beat It, Impact Factor! Publishing Elite Turns against Controversial Metric

A paper posted to the preprint server bioRxiv, authored by senior employees at several leading science publishers (including Nature’s owner, SpringerNature), calls on journals to downplay the figure in favor of a metric that captures the range of citations that a journal’s articles attract. [Nature News] Editorial | Article

Brexit Watch: Scientists Grapple with the Fallout

Two weeks after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, the future remains opaque. Concerns within the research community are particularly intense for those who rely on the EU for funding, or who have the right to work in the United Kingdom only because they are citizens of other EU countries. [Nature News] Editorial

The Past, Present and Future of the PhD Thesis

According to one of those often-quoted statistics that should be true but probably isn’t, the average number of people who read a PhD thesis all the way through is 1.6. And that includes the author. More interesting might be the average number of PhD theses that the typical scientist — and reader of Nature — has read from start to finish. [Nature News] Editorial

Major Funders Launch International Repository of Cutting-Edge Cancer Models

U.S. and European funding agencies are launching the Human Cancer Models Initiative, which aims to give the research community tumor cells that behave more like actual human tumors. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NIH Awards $55 Million to Build Million-Person Precision Medicine Study

The National Institutes of Health announced $55 million in awards in fiscal year 2016 to build the foundational partnerships and infrastructure needed to launch the Cohort Program of President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative. [National Institutes of Health] Press Release

NEW ICCSCE 2016: 18^th International Conference on Cell and Stem Cell Engineering
September 15-16, 2016
Rome, Italy

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

NEW Assistant Member Faculty – PlatinumImmunotherapy (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

Scientist – Hematology (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

Technical Sales Representative (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Molecular and Cellular Basis of Hematopoiesis (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Stem Cells (Duke University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Characterizing and Targeting Cancer Stem Cells (City of Hope)

Cytogenetics Laboratory Supervisor (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Hematopoietic Stem Cell Biology (Novartis)

Research Assistants and Associates – Leukemia and Stem Cell Biology (King’s College London)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Leukemia Lymphoma (Emory University)

Research Technician – Hematopoietic Stem Cell Biology (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Hematology/Oncology (Boston Children’s Hospital)

Assistant/Associate/Full Member Faculty – Myeloid Malignancies (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

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