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BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that patients with Bcr-Abl-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) either have primary disease that is refractory to imatinib mesylate or develop disease recurrence after an initial response. METHODS: The authors investigated the effects of a newly designed Bcr-Abl inhibitor, AMN107, by comparing its in vitro inhibitory potency on p190 Bcr-Abl ALL cell lines with that of imatinib. RESULTS: In two Philadelphia (Ph)-positive ALL cell lines, AMN107 was found to be 30-40 times more potent than imatinib in inhibiting cellular proliferation. AMN107 was also more effective than imatinib in inhibiting phosphorylation of p190 Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase in cell lines and primary ALL cells. The inhibition of cellular proliferation was associated with the induction of apoptosis in only one of the cell lines. No activity was observed in cell lines lacking the BCR-ABL genotype. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the current study suggest the superior potency of AMN107 compared with imatinib in Ph-positive ALL and support clinical trials of AMN107 in patients with Ph-positive ALL.

Valproic acid (VPA) has been used as an anticonvulsant agent for the treatment of epilepsy, as well as a mood stabilizer for the treatment of bipolar disorder, for several decades. The mechanism of action for these effects remains to be elucidated and is most likely multifactorial. Recently, VPA has been reported to inhibit histone deacetylase (HDAC) and HDAC has been reported to play roles in differentiation of mammalian cells. In this study, the effects of HDAC inhibitors on differentiation and proliferation of human adipose tissue-derived stromal cells (hADSC) and bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSC) were determined. VPA increased osteogenic differentiation in a dose dependent manner. The pretreatment of VPA before induction of differentiation also showed stimulatory effects on osteogenic differentiation of hMSC. Trichostatin A (TSA), another HDAC inhibitor, also increased osteogenic differentiation, whereas valpromide (VPM), a structural analog of VPA which does not possess HDAC inhibitory effects, did not show any effect on osteogenic differentiation on hADSC. RT-PCR and Real-time PCR analysis revealed that VPA treatment increased osterix, osteopontin, BMP-2, and Runx2 expression. The addition of noggin inhibited VPA-induced potentiation of osteogenic differentiation. VPA inhibited proliferation of hADSC and hBMSC. Our results suggest that VPA enhance osteogenic differentiation, probably due to inhibition of HDAC, and could be useful for in vivo bone engineering using hMSC.

The homeobox gene Hoxa-9 is normally expressed in primitive bone marrow cells, and overexpression of Hoxa-9 markedly expands hematopoietic stem cells, suggesting a function in early hematopoiesis. We present evidence for major functional defects in Hoxa-9-/- hematopoietic stem cells. Hoxa-9-/- marrow cells have normal numbers of immunophenotypic stem cells (Lin(-)c-kit(+)flk-2(-)Sca-1+ [KLFS] cells). However, sublethally irradiated Hoxa-9-/- mice develop persistent pancytopenia, indicating unusual sensitivity to ionizing irradiation. In competitive transplantation assays, Hoxa-9-/- cells showed an 8-fold reduction in multilineage long-term repopulating ability, a defect not seen in marrow cells deficient for the adjacent Hoxa-10 gene. Single-cell cultures of KLFS cells showed a 4-fold reduction in large high-proliferation potential colonies. In liquid cultures, Hoxa-9-deficient Lin(-)Sca-1(+) cells showed slowed proliferation (a 5-fold reduction in cell numbers at day 8) and delayed emergence of committed progenitors (a 5-fold decrease in colony-forming cells). Slowing of proliferation was accompanied by a delay in myeloid maturation, with a decrease in Gr-1hiMac-1hi cells at the end of the culture. Retroviral transduction with a Hoxa-9 expression vector dramatically enhanced the cytokine-driven proliferation and in vivo engraftment of Hoxa-9-/- marrow cells. Hoxa-9 appears to be specifically required for normal hematopoietic stem cell function both in vitro and in vivo.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) are capable of giving rise to neurons, glia, and astrocytes. Although self-renewal and differentiation in NSCs are regulated by many genes, such as Notch and Numb, little is known about the role of defective genes on the self-renewal and differentiation of NSCs from developing brain. The Niemann-Pick type C1 (NPC1) disease is a neurodegenerative disease caused by a mutation of the NPC1 gene that affects the function of the NPC1 protein. The ability of NSC self-renewal and differentiation was investigated using a model of NPC1 disease. The NPC1 disorder significantly affected the self-renewal ability of NSCs, as well as the differentiation. NSCs from NPC1-/- mice showed impaired self-renewal ability compared with the NPC1+/+ mice. These alterations were accompanied by the enhanced activity of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). Further, the specific p38 MAPK inhibitor SB202190 improved the self-renewal ability of NSCs from NPC-/- mice. This indicated that the NPC1 deficiency can lead to lack of self-renewal and altered differentiation of NSCs mediated by the activation of p38 MAPK, impairing the generation of neurospheres from NPC1-/- Thus, the NPC1 gene may play a crucial role in NSC self-renewal associated with p38 MAPK.

Caspase proteases have become the focal point for the development and application of anti-apoptotic therapies in a variety of central nervous system diseases. However, this approach is based on the premise that caspase function is limited to invoking cell death signals. Here, we show that caspase-3 activity is elevated in nonapoptotic differentiating neuronal cell populations. Moreover, peptide inhibition of protease activity effectively inhibits the differentiation process in a cultured neurosphere model. These results implicate caspase-3 activation as a conserved feature of neuronal differentiation and suggest that targeted inhibition of this protease in neural cell populations may have unintended consequences.

IkappaB kinase (IKK) complex plays a key regulatory role in macrophages for NF-kappaB activation during both innate and adaptive immune responses. Because IKK1-/- mice died at birth, we differentiated functional macrophages from embryonic day 15.5 IKK1 mutant embryonic liver. The embryonic liver-derived macrophage (ELDM) showed enhanced phagocytotic clearance of bacteria, more efficient antigen-presenting capacity, elevated secretion of several key proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, and known NFkappaB target genes. Increased NFkappaB activity in IKK1 mutant ELDM was the result of prolonged degradation of IkappaBalpha in response to infectious pathogens. The delayed restoration of IkappaBalpha in pathogen-activated IKK1-/- ELDM was a direct consequence of uncontrolled IKK2 kinase activity. We hypothesize that IKK1 plays a checkpoint role in the proper control of IkappaBalpha kinase activity in innate and adaptive immunity.

Thrombopoietin (TPO) is a potent regulator of megakaryopoiesis and stimulates megakaryocyte (MK) progenitor expansion and MK differentiation. In this study, we show that TPO induces activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway, which plays a central role in translational regulation and is required for proliferation of MO7e cells and primary human MK progenitors. Treatment of MO7e cells, human CD34+, and primary MK cells with the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin inhibits TPO-induced cell cycling by reducing cells in S phase and blocking cells in G0/G1. Rapamycin markedly inhibits the clonogenic growth of MK progenitors with high proliferative capacity but does not reduce the formation of small MK colonies. Addition of rapamycin to MK suspension cultures reduces the number of MK cells, but inhibition of mTOR does not significantly affect expression of glycoproteins IIb/IIIa (CD41) and glycoprotein Ib (CD42), nuclear polyploidization levels, cell size, or cell survival. The downstream effectors of mTOR, p70 S6 kinase (S6K) and 4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1), are phosphorylated by TPO in a rapamycin- and LY294002-sensitive manner. Part of the effect of the phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase pathway in regulating megakaryopoiesis may be mediated by the mTOR/S6K/4E-BP1 pathway. In conclusion, these data demonstrate that the mTOR pathway is activated by TPO and plays a critical role in regulating proliferation of MK progenitors, without affecting differentiation or cell survival.

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) suppress T-cell and dendritic-cell function and represent a promising strategy for cell therapy of autoimmune diseases. Nevertheless, no information is currently available on the effects of hMSCs on B cells, which may have a large impact on the clinical use of these cells. hMSCs isolated from the bone marrow and B cells purified from the peripheral blood of healthy donors were cocultured with different B-cell tropic stimuli. B-cell proliferation was inhibited by hMSCs through an arrest in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle and not through the induction of apoptosis. A major mechanism of B-cell suppression was hMSC production of soluble factors, as indicated by transwell experiments. hMSCs inhibited B-cell differentiation because IgM, IgG, and IgA production was significantly impaired. CXCR4, CXCR5, and CCR7 B-cell expression, as well as chemotaxis to CXCL12, the CXCR4 ligand, and CXCL13, the CXCR5 ligand, were significantly down-regulated by hMSCs, suggesting that these cells affect chemotactic properties of B cells. B-cell costimulatory molecule expression and cytokine production were unaffected by hMSCs. These results further support the potential therapeutic use of hMSCs in immune-mediated disorders, including those in which B cells play a major role.

The generation of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) from blood monocytes has been propagated as a novel approach in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) uptake and lectin binding together with endothelial marker expression are commonly used to define these EPCs. Considerable controversy exists regarding their nature, in particular, because myelomonocytic cells share several properties with endothelial cells (ECs). This study was performed to elucidate whether the commonly used endothelial marker determination is sufficient to distinguish supposed EPCs from monocytes. We measured endothelial, hematopoietic, and progenitor cell marker expression of monocytes before and after angiogenic culture by fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The function of primary monocytes and monocyte-derived supposed EPCs was investigated during vascular network formation and EC colony-forming unit (CFU-EC) development. Monocytes cultured for 4 to 6 days under angiogenic conditions lost CD14/CD45 and displayed a commonly accepted EPC phenotype, including LDL uptake and lectin binding, CD31/CD105/CD144 reactivity, and formation of cord-like structures. Strikingly, primary monocytes already expressed most tested endothelial genes and proteins at even higher levels than their supposed EPC progeny. Neither fresh nor cultured monocytes formed vascular networks, but CFU-EC formation was strictly dependent on monocyte presence. LDL uptake, lectin binding, and CD31/CD105/CD144 expression are inherent features of monocytes, making them phenotypically indistinguishable from putative EPCs. Consequently, monocytes and their progeny can phenotypically mimic EPCs in various experimental models.

Mutations of MYH9, the gene for non-muscle myosin heavy chain IIA (NMMHC-IIA), cause a complex clinical phenotype characterized by macrothrombocytopenia and granulocyte inclusion bodies, often associated with deafness, cataracts and/or glomerulonephritis. The pathogenetic mechanisms of these defects are either completely unknown or controversial. In particular, it is a matter of debate whether haploinsufficiency or a dominant-negative effect of mutant allele is responsible for hematological abnormalities. We investigated 11 patients from six pedigrees with different MYH9 mutations. We evaluated NMMHC-IIA levels in platelets and granulocytes isolated from peripheral blood and in megakaryocytes (Mks) cultured from circulating progenitors. NMMHC-IIA distribution in Mks and granulocytes was also assessed. We demonstrated that all the investigated patients had a 50% reduction of NMMHC-IIA expression in platelets and that a similar defect was present also in Mks. In subjects with R1933X and E1945X mutations, the whole NMMHC-IIA of platelets and Mks was wild-type. No NMMHC-IIA inclusions were observed at any time of Mk maturation. In granulocytes, the extent of NMMHC-IIA reduction in patients with respect to control cells was significantly greater than that measured in platelets and Mks, and we found that wild-type protein was sequestered within most of the NMMHC-IIA inclusions. Altogether these results indicate that haploinsufficiency of NMMHC-IIA in megakaryocytic lineage is the mechanism of macrothrombocytopenia consequent to MYH9 mutations, whereas in granulocytes a dominant-negative effect of mutant allele is involved in the formation of inclusion bodies. The finding that the same mutations act through different mechanisms in different cells is surprising and requires further investigation.

Several recent reports suggest that there is far more plasticity that previously believed in the developmental potential of bone-marrow-derived cells (BMCs) that can be induced by extracellular developmental signals of other lineages whose nature is still largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) co-cultured with mouse proliferating or fixed (by paraformaldehyde or methanol) neural stem cells (NSCs) generate neural stem cell-like cells with a higher expression of Sox-2 and nestin when grown in NS-A medium supplemented with N2, NSC conditioned medium (NSCcm) and bFGF. These neurally induced MSCs eventually differentiate into beta-III-tubulin and GFAP expressing cells with neuronal and glial morphology when grown an additional week in Neurobasal/B27 without bFGF. We conclude that juxtacrine interaction between NSCs and MSCs combined with soluble factors released from NSCs are important for generation of neural-like cells from bone-marrow-derived adherent MSCs.

The induction of senescence-like growth arrest has emerged as a putative contributor to the anticancer effects of chemotherapeutic agents. Clinical trials are underway to evaluate the efficacy of inhibitors for class I and II histone deacetylases to treat malignancies. However, a potential antiproliferative effect of inhibitor for Sirt1, which is an NAD(+)-dependent deacetylase and belongs to class III histone deacetylases, has not yet been explored. Here, we show that Sirt1 inhibitor, Sirtinol, induced senescence-like growth arrest characterized by induction of senescence-associated beta-galactosidase activity and increased expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 in human breast cancer MCF-7 cells and lung cancer H1299 cells. Sirtinol-induced senescence-like growth arrest was accompanied by impaired activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, namely, extracellular-regulated protein kinase, c-jun N-terminal kinase and p38 MAPK, in response to epidermal growth factor (EGF) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). Active Ras was reduced in Sirtinol-treated senescent cells compared with untreated cells. However, tyrosine phosphorylation of the receptors for EGF and IGF-I and Akt/PKB activation were unaltered by Sirtinol treatment. These results suggest that inhibitors for Sirt1 may have anticancer potential, and that impaired activation of Ras-MAPK pathway might take part in a senescence-like growth arrest program induced by Sirtinol.