�����ƽ��

It is well accepted that umbilical cord blood has been a source for hematopoietic stem cells. However, controversy exists as to whether cord blood can serve as a source of mesenchymal stem cells, which can differentiate into cells of different connective tissue lineages such as bone, cartilage, and fat, and little success has been reported in the literature about the isolation of such cells from cord blood. Here we report a novel method to obtain single cell-derived, clonally expanded mesenchymal stem cells that are of multilineage differentiation potential by negative immunoselection and limiting dilution. The immunophenotype of these clonally expanded cells is consistent with that reported for bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Under appropriate induction conditions, these cells can differentiate into bone, cartilage, and fat. Surprisingly, these cells were also able to differentiate into neuroglial- and hepatocyte-like cells under appropriate induction conditions and, thus, these cells may be more than mesenchymal stem cells as evidenced by their ability to differentiate into cell types of all 3 germ layers. In conclusion, umbilical cord blood does contain mesenchymal stem cells and should not be regarded as medical waste. It can serve as an alternative source of mesenchymal stem cells to bone marrow.

Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and HTLV-2 are highly related viruses that differ in disease manifestation. HTLV-1 is the etiologic agent of adult T-cell leukemia and lymphoma, an aggressive clonal malignancy of human CD4-bearing T lymphocytes. Infection with HTLV-2 has not been conclusively linked to lymphoproliferative disorders. We previously showed that human hematopoietic progenitor (CD34(+)) cells can be infected by HTLV-1 and that proviral sequences were maintained after differentiation of infected CD34(+) cells in vitro and in vivo. To investigate the role of the Tax oncoprotein of HTLV on hematopoiesis, bicistronic lentiviral vectors were constructed encoding the HTLV-1 or HTLV-2 tax genes (Tax1 and Tax2, respectively) and the green fluorescent protein marker gene. Human hematopoietic progenitor (CD34(+)) cells were infected with lentivirus vectors, and transduced cells were cultured in a semisolid medium permissive for the development of erythroid, myeloid, and primitive progenitor colonies. Tax1-transduced CD34(+) cells displayed a two- to fivefold reduction in the total number of hematopoietic clonogenic colonies that arose in vitro, in contrast to Tax2-transduced cells, which showed no perturbation of hematopoiesis. The ratio of colony types that developed from Tax1-transduced CD34(+) cells remained unaffected, suggesting that Tax1 inhibited the maturation of relatively early, uncommitted hematopoietic stem cells. Since previous reports have linked Tax1 expression with initiation of apoptosis, lentiviral vector-mediated transduction of Tax1 or Tax2 was investigated in CEM and Jurkat T-cell lines. Ectopic expression of either Tax1 or Tax2 failed to induce apoptosis in T-cell lines. These data demonstrate that Tax1 expression perturbs development and maturation of pluripotent hematopoietic progenitor cells, an activity that is not displayed by Tax2, and that the suppression of hematopoiesis is not attributable to induction of apoptosis. Since hematopoietic progenitor cells may serve as a latently infected reservoir for HTLV infection in vivo, the different abilities of HTLV-1 and -2 Tax to suppress hematopoiesis may play a role in the respective clinical outcomes after infection with HTLV-1 or -2.

Mifepristone is a potent antagonist of steroid hormone receptors such as glucocorticoid and progesterone receptors. We investigated the potential for mifepristone to act as an antiandrogen and compared it with partial androgen receptor (AR) agonists and antagonists, in particular bicalutamide. Mifepristone was an effective antiandrogen in vitro that inhibited transcription from three androgen-responsive promoters and blocked the agonist R1881 in a dose-dependent manner. Like bicalutamide, mifepristone also antagonized the action of androgen receptor with a (T877A) mutation. Mifepristone competed effectively with R1881 with a relative binding affinity comparable to that of cyproterone acetate, and much higher than that of hydroxyflutamide and bicalutamide in a binding assay. Mifepristone could effectively induce the binding of the herpes simplex viral protein 16/AR fusion protein to the hormone response elements in the murine mammary tumor virus-luciferase reporter. With either wild-type or T877A mutant AR, mifepristone alone was unable to induce any detectable interaction with coactivators transcriptional intermediary factor-2 or beta-catenin but could inhibit the R1881-induced binding of AR to transcriptional intermediary factor-2 and beta-catenin. Similarly, mifepristone could inhibit the R1881-induced N/C-terminal interaction in a dose-dependent manner even though mifepristone alone has no effect on the N/C-terminal interaction of AR. We found that mifepristone could induce a strong interaction between AR and corepressors nuclear receptor corepressor and silencing mediator for retinoid and thyroid hormone receptors in both transactivation and two-hybrid assays to a greater degree than hydroxyflutamide, cyproterone acetate, and bicalutamide. The AR-corepressor interaction was also seen in coimmunoprecipitation assays. Finally, mifepristone at high concentrations induced a low level of prostate-specific antigen expression in LNCaP and antagonized prostate-specific antigen expression induced by R1881. Mifepristone also antagonized R1881 action on the growth of LNCaP prostate cancer cells.

The long-term culture-initiating cell (LTC-IC) assay is a physiological approach to the quantitation of primitive human hematopoietic cells. The readout using identification of cobblestone area-forming cells (CAFC) has gained popularity over the LTC-IC readout where cells are subcultured in a colony-forming cell assay. However, comparing the two assays, cord blood (CB) mononuclear cell (MNC) samples were found to contain a higher frequency of CAFC than LTC-IC (126 +/- 83 versus 40 +/- 31 per 10(5) cells, p = 0.0001). Overall, 60% of week-5 cobblestones produced by CB MNC were not functional LTC-IC and were classified as false." Separation of CB MNC using immunomagnetic columns showed that false cobblestones were CD34(-)/lineage(+). Purified CD34(+) cells�

We have generated mice null for IFN-beta and report the diverse consequences of IFN-beta for both the innate and adaptive arms of immunity. Despite no abnormalities in the proportional balance of CD4 and CD8 T cell populations in the peripheral blood, thymus, and spleen of IFN-beta-/- mice, activated lymph node and splenic T lymphocytes exhibit enhanced T cell proliferation and decreased tumor necrosis factor alpha production, relative to IFN-beta+/+ mice. Notably, constitutive and induced expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha is reduced in the spleen and bone marrow (BM) macrophages, respectively, of IFN-beta-/- mice. We also observe an altered splenic architecture in IFN-beta-/- mice and a reduction in resident macrophages. We identify a potential defect in B cell maturation in IFN-beta-/- mice, associated with a decrease in B220+ve/high/CD43-ve BM-derived cells and a reduction in BP-1, IgM, and CD23 expression. Circulating IgM-, Mac-1-, and Gr-1-positive cells are also substantially decreased in IFN-beta-/- mice. The decrease in the numbers of circulating macrophages and granulocytes likely reflects defective maturation of primitive BM hematopoiesis in mice, shown by the reduction of colony-forming units, granulocyte-macrophage. We proceeded to evaluate the in vivo growth of malignant cells in the IFN-beta-/- background and give evidence that Lewis lung carcinoma-specific tumor growth is more aggressive in IFN-beta-/- mice. Taken altogether, our data suggest that, in addition to the direct growth-inhibitory effects on tumor cells, IFN-beta is required during different stages of maturation in the development of the immune system. View Publication

The ultimate destination for most gene therapy vectors is the nucleus and nuclear import of potentially therapeutic DNA is one of the major barriers for nonviral vectors. We have developed a novel approach of attaching a nuclear localization sequence (NLS) peptide to DNA in a non-essential position, by generating a fusion between the tetracycline repressor protein TetR and the SV40-derived NLS peptide. The high affinity and specificity of TetR for the short DNA sequence tetO was used in these studies to bind the NLS to DNA as demonstrated by the reduced electrophoretic mobility of the TetR.tetO-DNA complexes. The protein TetR-NLS, but not control protein TetR, specifically enhances gene expression from lipofected tetO-containing DNA between 4- and 16-fold. The specific enhancement is observed in a variety of cell types, including primary and growth-arrested cells. Intracellular trafficking studies demonstrate an increased accumulation of fluorescence labeled DNA in the nucleus after TetR-NLS binding. In comparison, binding studies using the similar fusion of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) with NLS peptide, demonstrate specific binding of PNA to plasmid DNA. However, although we observed a 2-8.5-fold increase in plasmid-mediated luciferase activity with bis-PNA-NLS, control bis-PNA without an NLS sequence gave a similar increase, suggesting that the effect may not be because of a specific bis-PNA-NLS-mediated enhancement of nuclear transfer of the plasmid. Overall, we found TetRNLS-enhanced plasmid-mediated transgene expression at a similar level to that by bis-PNA-NLS or bis-PNA alone but specific to nuclear uptake and significantly more reliable and reproducible. View Publication

Deregulation of apoptosis, the physiological form of cell death, is closely associated with immunological diseases and cancer. Apoptosis is activated either by death receptor-driven or mitochondrial pathways, both of which may provide potential targets for novel anticancer drugs. Although several ligands stimulating death receptors have been described, the actual molecular events triggering the mitochondrial pathway are largely unknown. Here, we show initiation of apoptosis by gradual depletion of the intracellular coenzyme NAD+. We identified the first low molecular weight compound, designated FK866, which induces apoptosis by highly specific, noncompetitive inhibition of nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAPRT), a key enzyme in the regulation of NAD+ biosynthesis from the natural precursor nicotinamide. Interference with this enzyme does not primarily intoxicate cells because the mitochondrial respiratory activity and the NAD+ -dependent redox reactions involved remain unaffected as long as NAD+ is not effectively depleted by catabolic reactions. Certain tissues, however, have a high turnover of NAD+ through its cleavage by enzymes like poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Such cells often rely on the more readily available nicotinamide pathway for NAD+ synthesis and undergo apoptosis after inhibition of NAPRT, whereas cells effectively using the nicotinic acid pathway for NAD+ synthesis remain unaffected. In support of this concept, FK866 effectively induced delayed cell death by apoptosis in HepG2 human liver carcinoma cells with an IC(50) of approximately 1 nM, did not directly inhibit mitochondrial respiratory activity, but caused gradual NAD+ depletion through specific inhibition of NAPRT. This enzyme, when partially purified from K562 human leukemia cells, was noncompetitively inhibited by FK866, and the inhibitor constants were calculated to be 0.4 nM for the enzyme/substrate complex (K(i)) and 0.3 nM for the free enzyme (K(i)'), respectively. Nicotinic acid and nicotinamide were both found to have antidote potential for the cellular effects of FK866. FK866 may be used for treatment of diseases implicating deregulated apoptosis such as cancer for immunosuppression or as a sensitizer for genotoxic agents. Furthermore, it may provide an important tool for investigation of the molecular triggers of the mitochondrial pathway leading to apoptosis through enabling temporal separation of NAD+ decrease from ATP breakdown and apoptosis by several days.

Infusion of transduced hematopoietic stem cells into nonmyeloablated hosts results in ineffective in vivo levels of transduced cells. To increase the proportion of transduced cells in vivo, selection based on P140K O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT[P140K]) gene transduction and O6-benzylguanine/1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BG/BCNU) treatment has been devised. In this study, we transduced human NOD/SCID repopulating cells (SRCs) with MGMT(P140K) using a lentiviral vector and infused them into BG/BCNU-conditioned NOD/SCID mice before rounds of BG/BCNU treatment as a model for in vivo selection. Engraftment was not observed until the second round of BG/BCNU treatment, at which time human cells emerged to compose up to 20% of the bone marrow. Furthermore, 99% of human CFCs derived from NOD/SCID mice were positive for provirus as measured by PCR, compared with 35% before transplant and 11% in untreated irradiation-preconditioned mice, demonstrating selection. Bone marrow showed BG-resistant O6-alkylguanine-DNA-alkyltransferase (AGT) activity, and CFUs were stained intensely for AGT protein, indicating high transgene expression. Real-time PCR estimates of the number of proviral insertions in individual CFUs ranged from 3 to 22. Selection resulted in expansion of one or more SRC clones containing similar numbers of proviral copies per mouse. To our knowledge, these results provide the first evidence of potent in vivo selection of MGMT(P140K) lentivirus-transduced human SRCs following BG/BCNU treatment. View Publication

The tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-like ligand BAFF/BLyS (B-cell activating factor of the TNF family/B-lymphocyte stimulator) is a potent B-cell survival factor, yet its functional relationship with other B-cell surface molecules such as CD19 and CD40 is poorly understood. We found that follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) in human lymph nodes expressed BAFF abundantly. BAFF up-regulated a B cell-specific transcription factor Pax5/BSAP (Pax5/B cell-specific activator protein) activity and its target CD19, a major component of the B-cell coreceptor complex, and synergistically enhanced CD19 phosphorylation by B-cell antigen receptor (BCR). BAFF further enhanced B-cell proliferation, immunoglobulin G (IgG) production, and reactivity to CD154 by BCR/CD19 coligation and interleukin-15 (IL-15). Our results suggest that BAFF may play an important role in FDC-B-cell interactions through the B-cell coreceptor complex and a possibly sequential link between the T cell-independent and -dependent B-cell responses in the germinal centers.

The EphA2 receptor tyrosine kinase is overexpressed in many different types of human cancers where it functions as a powerful oncoprotein. Dramatic changes in the subcellular localization and function of EphA2 have also been linked with cancer, and in particular, unstable cancer cell-cell contacts prevent EphA2 from stably binding its ligand on the surface of adjoining cells. This change is important in light of evidence that ligand binding causes EphA2 to transmit signals that negatively regulate tumor cell growth and invasiveness and also induce EphA2 degradation. On the basis of these properties, we have begun to target EphA2 on tumor cells using agonistic antibodies, which mimic the consequences of ligand binding. In our present study, we show that a subset of agonistic EphA2 antibodies selectively bind epitopes on malignant cells, which are not available on nontransformed epithelial cells. We also show that such epitopes arise from differential cell-cell adhesions and that the stable intercellular junctions of nontransformed epithelial cells occlude the binding site for ligand, as well as this subset of EphA2 antibodies. Finally, we demonstrate that antibody targeting of EphA2 decreases tumor cell growth as measured using xenograft tumor models and found that the mechanism of antibody action relates to EphA2 protein degradation in vivo. Taken together, these results suggest new opportunities for therapeutic targeting of the large number of different cancers that express EphA2 in a manner that could minimize potential toxicities to normal cells.

Singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)) is widely believed to be the major cytotoxic agent involved in photodynamic therapy (PDT). We showed recently that measurement of the weak near infrared luminescence of (1)O(2) is possible in cells in vitro and tissues in vivo. Here, we investigated the relationship between the integrated luminescence signal and the in vitro PDT response of AML5 leukemia cells sensitized with aminolevulinic acid-induced protoporphyrin IX (PpIX). Sensitized cell suspensions were irradiated with pulsed 523 nm laser light at average fluence rates of 10, 25, or 50 mWcm(-2) and, (1)O(2) luminescence measurements were made throughout the treatment. Cell survival was measured with either propidium iodide-labeled flow cytometry or colony-forming assay. The PpIX concentration in the cells, the photobleaching, and the pO(2) in the cell suspensions were also monitored. There were large variations in cell survival and (1)O(2) generation in different experiments due to different controlled treatment parameters (fluence and fluence rate) and other uncontrolled factors (PpIX synthesis and oxygenation). However, in all of the cases, cell kill correlated strongly with the cumulative (1)O(2) luminescence and allowed direct estimation of the (1)O(2) per cell required to achieve a specific level of cell kill. This study supports the validity and potential utility of (1)O(2) luminescence measurement as a dosimetric tool for PDT, as well as confirming the likely role of (1)O(2) in porphyrin-based PDT.

Successful blood and marrow transplant (BMT), both autologous and allogeneic, requires the infusion of a sufficient number of hematopoietic progenitor/stem cells (HPCs) capable of homing to the marrow cavity and regenerating a full array of hematopoietic cell lineages in a timely fashion. At present, the most commonly used surrogate marker for HPCs is the cell surface marker CD34, identified in the clinical laboratory by flow cytometry. Clinical studies have shown that infusion of at least 2 x 10(6) CD34(+) cells/kg recipient body weight results in reliable engraftment as measured by recovery of adequate neutrophil and platelet counts approximately 14 days after transplant. Recruitment of HPCs from the marrow into the blood is termed mobilization, or, more commonly, stem cell mobilization. In Section I, Dr. Tsvee Lapidot and colleagues review the wide range of factors influencing stem cell mobilization. Our current understanding focuses on chemokines, proteolytic enzymes, adhesion molecules, cytokines and stromal cell-stem cell interactions. On the basis of this understanding, new approaches to mobilization have been designed and are now starting to undergo clinical testing. In Section II, Dr. Michele Cottler-Fox describes factors predicting the ability to mobilize the older patient with myeloma. In addition, clinical approaches to improving collection by individualizing the timing of apheresis and adjusting the volume of blood processed to achieve a desired product are discussed. Key to this process is the daily enumeration of blood CD34(+) cells. Newer methods of enumerating and mobilizing autologous blood HPCs are discussed. In Section III, Dr. John DiPersio and colleagues provide data on clinical results of mobilizing allogeneic donors with G-CSF, GM-CSF and the combination of both as relates to the number and type of cells collected by apheresis. Newer methods of stem cell mobilization as well as the relationship of graft composition on immune reconstitution and GVHD are discussed.