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Biomedical subjects

Gerald A Colvin

Publications and source records attributed to Gerald A Colvin.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Akt signaling regulates side population cell phenotype via Bcrp1 translocation.

Akt is an important regulator of cell survival, growth, and glucose metabolism in many cell types, but the role of this signaling molecule in hematopoietic stem cells is poorly defined. Side population (SP) cells are enriched for hematopoietic stem cell activity and are defined by their ability to efficiently efflux Hoechst 33342. Bone marrow from Akt1-null mice exhibited a reduced SP fraction. However, bone marrow cellularity, growth factor-responsive progenitor cultures, and engraftable stem cells were normal in these mice. Treatment of bone marrow with LY294002, an inhibitor of the Akt effector protein phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, led to a reversible loss of the SP fraction. Bcrp1, which encodes the Hoechst dye transporter, was translocated from the membrane to the intracellular compartment under conditions that promote the SP-depleted state. Lentivirus-mediated overexpression of Akt1 in bone marrow markedly increased the SP fraction, whereas there was no effect on bone marrow from Bcrp(-/-) mice. These data suggest that Akt signaling modulates the SP cell phenotype by regulating the expression of Bcrp1.

ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily G, Mem↗

Marrow stem cells shift gene expression and engraftment phenotype with cell cycle transit.

We studied the genetic and engraftment phenotype of highly purified murine hematopoietic stem cells (lineage negative, rhodamine-low, Hoechst-low) through cytokine-stimulated cell cycle. Cells were cultured in interleukin (IL)-3, IL-6, IL-11, and steel factor for 0 to 48 h and tested for engraftment capacity in a lethally irradiated murine competitive transplant model. Engraftment showed major fluctuations with nadirs at 36 and 48 h of culture and recovery during the next G1. Gene expression of quiescent (0 h) or cycling (48 h) stem cells was compared with lineage positive cells by 3' end PCR differential display analysis. Individual PCR bands were quantified using a 0 to 9 scale and results were visually compared using color-coded matrices. We defined a set of 637 transcripts expressed in stem cells and not expressed in lineage positive cells. Gene expression analyzed at 0 and 48 h showed a major shift from "stem cell genes" being highly expressed at 0 h and turned off at 48 h, while "cell division" genes were turned on at 48 h. These observations suggest stem cell gene expression shifts through cell cycle in relation to cell cycle related alterations of stem cell phenotype. The engraftment defect is related to a major phenotypic change of the stem cell.

Animals↗

The latest treatment advances for acute myelogenous leukemia.

The research into pathogenesis and mechanisms behind AML is advancing rapidly, but in general, translation into global application for the majority of patients is wanting. As more becomes known about the cytogenetic and molecular characteristics of leukemia cells and the pathways of leukemogenesis are further elucidated, it is hoped that future therapies will be directed more specifically toward the least toxic method to eradicate clonal malignant cells. HLA-haploidentical and alloBMT using KIR mismatch may dramatically improve survival for many more patients.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

The chiaroscuro stem cell: a unified stem cell theory.

Hematopoiesis has been considered hierarchical in nature, but recent data suggest that the system is not hierarchical and is, in fact, quite functionally plastic. Existing data indicate that engraftment and progenitor phenotypes vary inversely with cell cycle transit and that gene expression also varies widely. These observations suggest that there is no progenitor/stem cell hierarchy, but rather a reversible continuum. This may, in turn, be dependent on shifting chromatin and gene expression with cell cycle transit. If the phenotype of these primitive marrow cells changes from engraftable stem cell to progenitor and back to engraftable stem cell with cycle transit, then this suggests that the identity of the engraftable stem cell may be partially masked in nonsynchronized marrow cell populations. A general model indicates a marrow cell that can continually change its surface receptor expression and thus responds to external stimuli differently at different points in the cell cycle.

Animals↗

H2-mismatched transplantation with repetitive cell infusions and CD40 ligand antibody infusions without myeloablation.

Graft rejection and graft-versus-host disease are major problems in mismatched marrow transplants along with toxicity from standard myeloablative host treatments. We have established a tolerization model, using 1 Gy irradiation, which reduces stem cell capacity to < 10% of control while causing minimal myelosuppression, donor antigen pre-exposure (spleen cells), CD40-ligand antibody blockade and high levels of marrow (40 x 106 cells), which allows for stable long-term multilineage engraftment in H2-mismatched murine marrow transplants. We now show that the establishment of 'microchimaerism' (0.5-3.8%) sets the stage for macrochimaerism, with subsequent marrow infusions in H2-mismatched mice with CD40-ligand blockade only. Neither irradiation nor spleen cell exposure were necessary. When 40 x 106 bone marrow cells were infused on weeks 0, 12, 14 and 16, blood engraftment was about seven times the single 40 x 106 control. When marrow cells were given on weeks 0, 3, 4, 5 and 6, engraftment at 24 weeks post transplant was 17.9 +/- 1.2%, compared with 2.7 +/- 0.8% for the single 40 x 106 control (P = 0.009). We have shown stable, long-term multilineage chimaerism and established that the schedule of marrow administration, not the total cell dose, is critical for tolerization. This approach indicates that microchimaerism can tolerize for subsequent marrow infusions and produce macrochimaerism. This strategy could be applied in clinical human transplants.

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Engraftment of post 5-fluorouracil murine marrow into minimally myeloablated (100 cGy) murine hosts.

Minimal myeloablative approaches are now being widely applied in the treatment of different hematological malignancies. One hundred cGy whole-body irradiation is a stem-cell-toxic, relatively non-myelotoxic treatment that allows for relatively high levels of donor chimerism. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment leads to a relative concentration of high proliferative potential-colony-forming cell (HPP-CFC) and is an approach that has been used to induce in vivo progenitor/stem cell cycling to facilitate retroviral integration in gene therapy approaches. We have now evaluated the capacity of marrow harvested 1, 2, 6, or 12 days after 5-FU treatment (150 mg/kg) to engraft in 100 cGy-treated female BALB/c mice. Engraftment was assessed at 3, 10, and 24 weeks. A rapid induction of an engraftment defect occurred 1 day post 5-FU and persisted through day 6 with a recovery by day 12. To evaluate cell cycle status of normal and 5-FU-treated marrow cells, male donors received hydroxyurea (900 mg/kg i.v.) or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), 2 h prior to marrow harvest and transplantation into submyeloablated female recipients. Engraftment levels were similar for hydroxyurea-treated mice and controls. Thus, these studies show transiently defective engraftment of 5-FU-treated marrow into submyeloablated hosts, which may be related to the cell cycle status of the stem cells.

Animals↗

Rhythmicity of engraftment and altered cell cycle kinetics of cytokine-cultured murine marrow in simulated microgravity compared with static cultures.

Space flight with associated microgravity is complicated by "astronaut's anemia" and other hematologic abnormalities. Altered erythroid differentiation, red cell survival, plasma volume, and progenitor numbers have been reported. We studied the impact of microgravity on engraftable stem cells, culturing marrow cells in rotary wall vessel (RWV) culture chambers mimicking microgravity and in normal gravity nonadherent Teflon bottles. A quantitative competitive engraftment technique was assessed under both conditions in lethally irradiated hosts. We assessed 8-wk engraftable stem cells over a period spanning at least one cell cycle for cytokine (FLT-3 ligand, thrombopoietin [TPO], steel factor)-activated marrow stem cells. Engraftable stem cells were supported out to 56 h under microgravity conditions, and this support was superior to that seen in normal-gravity Teflon bottle cultures out to 40 h, with Teflon bottle culture support superior to RWV from 40 to 56 h. A nadir of stem cell number was seen at 40 h in Teflon and 48 h in RWV, suggesting altered marrow stem cell cycle kinetics under microgravity. This is the first study of engraftable stem cells under microgravity conditions, and the differences between microgravity and normal gravity cultures may present opportunities for unique future stem cell expansion strategies.

Animals↗

The new stem cell biology.

Recent studies have indicated that bone marrow stem cells are capable of generating muscle, cardiac, hepatic, renal, and bone cells. Purified hematopoietic stem cells have generated cardiac and hepatic cells and reversed disease manifestations in these tissues. Hematopoietic stem cells also alter phenotype with cell cycle transit or circadian phase. During a cytokine stimulated cell cycle transit, reversible alterations of differentiation and engraftment occur. Primitive hematopoietic stem cells express a wide variety of adhesion and cytokine receptors and respond quickly with migration and podia extensions on exposure to cytokines. These data suggest an "Open Chromatin" model of stem cell regulation in which there is a fluctuating continuum in the stem cell/progenitor cell compartments, rather than a hierarchical relationship. These observations, along with progress in using low dose treatments and tolerization approaches, suggest many new therapeutic strategies involving stem cells and the creation of a new medical specialty; stemology.

Animals↗