PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Researchers find way to help donor adult blood stem cells overcome transplant rejection

2011-08-06
(Press-News.org) DALLAS – Aug. 4, 2011 – Findings by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers may suggest new strategies for successful donor adult stem cell transplants in patients with blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

The study, published Aug. 5 in Cell Stem Cell, showed for the first time that adult blood stem cells can be regulated to overcome an immune response that leads to transplant rejection. It also opens up further studies in stem cell immunology, said Dr. Chengcheng "Alec" Zhang, assistant professor of physiology and developmental biology at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study.

"We speculate that a common mechanism exists to regulate immune inhibitors in different types of stem cells," he said.

Nearly 1 million people in the U.S. are living with or in remission from blood cancers; more than 135,000 are expected to be diagnosed this year. Blood and bone marrow stem cell transplants are needed when a patient's body stops making enough healthy blood cells.

In this current study, UT researchers developed a culture "cocktail" that successfully supported adult blood stem cells from humans and from mice, and found that they express immune inhibitors on their surfaces that protect them from immune attack. Using the increased number of cultured blood stem cells, the scientists were able to overcome the protein barrier that alerts the immune system to foreign material and significantly repopulated healthy cells in the rodent transplantation recipients.

"We revealed that the expansion of adult blood stem cells through culture and an increase in cell surface expression of an immune molecule are the keys for this to happen," Dr. Zhang said.

### Other UT Southwestern researchers involved in the study were Dr. Junke Zheng, instructor of physiology and lead author; Dr. Masato Umikawa, a visiting instructor now an associate professor of cell biology at the University of the Ryukyus in Nishihara, Japan; Dr. Shichuan Zhang, postdoctoral researcher in radiation oncology; Dr. HoangDinh Huynh, postdoctoral researcher in physiology; Robert Silvany, senior research associate in physiology; and Dr. Benjamin P.C. Chen, assistant professor of radiation oncology. Dr. Lieping Chen, director of cancer immunology at the Yale Cancer Center and former professor of oncology and dermatology at the Institute for Cell Engineering in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, also participated.

This news release is available on our World Wide Web home page at http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/home/news/index.html

To automatically receive news releases from UT Southwestern via email, subscribe at www.utsouthwestern.edu/receivenews


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Drinking just 1 measure of spirits increases the risk of acute pancreatitis

2011-08-06
Drinking just one 4cl measure of spirits can increase the risk of an acute attack of pancreatitis, but wine or beer does not appear to have the same effect, according to a study published online by BJS, the British Journal of Surgery. Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden followed 84,601 people from 46 to 84 years of age from the general population in Vastmanland and Uppsala for a median of ten years. During that time 513 developed acute pancreatitis. "Our study revealed a steady increase between each measure of spirits a person drank on one occasion ...

Sexually extravagant male birds age more rapidly, but try to hide it

Sexually extravagant male birds age more rapidly, but try to hide it
2011-08-06
For male houbara bustards sexual extravagance is the key to attracting mates in some of the world's harshest desert environments. However, new research in Ecology Letters reveals that males who perform the most extravagant sexual displays will suffer from premature biological aging and will pass their reproductive prime years earlier than their less ostentatious rivals. Houbara bustards, Chlamydotis undulata, are found across the deserts of the Southern Hemisphere, from the Persian Gulf to the Gobi Desert, and for six months of the year the males spend their days in elaborate ...

Spotting weaknesses in solid wood

Spotting weaknesses in solid wood
2011-08-06
This release is available in German. People who buy an expensive solid wooden table or wardrobe want to be certain that their new piece of furniture is absolutely faultless. Pianos – whether upright or grand – can only produce an opulent tone if their soundboard, bridge and keyboard are made of high-quality materials. And wood that is free of imperfections is also essential in house building and window construction: load-bearing wooden beams need to be of the highest quality, as even the smallest crack can cause them to fail. Research scientists from the Fraunhofer ...

Making runways safer

Making runways safer
2011-08-06
This release is available in German. It might have happened over ten years ago now, but most people can still recall the Concorde crash: the TV images showing the supersonic jet with flames streaming from its tail were unforgettable. It was a piece of metal lying on the runway during take-off that caused the accident. The aircraft's tire burst as it rolled over the metal, sending chunks of rubber flying into the fuel tank, which then exploded – with the loss of 113 lives. To avoid accidents such as this, airport staff drive up and down runways at six-hour intervals ...

Luxury Yacht Charter Croatia Magnum Nautica Announced Refreshments in Their Fleet

Luxury Yacht Charter Croatia Magnum Nautica Announced Refreshments in Their Fleet
2011-08-06
Speaking about the makeover, Luxury yacht charter Croatia, Magnum Nautica said, "We have refreshed the interiors of all the Magnum Yachts. We have added brand new carpets, new curtains, new sofa covers and new teak on the swimming platform on the motor yacht Banana. We recently had an exclusive photoshoot by famous Croatian photographer Mario Jelavich, when our fleet went out into the Adriatic. We are planning to launch a whole new website with these photographs." The Croatia yacht charter company Magnum Nautica owns four motor yachts in Croatia and is reputed ...

La Ninas distant effects in East Africa

2011-08-06
5 August 2011 | Potsdam: For 20 000 years, climate variability in East Africa has been following a pattern that is evidently a remote effect of the ENSO phenomenon (El Niño Southern Oscillation) known as El Niño/La Niña. During the cold phase of La Niña, there is marginal rainfall and stronger winds in East Africa, while the El Niño warm phase leads to weak wind conditions with frequent rain. Moreover, during the coldest period of the last ice age about 18 000 to 21 000 years ago, East Africa's climate was relatively stable and dry. This result was published by an international ...

Disappearance of genetic material allows tumor cells to grow

2011-08-06
Malignant Sézary syndrome is characterized by the reproduction of a special type of white blood cells in the skin of male and female patients. In contrast to most other skin lymphomas, patients with Sézary syndrome manifest not only skin contamination but also contamination of blood and lymph nodes by degenerate T cells even at the onset of the disease. The researchers investigated highly purified tumor cells from patients with Sézary syndrome using modern, high-resolution genetic procedures (the so-called array comparative genomic hybridization technique) for hitherto ...

Have we met before? Scientists show why the brain has the answer

2011-08-06
The research, led by Dr Clea Warburton and Dr Gareth Barker in the University's School of Physiology and Pharmacology and published in the Journal of Neuroscience, has investigated why we can recognise faces much better if we have extra clues as to where or indeed when we encountered them in the first place. The study found that when we need to remember that a particular object, for example a face, occurred in a particular place, or at a particular time, multiple brain regions have to work together - not independently. It has been known for some time that three brain ...

Polymer's hunt for nicotine

Polymers hunt for nicotine
2011-08-06
Newly synthesized polymer, fitted with molecular pincers of carefully tailored structure, effectively captures nicotine molecules and its analogues. The polymer can be used for fabrication of sensitive and selective chemical sensors to determine nicotine in solutions, and in the near future also in gases. Moreover, the polymer is suitable for slow, controlled release of nicotine, e.g., for therapeutic purposes. The collaboration of researchers of the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IPC PAS) and of the Department of Chemistry, Wichita ...

Fossils of forest rodents found in highland desert

Fossils of forest rodents found in highland desert
2011-08-06
Two new rodent fossils were discovered in the arid highlands of southern Bolivia by researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Universidad Autónoma Tomás Frías. The larger of the two rodents, named Mesoprocta hypsodus, probably looked something like a guinea pig on stilts, said Darin Croft, an anatomy professor at Case Western Reserve. The smaller, Quebradahondomys potosiensis, was a spiny rat. An online article in the Journal of Mammalian Evolution describes the new species, a possible third, and two known species that are new inhabitants ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

Resident physician intentions regarding unionization

[Press-News.org] Researchers find way to help donor adult blood stem cells overcome transplant rejection