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Previous studies have demonstrated leukemic complications in mice after high-copy retroviral gene transfer of the multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) cDNA,encoding a membrane-located efflux pump expressed in hematopoietic stem cells. In contrast,no such complications or MDR1-associated alterations of hematopoiesis were observed in numerous other studies exploring MDR1 gene transfer into cell lines,mice,dogs,nonhuman primates,and human subjects. Here,we show that leukemias associated with retroviral expression of MDR1 depend on high vector dose,and involve the selection of clones with combinatorial insertional mutagenesis of proto-oncogenes or other signaling genes. Compared with insertion patterns in normal long-term repopulating hematopoietic cells,such hits were overrepresented in leukemic clones,pointing to a causal role. A similar constellation of insertion sites was also observed in a leukemia arising after high-copy retroviral gene transfer of a fluorescent protein. Spectral karyotyping demonstrated additional chromosomal translocations in a subset of cases,indicative of secondary genetic instability. We also show that insertional mutants can be amplified in vitro prior to transplantation. On the basis of these findings,we suggest the use of preclinical dose-escalation studies to define a therapeutic index for retroviral transgene delivery. View Publication

CXCL12-induced chemotaxis and adhesion to VCAM-1 decrease as B cells differentiate in the bone marrow. However,the mechanisms that regulate CXCL12/CXCR4-mediated signaling are poorly understood. We report that after CXCL12 stimulation of progenitor B cells,focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and PI3K are inducibly recruited to raft-associated membrane domains. After CXCL12 stimulation,phosphorylated FAK is also localized in membrane domains. The CXCL12/CXCR4-FAK pathway is membrane cholesterol dependent and impaired by metabolic inhibitors of G(i),Src family,and the GTPase-activating protein,regulator of G protein signaling 1 (RGS1). In the bone marrow,RGS1 mRNA expression is low in progenitor B cells and high in mature B cells,implying developmental regulation of CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling by RGS1. CXCL12-induced chemotaxis and adhesion are impaired when FAK recruitment and phosphorylation are inhibited by either membrane cholesterol depletion or overexpression of RGS1 in progenitor B cells. We conclude that the recruitment of signaling molecules to specific membrane domains plays an important role in CXCL12/CXCR4-induced cellular responses. View Publication

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a difficult disease to treat. The c-Met receptor is an attractive potential target for novel therapeutic inhibition in human cancers. We provide strong evidence that c-Met is overexpressed,activated,and sometimes mutated in NSCLC cell lines and tumor tissues. Expression of c-Met was found in all (100%) of the NSCLC tumor tissues examined (n = 23) and most (89%) of the cell lines (n = 9). Sixty-one percent of tumor tissues strongly expressed total c-Met,especially adenocarcinoma (67%). Specific expression of phospho-Met (p-Met) [Y1003] and [Y1230/1234/1235] was seen by immunohistochemistry. p-Met expression was preferentially observed at the NSCLC tumor invasive fronts. c-Met alterations were identified within the semaphorin domain (E168D,L299F,S323G,and N375S) and the juxtamembrane domain (R988C,R988C + T1010I,S1058P,and alternative splice product skipping entire juxtamembrane domain) of a NSCLC cell line and adenocarcinoma tissues. We validated c-Met as potential therapeutic target using small interfering RNA down-regulation of the receptor expression by 50% to 60% in NSCLC cells. This led to inhibition of p-Met and phospho-AKT and up to 57.1 +/- 7.2% cell viability inhibition at 72 hours. The selective small molecule inhibitor of c-Met SU11274 inhibited cell viability in c-Met-expressing NSCLC cells. SU11274 also abrogated hepatocyte growth factor-induced phosphorylation of c-Met and its downstream signaling. Here,we provide first direct evidence by small interfering RNA targeting and small molecule inhibitor that c-Met is important in NSCLC biology and biochemistry. These results indicate that c-Met inhibition will be an important therapeutic strategy against NSCLC to improve its clinical outcome. 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

DNA repair capacity of eukaryotic cells has been studied extensively in recent years. Mammalian cells have been engineered to overexpress recombinant nuclear DNA repair proteins from ectopic genes to assess the impact of increased DNA repair capacity on genome stability. This approach has been used in this study to specifically target O(6)-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) to the mitochondria and examine its impact on cell survival after exposure to DNA alkylating agents. Survival of human hematopoietic cell lines and primary hematopoietic CD34(+) committed progenitor cells was monitored because the baseline repair capacity for alkylation-induced DNA damage is typically low due to insufficient expression of MGMT. Increased DNA repair capacity was observed when K562 cells were transfected with nuclear-targeted MGMT (nucl-MGMT) or mitochondrial-targeted MGMT (mito-MGMT). Furthermore,overexpression of mito-MGMT provided greater resistance to cell killing by 1,3-bis (2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU) than overexpression of nucl-MGMT. Simultaneous overexpression of mito-MGMT and nucl-MGMT did not enhance the resistance provided by mito-MGMT alone. Overexpression of either mito-MGMT or nucl-MGMT also conferred a similar level of resistance to methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and temozolomide (TMZ) but simultaneous overexpression in both cellular compartments was neither additive nor synergistic. When human CD34(+) cells were infected with oncoretroviral vectors that targeted O(6)-benzylguanine (6BG)-resistant MGMT (MGMT(P140K)) to the nucleus or the mitochondria,committed progenitors derived from infected cells were resistant to 6BG/BCNU or 6BG/TMZ. These studies indicate that mitochondrial or nuclear targeting of MGMT protects hematopoietic cells against cell killing by BCNU,TMZ,and MMS,which is consistent with the possibility that mitochondrial DNA damage and nuclear DNA damage contribute equally to alkylating agent-induced cell killing during chemotherapy. View Publication

The phosphatidylinositol 3' kinase (PI3K)/phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome ten/Akt pathway,which is a critical regulator of cell proliferation and survival,is mutated or activated in a wide variety of cancers. Akt appears to be a key central node in this pathway and thus is an attractive target for targeted molecular therapy. We demonstrated that Akt is highly phosphorylated in thyroid cancer cell lines and human thyroid cancer specimens,and hypothesised that KP372-1,an Akt inhibitor,would block signalling through the PI3K pathway and inhibit cell proliferation while inducing apoptosis of thyroid cancer cells. KP372-1 blocked signalling downstream of Akt in thyroid tumour cells,leading to inhibition of cell proliferation and increased apoptosis. As thyroid cancer consistently expresses phosphorylated Akt and KP372-1 effectively blocks Akt signalling,further preclinical evaluation of this compound for treatment of thyroid cancer is warranted. View Publication

Neural progenitor cells (NPCs) can be induced from somatic cells by defined factors. Here we report that NPCs can be generated from mouse embryonic fibroblasts by a chemical cocktail,namely VCR (V,VPA,an inhibitor of HDACs; C,CHIR99021,an inhibitor of GSK-3 kinases and R,Repsox,an inhibitor of TGF-β pathways),under a physiological hypoxic condition. These chemical-induced NPCs (ciNPCs) resemble mouse brain-derived NPCs re- garding their proliferative and self-renewing abilities,gene expression profiles,and multipotency for different neu- roectodermal lineages in vitro and in vivo. Further experiments reveal that alternative cocktails with inhibitors of histone deacetylation,glycogen synthase kinase,and TGF-β pathways show similar efficacies for ciNPC induction. Moreover,ciNPCs can also be induced from mouse tail-tip fibroblasts and human urinary cells with the same chemi- cal cocktail VCR. Thus our study demonstrates that lineage-specific conversion of somatic cells to NPCs could be achieved by chemical cocktails without introducing exogenous factors. View Publication

Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) is a cytosolic enzyme that is responsible for the oxidation of intracellular aldehydes. Elevated levels of ALDH have been demonstrated in murine and human progenitor cells compared with other hematopoietic cells,and this is thought to be important in chemoresistance. A method for the assessment of ALDH activity in viable cells recently has been developed and made commercially available in a kit format. In this study,we confirmed the use of the ALDH substrate kit to identify cord blood stem/progenitor cells. Via multicolor flow cytometry of cord blood ALDH+ cells,we have expanded on their phenotypic analysis. We then assessed the incidence,morphology,phenotype,and nonobese diabetic/ severe combined immunodeficiency engraftment ability of ALDH+ cells from acute myeloid leukemia (AML) samples. AML samples had no ALDH+ cells at all,an extremely rare nonmalignant stem/progenitor cell population,or a less rare,leukemic stem cell population. Hence,in addition to identifying nonmalignant stem cells within some AML samples,a high ALDH activity also identifies some patients' CD34+/ CD38- leukemic stem cells. The incidence of normal or leukemic stem cells with an extremely high ALDH activity may have important implications for resistance to chemotherapy. Identification and isolation of leukemic cells on the basis of ALDH activity provides a tool for their isolation and further analysis. View Publication

We used a panel of human and mouse fibroblasts with various abilities for supporting the prolonged growth of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to elucidate growth factors required for hESC survival,proliferation,and maintenance of the undifferentiated and pluripotent state (self-renewal). We found that supportive feeder cells secrete growth factors required for both hESC survival/proliferation and blocking hESC spontaneous differentiation to achieve self-renewal. The antidifferentiation soluble factor is neither leukemia inhibitory factor nor Wnt,based on blocking experiments using their antagonists. Because Wnt/beta-catenin signaling has been implicated in cell-fate determination and stem cell expansion,we further examined the effects of blocking or adding recombinant Wnt proteins on undifferentiated hESCs. In the absence of feeder cell-derived factors,hESCs cultured under a feeder-free condition survived/proliferated poorly and gradually differentiated. Adding recombinant Wnt3a stimulated hESC proliferation but also differentiation. After 4-5 days of Wnt3a treatment,hESCs that survived maintained the undifferentiated phenotype but few could form undifferentiated hESC colonies subsequently. Using a functional reporter assay,we found that the beta-catenin-mediated transcriptional activation in the canonical Wnt pathway was minimal in undifferentiated hESCs,but greatly upregulated during differentiation induced by the Wnt treatment and several other methods. Thus,Wnt/beta-catenin activation does not suffice to maintain the undifferentiated and pluripotent state of hESCs. We propose a new model for the role of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in undifferentiated hESCs. View Publication

Activation of the transcription factor,nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB),results in up-regulation of not only antiapoptotic genes but also proapoptotic genes,including death receptor 4 (DR4) and death receptor 5 (DR5). Therefore,NF-kappaB activation either suppresses or promotes apoptosis depending on the type of stimulus or cell context. We showed previously that the synthetic retinoid,6-[3-(1-adamantyl)-4-hydroxyphenyl]-2-naphthalene carboxylic acid (CD437),effectively induces apoptosis particularly in androgen-independent prostate carcinoma cells. This effect was associated with the ability of CD437 to induce the expression of DR4 and DR5. In the present study,we examined the hypothesis that NF-kappaB activation plays a role in CD437-induced death receptor expression and apoptosis. Treatment of DU145 cells with CD437 resulted in a rapid decrease (textgreater or = 3 hours) of IkappaBalpha,which was accompanied by increased translocation of the NF-kappaB subunit p65 from the cytoplasm to the nucleus and increased NF-kappaB DNA-binding activity (textgreater or = 4 hours). The NF-kappaB inhibitor,helenalin,inhibited CD437-induced IkappaBalpha reduction and p65 nuclear translocation. Accordingly,it also abrogated CD437-induced up-regulation of DR4,activation of caspase-8 and caspase-3,and increased DNA fragmentation. Overexpression of an IkappaBalpha dominant-negative mutant blocked not only CD437-induced p65 nuclear translocation but also DR4 up-regulation,caspase activation,and DNA fragmentation. CD437 was unable to decrease IkappaBalpha protein levels and up-regulate DR4 expression in CD437-resistant DU145 cells. Moreover,knockdown of Fas-associated death domain,caspase-8,and DR4,respectively,suppressed CD437-induced apoptosis. Collectively,these results indicate that CD437 activates NF-kappaB via decreasing IkappaBalpha protein and thereby induces DR4 expression and subsequent apoptosis in DU145 cells. View Publication

Enterocytozoon bieneusi spores derived from rhesus macaque feces were purified by serial salt-Percoll-sucrose-iodixanol centrifugation,resulting in two bands with different specific densities of 95.6% and 99.5% purity and with a recovery efficiency of 10.8%. An ultrastructural examination revealed typical E. bieneusi spores. Twenty-six stable hybridomas were derived from BALB/c mice immunized with spores and were cloned twice by limiting dilution or growth on semisolid medium. Four monoclonal antibodies (MAbs),reacting exclusively with spores,were further characterized. These MAbs specifically reacted with spores present in stools of humans and macaques,as visualized by immunofluorescence,and with spore walls,as visualized by immunoelectron microscopy. A blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blotting revealed that the epitope recognized by 8E2 was different from those recognized by 7G2,7H2,and 12G8,which identified the same 40-kDa protein. These MAbs will be valuable tools for diagnostics,for epidemiological investigations,for host-pathogen interaction studies,and for comparative genomics and proteomics. 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