(Press-News.org) Researchers at Dartmouth's Norris Cotton Cancer Center have published results from a study in Cell Reports that discovers a new mechanism that distinguishes normal blood stem cells from blood cancers.
"These findings constitute a significant advance toward the goal of killing leukemia cells without harming the body's normal blood stem cells which are often damaged by chemotherapy," said Patricia Ernst, PhD, co-director of the Cancer Mechanisms Program of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center and an associate professor in Genetics at the Geisel School of Medicine.
The study focused on a pathway regulated by a gene called MLL1 (for Mixed Lineage Leukemia). Ernst served as principal investigator; Bibhu Mishra, PhD, as lead author.
When the MLL1 gene is damaged, it can cause leukemia, which is a cancer of the blood, often occurring in very young patients. Researchers found that the normal version of the gene controls many other genes in a manner that maintains the production of blood cells.
"This control becomes chaotic when the gene is damaged or 'broken' and that causes the normal blood cells to turn into leukemia," said Ernst.
The researchers showed that the normal gene acts with a partner gene called MOF that adds small "acetyl" chemical modification around the genes that it controls. The acetyl modification acts as a switch to turn genes on. When this function is disrupted, MLL1 cannot maintain normal blood stem cells.
The researchers also found that a gene called Sirtuin1 (more commonly known for controlling longevity) works against MLL1 to keep the proper amount of "acetyl" modifications on important stem cell genes. Blood cancers involving MLL1, in contrast, do not have this MOF-Sirtuin balance and place a different chemical modification on genes that result in leukemia.
Blood stem cells also represent an important therapy for patients whose own stem cells are destroyed by chemotherapy. This study also reveals a new way to treat blood stem cells from donors that would expand their numbers.
"These finding suggest that drugs that block Sirtuin1 may be combined with MLL1 blocking drugs in certain leukemia to both preserve stem cells that make normal blood at the same time as killing leukemia cells," said Ernst.
INFORMATION:
Additional colleagues at UCLA, Hanna Mikkola, MD, PhD and Tonis Org, PhD, as well Chao Cheng, PhD in the Dartmouth Department of Genetics were all instrumental in publishing these findings. This study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health (HL090036, HL090036-S1), the American Cancer Society (RSG-10-242-LIB) and several private foundations including Gabrielle's Angel Foundation for Cancer Research and the Lady Tata Memorial Trust.
About Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock
Norris Cotton Cancer Center combines advanced cancer research at Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine with patient-centered cancer care provided at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, at Dartmouth-Hitchcock regional locations in Manchester, Nashua, and Keene, NH, and St. Johnsbury, VT, and at 12 partner hospitals throughout New Hampshire and Vermont. It is one of 41 centers nationwide to earn the National Cancer Institute's "Comprehensive Cancer Center" designation. Learn more about Norris Cotton Cancer Center research, programs, and clinical trials online at cancer.dartmouth.edu.
Scientists decode epigenetic mechanisms distinguishing stem cell function and blood cancer
2014-05-09
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Study identifies mechanism by which intestinal enzyme maintains microbial balance
2014-05-09
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have identified the mechanism by which an enzyme produced in the intestinal lining helps to maintain a healthy population of gastrointestinal microbes. In their report in American Journal of Physiology – Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, the research team describes finding that intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria by blocking the growth-inhibiting action of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) – an action first described in this paper – within the intestine.
"We found that ATP ...
NASA sees system 90E just after earthquake hit Mexico's Guerrero State
2014-05-09
VIDEO:
This movie of imagery from NOAA's GOES-West satellite from May 7 at 14:15 UTC to May 9 at 14:15 UTC shows System 90E's progression and movement on land in southwestern...
Click here for more information.
As the dissipating tropical low pressure system known as System 90E continued rain on Guerrero State in southern Mexico, the U.S. Geological Survey reported a 6.4 magnitude earthquake occurred there on Thursday, May 8 around noon local time (1 p.m. EDT). NASA's Aqua satellite ...
Bioprinting a 3D liver-like device to detoxify the blood
2014-05-09
Nanoengineers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a 3D-printed device inspired by the liver to remove dangerous toxins from the blood. The device, which is designed to be used outside the body -- much like dialysis – uses nanoparticles to trap pore-forming toxins that can damage cellular membranes and are a key factor in illnesses that result from animal bites and stings, and bacterial infections. Their findings were published May 8 in the journal Nature Communications.
Nanoparticles have already been shown to be effective at neutralizing pore-forming ...
Rotational X-ray tracking uncovers hidden motion at the nanoscale
2014-05-09
Over the past two decades or so, there has been increasing interest and development in
measuring slow dynamics in disordered systems at the nanoscale, brought about in part from a demand for advancements in the food and consumer products industries.
Some of the techniques that have been developed over recent years to study the dynamic properties of these materials include X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) and speckle visibility spectroscopy (SVS). Both of these techniques however suffer from some fundamental limitations ranging from the use of only specialized ...
Study predicts adult obesity prevalence in almost all European countries by 2030
2014-05-09
Amsterdam, 9 May. Rates of obesity and overweight in both male and females are projected to increase in almost all countries of Europe by 2030, according to a statistical modelling study. However, the forecast rates vary throughout the 53 Euro-region countries, with projected male obesity levels ranging from 15% in the Netherlands and Belgium, to 47% in Ireland. The highest obesity prevalence in females was projected in Ireland (47%), and the lowest in Romania (10%).
The study, from investigators which included the WHO Regional Office for Europe, was presented at the ...
Colonization of Brazil by the cattle egret
2014-05-09
In recent years the cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) has colonized American continent. Invasive species are a worldwide problem and studies are devoted to assess the damage they cause to local species populations. Thus, the process of colonization of a new territory that has continental dimensions such as Brazil offers an excellent opportunity to examine how non-native species disperse, adapt and survive. A new study of the colonization patterns of the cattle egret in Brazil, published in the open access journal NeoBiota, offers a new take on the study of alien species.
The ...
Research indicates coyote predation on deer in East manageable
2014-05-09
Coyotes are a major predator of white-tailed deer across the East, especially fawns born each spring, but wildlife managers nonetheless are able to stabilize and even grow deer herds, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
Coyotes -- Canis latrans -- are a relatively recent arrival to eastern North America, appearing first in the region in noticeable numbers in the 1970s. They are a significant source of deer mortality and most often prey on whitetails in the earliest months of their lives. Coyotes have long inhabited the American West.
With ...
Larger percentage of Texas Hispanics have enrolled in Health Insurance Marketplace plans
2014-05-09
HOUSTON – (May 9, 2014) – Texas Hispanics were more than twice as likely as whites to have enrolled in health insurance plans offered through the Affordable Care Act's Health Insurance Marketplace between September 2013 and March 2014, according to a report released today by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Episcopal Health Foundation.
The report also found that Hispanic adults in Texas experience more difficulty in affording health services than white adults and are three times as likely to be uninsured. In addition, Hispanic respondents ...
Role of middle predators in reef systems
2014-05-09
Northeastern University researchers at the Marine Science Center have shown that the behavior of the "middle child" in the predator-prey food chain plays a strong role in determining how the reef as a whole will fare. The new research from the team was published online on Tuesday in the journal Ecology Letters.
Northeastern ecologist David Kimbro, who claims to have watched a lot of TV growing up, particularly The Brady Bunch, compares the "middle child" behavior of oyster reefs to the show: "You could kind of get a flavor for how an episode was going to turn out based ...
Honolulu-based study reveals shorter men live longer
2014-05-09
Short height and long life have a direct connection in Japanese men, according to new research based on the Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program (HHP) and the Kuakini Honolulu-Asia Aging Study (HAAS).
"We split people into two groups – those that were 5-foot-2 and shorter, and 5-4 and taller," said Dr. Bradley Willcox, one of the investigators for the study and a Professor in the University of Hawai`i (UH) John A. Burns School of Medicine's Department of Geriatric Medicine. "The folks that were 5-2 and shorter lived the longest. The range was seen all the way across from being ...