From mice to men: Study reveals potential new target for treating acute myeloid leukemia
2021-05-20
(Press-News.org) Durham, NC -- Bone marrow failure due to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a significant factor behind the disease's high rate of morbidity and mortality. Previous studies in mice suggest that AML cells inhibit healthy hematopoietic (blood) stem and progenitor cells (HSPC). A study released in STEM CELLS adds to this extent of knowledge by showing how secreted cell factors, in particular a protein called transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1), leads to a breakdown in the production of healthy blood cells (a process called hematopoiesis) in humans.
The study's findings indicate that blocking TGFβ1 could improve hematopoiesis in AML patients.
Although AML makes up only about 1 percent of all cancers, it is the second most common type of leukemia diagnosed, according to the American Cancer Society. AML affects the blood and bone marrow - the spongy tissue inside bones where blood cells are made. The mortality rate is high - for those aged 20 and older, the five-year survival rate is a dismal 26 percent.
The mechanisms by which AML develops are not completely understood, but it is generally believed to begin in the hemopoietic stem cells or progenitors, which develop into myeloid cells and in turn go on to become red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets. This latest study, by researchers at Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, was designed to investigate what role fluids secreted by leukemic cells might play in inhibiting the growth of healthy hematopoietic stem and HSPC.
"Experiments using conditioned media (CM) from AML cells to address secretory mechanisms have been performed before, but mainly in mice. In order to gain new insights into how this plays out in humans, we focused on the interaction between leukemic cells and healthy HSPC using an in vitro system modeling the in vivo situation of bone marrow infiltration by AML cells," said the study's corresponding author, Thomas Schroeder, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Hematology, Oncology and Clinical Immunology. This was accomplished by exposing healthy bone marrow-derived CD34+ HSPC to supernatants derived from AML cell lines and newly diagnosed AML patients. (CD34 is a marker of human HSC, while supernatants are the products secreted by cells.)
"Our findings revealed that exposure to AML-derived supernatants significantly inhibited proliferation, cell cycling, colony formation and differentiation of healthy CD34+ HSPC," Dr. Schroeder reported. "Further experiments determined that leukemic cells induce functional inhibition of healthy HSPC, at least in part through TGFβ1.
"Blocking the TGFβ1 pathway is something that could be pharmacologically accomplished with a TGFβ1 inhibitor such as SD208. Our data indicate this could be a promising approach to improve hematopoiesis in AML patients."
Dr. Jan Nolta, Editor-in-Chief of STEM CELLS, said, "finding factors for possible intervention in the perplexing issue of suppression of normal hematopoiesis by AML cells is highly important. The possibility of targeting TGFβ1 in order to allow the normal stem and progenitor cells to expand is a promising lead toward future treatments."
INFORMATION:
The full article, "Acute myeloid leukemia-induced functional inhibition of healthy CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells," can be accessed at https://stemcellsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/stem.3387.
About the Journal: STEM CELLS, a peer reviewed journal published monthly, provides a forum for prompt publication of original investigative papers and concise reviews. The journal covers all aspects of stem cells: embryonic stem cells/induced pluripotent stem cells; tissue-specific stem cells; cancer stem cells; the stem cell niche; stem cell epigenetics, genomics and proteomics; and translational and clinical research. STEM CELLS is co-published by AlphaMed Press and Wiley.
About AlphaMed Press: Established in 1983, AlphaMed Press with offices in Durham, NC, San Francisco, CA, and Belfast, Northern Ireland, publishes three internationally renowned peer-reviewed journals with globally recognized editorial boards dedicated to advancing knowledge and education in their focused disciplines. STEM CELLS® is the world's first journal devoted to this fast paced field of research. THE ONCOLOGIST® is devoted to community and hospital-based oncologists and physicians entrusted with cancer patient care. STEM CELLS TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE® is dedicated to significantly advancing the clinical utilization of stem cell molecular and cellular biology. By bridging stem cell research and clinical trials, SCTM will help move applications of these critical investigations closer to accepted best practices.
About Wiley: Wiley, a global company, helps people and organizations develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed. Our online scientific, technical, medical and scholarly journals, combined with our digital learning, assessment and certification solutions, help universities, learned societies, businesses, governments and individuals increase the academic and professional impact of their work. For more than 200 years, we have delivered consistent performance to our stakeholders. The company's website can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com.
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2021-05-20
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 20, 2021 - As Congress considers legislation to reform prescription drug pricing, a new analysis conducted by the West Health Policy Center and released by its Council for Informed Drug Spending Analysis (CIDSA) estimates that the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (H.R. 3) could result in hundreds of billions of dollars in lower commercial health insurance costs by 2030.These savings would come from a $195 billion reduction in employer costs and $98 billion in savings for workers.
The non-profit, non-partisan West Health Policy Center engaged the actuarial firm Milliman, to analyze the impact of the legislation on stakeholders. Using Milliman's analysis and other data sources West Health ...
2021-05-20
In spite of decades of research, cancer remains an enigma. Conventional wisdom holds that cancer is driven by random mutations that create aberrant cells that run amok in the body.
In a new paper published this week in the journal BioEssays, Arizona and Australian researchers challenge this model by proposing that cancer is a type of genetic throwback, that progresses via a series of reversions to ancestral forms of life. In contrast with the conventional model, the distinctive capabilities of cancer cells are not primarily generated by mutations, the researchers claim, but ...
2021-05-20
Protective immune memory--through B cells, which make antibodies, and/or T cells, which in the case of CD8+ T cells can kill virus-infected cells--can be induced by identical but also by related viruses. Related to the COVID-19 virus SARS-CoV-2, there are four common cold coronaviruses (CCCoVs) that together cause ~20% of common cold infections: OC43, HKU1, 229E, and NL63. Most adults have been infected with CCCoVs multiple times in their lives. Whether or not meaningful CCCoV-induced anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies exist remains a matter of debate. Meanwhile, the generation of T cell memory should depend ...
2021-05-20
Syracuse, N.Y. - The COVID-19 death rate for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is higher than the general population in several states across the U.S., according to a new study published in Disability and Health Journal.
The research team that conducted the study analyzed data from 12 U.S. jurisdictions: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington and Washington, D.C.
The death rates were higher in all jurisdictions for those with IDD who live in congregate settings such as residential group homes. The results for ...
2021-05-20
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- A new study by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) and RTI International (RTI) projects that global chronic and hidden hunger will increase the overall years of life lost due to premature mortality and years lived with disability, also known as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), globally by over 30 million by 2050 relative to 2010. Expected impacts of climate change on the availability and access to nutritious food will exacerbate this change in DALYs by almost 10 percent.
Researchers published the findings in an article in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, ...
2021-05-20
Data will support BLA filing for afamitresgene autoleucel next year -
Responses observed across a broad range of antigen expression -
Initial safety and durability are encouraging -
PHILADELPHIA, PA., and OXFORDSHIRE, U.K., May 20, 2021 -- Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq:ADAP), a leader in cell therapy to treat cancer, will report initial data from its Phase 2 SPEARHEAD-1 trial, with afamitresgene autoleucel (afami-cel, formerly ADP-A2M4), at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) congress. Full abstracts were released online today. Data will be presented in an oral presentation by Dr. Sandra D'Angelo of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (Abstract #11504) on June 4th.
"Patients are seeing substantial ...
2021-05-20
Normally, mountain forests are among the most diverse habitats in alpine regions. Yet, as a team from the Alfred Wegener Institute discovered in the Tibetan Plateau, the higher, treeless areas are home to far more species. Their findings, which were just published in the journal Nature Communications, can help to predict how the biodiversity of alpine regions will decline in response to global warming - when the mountain forests spread to higher elevations.
As anyone who has ever hiked in the mountains knows, the landscape changes with the elevation. At first, for a long time, you trek uphill through forests, until they open up into the first meadows and pastures, where a wide range of plant species bloom in the spring. Farther up, the landscape becomes more barren. ...
2021-05-20
Planned missions to return humans to the Moon need to hurry up to avoid hitting one of the busiest periods for extreme space weather, according to scientists conducting the most in-depth ever look at solar storm timing.
Scientists at the University of Reading studied 150 years of space weather data to investigate patterns in the timing of the most extreme events, which can be extremely dangerous to astronauts and satellites, and even disrupt power grids if they arrive at Earth.
The researchers found for the first time that extreme space weather events are more likely to occur early in even-numbered solar cycles, and late in odd-numbered cycles - such as the one just starting. They are also ...
2021-05-20
A new paper in JNCI Cancer Spectrum, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that several non-genetic factors--including greater red meat intake, lower educational attainment, and heavier alcohol use--are associated with an increase in colorectal cancer in people under 50.
In the United States, incidence rates of early-onset colorectal cancer have nearly doubled between 1992 and 2013 (from 8.6 to 13.1 per 100,000), with most of this increase due to early-onset cancers of the rectum. Approximately 1 in 10 diagnoses of colorectal cancer in this country occur in people under 50.
Researchers ...
2021-05-20
Philadelphia, May 20, 2021 - Research has shown empathy gives healthcare workers the ability to provide appropriate supports and make fewer mistakes. This helps increase patient satisfaction and enhance patient outcomes, resulting in better overall care. In an upcoming issue of the END ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] From mice to men: Study reveals potential new target for treating acute myeloid leukemia
