PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Michael Notter

Publications and source records attributed to Michael Notter.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Error management of emergency transfusions: a surveillance system to detect safety risks in day to day practice.

Acute hemolysis due to AB0-incompatibility caused by transfusion of red blood cell concentrates (RBCC) to the wrong recipient is one of the major causes of transfusion-related death. As part of our policy to improve quality and safety in emergency transfusion, we have developed a standardized surveillance system for supplying RBCC in emergency situations. This surveillance system involves the implementation of a standardized set of basic data transmitted from the requesting unit to the blood bank by phone and a scoring system to check for compliance with guidelines and errors in daily routines. Communication deficiencies and delayed pretransfusion sampling were the most common errors.

Blood Group Incompatibility↗

Hydrops lysosomalis generalisatus--an underestimated side effect of hydroxyethyl starch therapy?

Hydroxyethyl starch (HES) is usually considered to be associated with limited side effects. Generalized foamy cell macrophage syndrome after HES therapy has rarely been reported since Schaefer first described it as 'hydrops lysosomalis generalisatus' in 1982. We present a 19-yr-old male who received large amounts of HES. A bone marrow and a liver biopsy were performed because of persistent thrombocytopenia and liver dysfunction. We found severe infiltration of foamy cell degenerated macrophages in both organ systems, indicating that sequelae of HES therapy have to be included in the differential diagnosis of bone marrow and liver dysfunction.

Adult↗

The elongated first fibronectin type III domain of collagen XIV is an inducer of quiescence and differentiation in fibroblasts and preadipocytes.

Collagen XIV (CXIV) is a fibril-associated collagen that is mainly expressed in well differentiated tissues and in late embryonic development. Because CXIV is almost absent in proliferating and/or dedifferentiated tissues, a functional role in maintaining cell differentiation is suspected. We demonstrate antiproliferative, quiescence- and differentiation-inducing effects of human CXIV and its recombinant fragments on mesenchymal cells. In primary human fibroblasts, in mouse 3T3 fibroblasts and in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, CXIV reduced de novo DNA synthesis by 75%, whereas cell numbers and viability remained unaltered. Cells showed no signs of apoptosis, and maximal proliferation was restored when serum was supplemented, thus indicating that CXIV induced reversible cellular quiescence. Exposure of fibroblasts to CXIV in vitro led to cellular bundles and clusters. CXIV also triggered trans-differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes into adipocytes, as could be shown by lipid accumulation and by expression of the glucose transporter Glut4. These effects were also observed with the amino-terminal recombinant fragment Gln(29)-Pro(154) that harbors the first fibronectin type III domain and a 39-amino-acid extension, whereas no activity was found for all other recombinant CXIV fragments. Based on these finding the development of small molecular analogs that modulate fibroblast cell growth and differentiation, e.g. in wound healing and fibrosis, seems feasible.

3T3-L1 Cells↗

CS-1, a novel c-kithi+ acute myeloid leukemia cell line with dendritic cell differentiation capacity and absent immunogenicity.

Complex cytogenetic abnormalities confer dismal prognoses in myeloid malignancies. Even bone marrow transplantation from siblings or matched unrelated donors offer minimal chances for cure, suggesting that these cases are not only refractory to chemotherapy but also resist the graft-vs.-leukemia effect. We herein describe the first permanent, factor-independent c-kit(hi+) cell line CS-1 derived from an unrelated donor stem cell transplanted patient with relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (AML)-M5a of high-risk karyotype [monosomy 7, t(2;11)(q31;p13), t(10;12)(q24;q24)]. Having the same karyotype, CS-1 exhibits an autonomous growth pattern and responds to stem cell factor (SCF). CS-1 did not induce T cell activation in mixed-lymphocyte-tumor-cultures (MLTCs) and, when used as third party stimulators, decreased T cell proliferation in mixed-lymphocyte reactions (MLRs). Cytokines added exogenously or secreted from bystander T cells caused CS-1 to differentiate into dendritic cells (DCs). CS-1-derived DCs, in contrast to DCs originating from non-malignant CD34(+) progenitor cells, had virtually no T cell stimulatory effect, indicating that CS-1 is both immunosuppressive and poorly immunogenic. These properties may partially be due to the detected downregulation of costimulatory molecules and appear to involve a soluble factor. CS-1 cells injected subcutaneously (s.c.) to non-obese diabetes/severe combined immunodeficient (NOD/SCID) mice produced solid tumors, disseminating into bone marrow and spleen. The data show that transforming AML blasts with high-risk karyotype into DCs is insufficient to restore their immunogenicity and that the CS-1 cell line is useful to identify tumor-related immunosuppressive mechanisms in vitro and in vivo.

Animals↗

BMP2 initiates chondrogenic lineage development of adult human mesenchymal stem cells in high-density culture.

Human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been shown to differentiate into distinct mesenchymal tissues including bone and cartilage. The capacity of MSCs to replicate undifferentiated and to mature into cartilaginous tissues suggests these cells as an attractive cell source for cartilage tissue engineering. Here we show that the stimulation of human bone marrow-derived MSCs with recombinant bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP2) results in chondrogenic lineage development under serum-free conditions. Histological staining of proteoglycan with Alcian blue and immunohistochemical staining of cartilage-specific type II collagen revealed the deposition of typical cartilage extracellular matrix components. Semi-quantitative real-time gene expression analysis of characteristic chondrocytic matrix genes, such as cartilage link protein, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein, aggrecan, and types I, II, and IX collagen, confirmed the induction of the chondrocytic phenotype in high-density culture upon stimulation with BMP2 and transforming growth factor-beta3 (TGFbeta3). Histologic staining of mineralized extracellular matrix with von Kossa, immunostaining of type X collagen (typical for hypertrophic chondrocytes), and gene expression analysis of osteocalcin and adipocyte-specific fatty acid binding protein (aP2) further documented that BMP2 induced chondrogenic lineage development and not osteogenesis and/or adipogenesis in human MSCs. These results suggest BMP2 as a promising candidate for tissue engineering approaches regenerating articular cartilage on the basis of mesenchymal progenitors from bone marrow.

Adult↗

Cellular effects of CPT-11 on colon carcinoma cells: dependence on p53 and hMLH1 status.

Irinotecan (CPT-11), a recently introduced component of a standard chemotherapy for colorectal cancer, induces in colon cancer cell lines in vitro cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Since sporadic colon carcinomas exhibit in 50-60% mutations in the p53 gene and in 10-15% an MSI phenotype due in the great majority of the cases to hMLH1 inactivation, we investigated how these lesions influence the cellular effects of CPT-11 by using colorectal carcinoma cell line HCT116 (which has the genotype p53(+/+),hMLH1(-)) and 2 derivative cell lines with the genotypes p53(+/+),hMLH1(+) and p53(-/-),hMLH1(-). CPT-11 treatment induced G2/M arrest in all 3 cell lines within 48 hr. In the p53(+/+),hMLH1(+) cell line, G2/M arrest was maintained for at least 12 days. There was little concomitant apoptosis, but this was enhanced when the hMLH1 protein was absent. This enhanced apoptosis was accompanied by a shorter duration of the G2/M arrest than in the hMLH1(+) cell line. Partial abrogation of G2/M arrest by caffeine enhanced apoptosis in both hMLH1(+) and hMLH1(-) cells. By contrast, in the p53(-/-) cell line, the G2/M arrest was terminated within 4 days. Termination of the G2/M arrest was accompanied by a high level of apoptosis detectable through poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) cleavage, DNA fragmentation and by the appearance of cells with a DNA content <2N. The triggering of G2/M arrest was accompanied in the 3 cell lines by a transient phosphorylation of cdc-2, while the maintenance of the arrest in the p53(+/+) cell lines was accompanied by the overexpression of p53 and p21 proteins and, consequently, by the inhibition of cdc-2 kinase activity. These data indicate that: (i) CPT-11 induces long-term arrest in p53(+/+) cells and a short-term arrest followed by apoptosis in p53(-/-) cells; (ii) triggering of the arrest is p53 independent and is associated with a brief increase of phosphorylation of cdc-2, while the p53-dependent maintenance of G2/M arrest is associated with the inhibition of cdc-2 kinase activity by p21; and (iii) lack of hMLH1 protein enhances CPT-11-induced apoptosis. These results may be useful for designing rational therapies dependent on the p53 and mismatch-repair status in the tumor.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗