技术资料

The development of immunodeficient mouse xenograft models has greatly facilitated the investigation of some human hematopoietic malignancies,but application of this approach to the myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) has proven difficult. We now show that cells from most MDS patients (including all subtypes) repopulate nonobese diabetic-severe combined immunodeficient (scid)/scid-beta2 microglobulin null (NOD/SCID-beta2m(-/-)) mice at least transiently and produce abnormal differentiation patterns in this model. Normal marrow transplants initially produce predominantly erythroid cells and later predominantly B-lymphoid cells in these mice,whereas most MDS samples produced predominantly granulopoietic cells. In 4 of 4 MDS cases,the regenerated cells showed the same clonal markers (trisomy 8,n = 3; and 5q-,n = 1) as the original sample and,in one instance,regenerated trisomy 8(+) B-lymphoid as well as myeloid cells were identified. Interestingly,the enhanced growth of normal marrow obtained in NOD/SCID-beta2m(-/-) mice engineered to produce human interleukin-3,granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor,and Steel factor was seen only with 1 of 7 MDS samples. These findings support the concept that human MDS originates in a transplantable multilineage hematopoietic stem cell whose genetic alteration may affect patterns of differentiation and responsiveness to hematopoietic growth factors. They also demonstrate the potential of this new murine xenotransplant model for future investigations of MDS. View Publication

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are a subset of bone marrow cells that are capable of self-renewal and of giving rise to all types of blood cells. However,the mechanisms involved in controlling the number and abilities of HSCs remain largely unknown. The Indian hedgehog (Ihh) signal has an essential role in inducing hematopoietic tissue during embryogenesis. We investigated the roles of the Ihh in coculture with CD34+ cells and human stromal cells. Ihh mRNA was expressed in primary and telomerized human (hTERT) stromal cells,and its receptor molecules were detected in CD34+ cells. Ihh gene transfer into hTERT stromal cells enhanced their hematopoietic supporting potential,which was elevated compared with control stromal cells,as indicated by the colony-forming units in culture (CFU-Cs) (26-fold +/- 2-fold versus 59-fold +/- 3-fold of the initial cell number; mixed colony-forming units [CFU-Mix's],63-fold +/- 37-fold versus 349-fold +/- 116-fold). Engraftments of nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency-beta2m-/- (NOD/SCID-beta2-/-) repopulating cells (RCs) expanded on Ihh stromal cells were significantly higher compared with control coculture results,and engraftment was neutralized by addition of an antihedgehog antibody. Limiting dilution analysis indicated that NOD/SCID-beta2m-/- RCs proliferated efficiently on Ihh stromal cells,compared with control stromal cells. These results indicate that Ihh gene transfer could enhance the primitive hematopoietic support ability of human stromal cells. View Publication

Human cord blood (CB)-derived CD133+ cells carry characteristics of primitive hematopoietic cells and proffer an alternative for CD34+ cells in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation. To characterize the CD133+ cell population on a genetic level,a global expression analysis of CD133+ cells was performed using oligonucleotide microarrays. CD133+ cells were purified from four fresh CB units by immunomagnetic selection. All four CD133+ samples showed significant similarity in their gene expression pattern,whereas they differed clearly from the CD133- control samples. In all,690 transcripts were differentially expressed between CD133+ and CD133- cells. Of these,393 were increased and 297 were decreased in CD133+ cells. The highest overexpression was noted in genes associated with metabolism,cellular physiological processes,cell communication,and development. A set of 257 transcripts expressed solely in the CD133+ cell population was identified. Colony-forming unit (CFU) assay was used to detect the clonal progeny of precursors present in the studied cell populations. The results demonstrate that CD133+ cells express primitive markers and possess clonogenic progenitor capacity. This study provides a gene expression profile for human CD133+ cells. It presents a set of genes that may be used to unravel the properties of the CD133+ cell population,assumed to be highly enriched in HSCs. View Publication

Hematopoiesis is maintained by specific interactions between both hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic cells. Whereas hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have been extensively studied both in vitro and in vivo,little is known about the in vivo characteristics of stem cells of the nonhematopoietic component,known as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Here we have visualized and characterized human MSCs in vivo following intramedullary transplantation of enhanced green fluorescent protein-marked human MSCs (eGFP-MSCs) into the bone marrow (BM) of nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency (NOD/SCID) mice. Between 4 to 10 weeks after transplantation,eGFP-MSCs that engrafted in murine BM integrated into the hematopoietic microenvironment (HME) of the host mouse. They differentiated into pericytes,myofibroblasts,BM stromal cells,osteocytes in bone,bone-lining osteoblasts,and endothelial cells,which constituted the functional components of the BM HME. The presence of human MSCs in murine BM resulted in an increase in functionally and phenotypically primitive human hematopoietic cells. Human MSC-derived cells that reconstituted the HME appeared to contribute to the maintenance of human hematopoiesis by actively interacting with primitive human hematopoietic cells. View Publication

There is potential interest for combining allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT),and particularly allogeneic HCT with a nonmyeloablative regimen,to the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib (Glivec; Novartis,Basel,Switzerland,http://www.novartis.com) in order to maximize anti-leukemic activity against Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukemias. However,because imatinib inhibits c-kit,the stem cell factor receptor,it could interfere with bone marrow engraftment. In this study,we examined the impact of imatinib on normal progenitor cell function. Imatinib decreased the colony-forming capacity of mobilized peripheral blood human CD133(+) cells but not that of long-term culture-initiating cells. Imatinib also decreased the proliferation of cytokine-stimulated CD133(+) cells but did not induce apoptosis of these cells. Expression of very late antigen (VLA)-4,VLA-5,and CXCR4 of CD133(+) cells was not modified by imatinib,but imatinib decreased the ability of CD133(+) cells to migrate. Finally,imatinib did not decrease engraftment of CD133(+) cells into irradiated nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient/beta2m(null) mice conditioned with 3 or 1 Gy total body irradiation. In summary,our results suggest that,despite inhibition of hematopoietic progenitor cell growth in vitro,imatinib does not interfere with hematopoietic stem cell engraftment. View Publication

AIM: The recently published REPAIR-AMI and ASTAMI trial showed differences in contractile recovery of left ventricular function after infusion of bone marrow-derived cells in acute myocardial infarction. Since the trials used different protocols for cell isolation and storage (REPAIR-AMI: Ficoll,storage in X-vivo 10 medium plus serum; ASTAMI: Lymphoprep,storage in NaCl plus plasma),we compared the functional activity of BMC isolated by the two different protocols. METHODS AND RESULTS: The recovery of total cell number,colony-forming units (CFU),and the number of mesenchymal stem cells were significantly reduced to 77 +/- 4%,83 +/- 16%,and 65 +/- 15%,respectively,when using the ASTAMI protocol compared with the REPAIR protocol. The capacity of the isolated BMC to migrate in response to stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) was profoundly reduced when using the ASTAMI cell isolation procedure (42 +/- 8% and 78 +/- 3% reduction in healthy and CAD-patient cells,respectively). Finally,infusion of BMC into a hindlimb ischaemia model demonstrated a significantly blunted blood-flow-recovery by BMC isolated with the ASTAMI protocol (54 +/- 6% of the effect obtained by REPAIR cells). Comparison of the individual steps identified the use of NaCl and plasma for cell storage as major factors for functional impairment of the BMC. CONCLUSION: Cell isolation protocols have a major impact on the functional activity of bone marrow-derived progenitor cells. The assessment of cell number and viability may not entirely reflect the functional capacity of cells in vivo. Additional functional testing appears to be mandatory to assure proper cell function before embarking on clinical cell therapy trials. View Publication

BACKGROUND Humanized mouse models are still under development,and various protocols exist to improve human cell engraftment and function. METHODS Fourteen NOD/SCID/IL-2Rγnull (NSG) mice (4‒5 wk old) were conditioned with busulfan and injected with human umbilical cord blood (hUCB)-derived CD34(+) hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) via retro-orbital sinuses. The bone marrow (BM),spleen,and peripheral blood (PB) were analyzed 8 and 12 weeks after HSC transplantation. RESULTS Most of the NSG mice tolerated the regimen well. The percentage of hCD45(+) and CD19(+) cells rose significantly in a time-dependent manner. The median percentage of hCD45(+)cells in the BM was 55.5% at week 8,and 67.2% at week 12. The median percentage of hCD45(+) cells in the spleen at weeks 8 and 12 was 42% and 51%,respectively. The median percentage of hCD19(+) cells in BM at weeks 8 and 12 was 21.5% and 39%,respectively (P=0.04). Similarly,the median percentage of hCD19(+) cells in the spleen at weeks 8 and 12 was 10% and 24%,respectively (P=0.04). The percentage of hCD19(+) B cells in PB was 23% at week 12. At week 8,hCD3(+) T cells were barely detectable,while hCD7(+) was detected in the BM and spleen. The percentage of hCD3(+) T cells was 2‒3% at week 12 in the BM,spleen,and PB of humanized NSG mice. CONCLUSION We adopted a simplified protocol for establishing humanized NSG mice. We observed a higher engraftment rate of human CD45(+) cells than earlier studies without any significant toxicity. And human CD45(+) cell engraftment at week 8 was comparable to that of week 12. View Publication

Use of oncoretroviral vectors in gene therapy for hemoglobinopathies has been impeded by low titer vectors,genetic instability,and poor expression. Fifteen self- inactivating (SIN) lentiviral vectors using 4 erythroid promoters in combination with 4 erythroid enhancers with or without the woodchuck hepatitis virus postregulatory element (WPRE) were generated using the enhanced green fluorescent protein as a reporter gene. Vectors with high erythroid-specific expression in cell lines were tested in primary human CD34(+) cells and in vivo in the murine bone marrow (BM) transplantation model. Vectors containing the ankyrin-1 promoter showed high-level expression and stable proviral transmission. Two vectors containing the ankyrin-1 promoter and 2 erythroid enhancers (HS-40 plus GATA-1 or HS-40 plus 5-aminolevulinate synthase intron 8 [I8] enhancers) and WPRE expressed at levels higher than the HS2/beta-promoter vector in bulk unilineage erythroid cultures and individual erythroid blast-forming units derived from human BM CD34(+) cells. Sca1(+)/lineage(-) Ly5.1 mouse hematopoietic cells,transduced with these 2 ankyrin-1 promoter vectors,were injected into lethally irradiated Ly5.2 recipients. Eleven weeks after transplantation,high-level expression was seen from both vectors in blood (63%-89% of red blood cells) and erythroid cells in BM (70%-86% engraftment),compared with negligible expression in myeloid and lymphoid lineages in blood,BM,spleen,and thymus (0%-4%). The I8/HS-40-containing vector encoding a hybrid human beta/gamma-globin gene led to 43% to 113% human gamma-globin expression/copy of the mouse alpha-globin gene. Thus,modular use of erythroid-specific enhancers/promoters and WPRE in SIN-lentiviral vectors led to identification of high-titer,stably transmitted vectors with high-level erythroid-specific expression for gene therapy of red cell diseases. View Publication

We analyzed 21 children with leukemia receiving haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT) from killer immunoglobulin (Ig)-like receptors (KIR) ligand-mismatched donors. We showed that,in most transplantation patients,variable proportions of donor-derived alloreactive natural killer (NK) cells displaying anti-leukemia activity were generated and maintained even late after transplantation. This was assessed through analysis of donor KIR genotype,as well as through phenotypic and functional analyses of NK cells,both at the polyclonal and clonal level. Donor-derived KIR2DL1(+) NK cells isolated from the recipient displayed the expected capability of selectively killing C1/C1 target cells,including patient leukemia blasts. Differently,KIR2DL2/3(+) NK cells displayed poor alloreactivity against leukemia cells carrying human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles belonging to C2 group. Unexpectedly,this was due to recognition of C2 by KIR2DL2/3,as revealed by receptor blocking experiments and by binding assays of soluble KIR to HLA-C transfectants. Remarkably,however,C2/C2 leukemia blasts were killed by KIR2DL2/3(+) (or by NKG2A(+)) NK cells that coexpressed KIR2DS1. This could be explained by the ability of KIR2DS1 to directly recognize C2 on leukemia cells. A role of the KIR2DS2 activating receptor in leukemia cell lysis could not be demonstrated. Altogether,these results may have important clinical implications for the selection of optimal donors for haplo-HSCT. View Publication

Taking advantage of fluorescent substrates for their metabolic marker aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH),hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) were defined as SSC(lo)ALDH(br) - reflecting their low orthogonal light scattering and bright fluorescence intensity in flow cytometry. Based thereon,we investigated the usefulness of ALDH activity for characterizing HSC graft quality,particularly under stress conditions. We first compared the expression of ALDH vs CD34 in bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) samples over 7 days. We noted that (i) only ALDH activity but not CD34 expression strongly reflected colony-forming ability over time,and that (ii) PBSC grafts stored at room temperature lost most of their progenitor cells within just 48 h. We then retrospectively related ALDH and CD34 expression as well as granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming units (CFU-GM) potential for 19 cryopreserved allogeneic PBSC grafts to engraftment data. Strikingly,in all six patients who received markedly decreased numbers of SSC(lo)ALDH(br) cells,this was associated not only with almost complete loss of CFU-GM potential but also with delayed establishment/permanent absence of full hematopoietic donor cell chimerism,whereas all other patients showed early complete donor chimerism. In conclusion,we suggest to measure ALDH activity as a surrogate marker for HSC activity,and to transport and store PBSC under controlled cooling conditions. View Publication

Supplementation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) during hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation alleviates complications such as graft-versus-host disease,leading to a speedy recovery of hematopoiesis. To meet this clinical demand,a fast MSC expansion method is required. In the present study,we examined the feasibility of using a rotary bioreactor system to expand MSCs from isolated bone marrow mononuclear cells. The cells were cultured in a rotary bioreactor with Myelocult medium containing a combination of supplementary factors,including stem cell factor and interleukin-3 and -6. After 8 days of culture,total cell numbers,Stro-1(+)CD44(+)CD34(-) MSCs,and CD34(+)CD44(+)Stro-1(-) HSCs were increased 9-,29-,and 8-fold,respectively. Colony-forming efficiency-fibroblast per day of the bioreactor-treated cells was 1.44-fold higher than that of the cells without bioreactor treatment. The bioreactor-expanded MSCs showed expression of primitive MSC markers endoglin (SH2) and vimentin,whereas markers associated with lineage differentiation,including osteocalcin (osteogenesis),type II collagen (chondrogenesis),and C/EBP-alpha (CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-alpha) (adipogenesis),were not detected. Upon induction,the bioreactor-expanded MSCs were able to differentiate into osteoblasts,chondrocytes,and adipocytes. We conclude that the rotary bioreactor with the modified Myelocult medium reported in this study may be used to rapidly expand MSCs. View Publication

Reduced-intensity conditioning regimens for transplant recipients have heightened awareness of immunologic resistance to allogeneic bone marrow transplants (BMT). Although T cell-mediated cytotoxicity has been assumed to play a role in the resistance against donor allogeneic hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell grafts,several studies have reported relatively unimpaired resistance by recipients who lack perforin,Fas ligand (FasL),and other cytotoxic mediators. This study compared the early kinetics of T cell-mediated resistance in B6 (H2b) cytotoxically normal versus deficient recipients after transplantation with major histocompatibility complex-matched,minor histocompatibility antigen (MiHA)-mismatched allogeneic marrow grafts. Wild-type B6 or cytotoxic double-deficient perforin-/-/ gld+/+ (B6-cdd) mice were sensitized against major histocompatibility complex-matched BALB.B or C3H.SW (H2b) MiHA and transplanted with a high dose (1 ?? 107) of T cell-depleted bone marrow. CD8 T memory cells were shown to be present in recipients before BMT,and anti-CD8 monoclonal antibody infusion abolished resistance,thus demonstrating that CD8 T cells are the host effector population. Donor-committed and high proliferative potential progenitor numbers were markedly diminished by 48 hours after transplantation in both wild-type B6 and B6-cdd anti-donor MiHA-sensitized recipients. These observations indicate that the resistance pathway used in the cytotoxic deficient mice was both potent and rapidly induced - consistent with a CD8 memory T-cell response. To examine the role of Tumor necrosis factor-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK)- and TL1A-mediated cytotoxicity in this strong resistance,newly generated monoclonal antibodies specific for these ligands were administered to B6-cdd recipients sensitized to donor antigens. Recipients of syngeneic B6-gfp bone marrow exhibited significant donor colony-forming unit numbers after BMT. In contrast,low or absent colony-forming unit levels were detected in allogeneic recipients,including those that lacked perforin and FasL and that received anti-TWEAK,anti-tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand,and anti-TL1A monoclonal antibodies. These findings extend previous observations by demonstrating the existence of a rapidly effected resistance pathway mediated by memory CD8 effector T cells independent of the 2 major pathways of cytotoxicity. Together with previous findings,these results support the notion that effector cells derived from memory CD8 T-cell populations can mediate strong resistance against donor allogeneic MiHA-disparate hematopoietic engraftment by using a mechanism that is independent of the contribution of perforin,FasL,and the known death ligand receptor pathways. ?? 2005 American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. View Publication