技术资料

Efficient gene transfer into human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) is an important goal in the study of the hematopoietic system as well as for gene therapy of hematopoietic disorders. A lentiviral vector based on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was able to transduce human CD34+ cells capable of stable,long-term reconstitution of nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient (NOD/SCID) mice. High-efficiency transduction occurred in the absence of cytokine stimulation and resulted in transgene expression in multiple lineages of human hematopoietic cells for up to 22 weeks after transplantation. View Publication

The detection of primitive hematopoietic cells based on repopulation of immune-deficient mice is a powerful tool to characterize the human stem-cell compartment. Here,we identify a newly discovered human repopulating cell,distinct from previously identified repopulating cells,that initiates multilineage hematopoiesis in NOD/SCID mice. We call such cells CD34neg-SCID repopulating cells,or CD34neg-SRC. CD34neg-SRC are restricted to a Lin-CD34-CD38- population without detectable surface markers for multiple lineages and CD38 or those previously associated with stem cells (HLA-DR,Thy-1 and CD34). In contrast to CD34+ subfractions,Lin-CD34-CD38- cells have low clonogenicity in short-and long-term in vitro assays. The number of CD34neg-SRC increased in short-term suspension cultures in conditions that did not maintain SRC derived from CD34+ populations,providing independent biological evidence of their distinctiveness. The identification of this newly discovered cell demonstrates complexity of the organization of the human stem-cell compartment and has important implications for clinical applications involving stem-cell transplantation. View Publication

A variety of cytokines mediate the activation of Janus protein tyrosine kinases (Jaks). The Jaks then phosphorylate cellular substrates,including members of the signal transducers and activators of transcription (Stat) family of transcription factors. Among the Stats,the two highly related proteins,Stat5a and Stat5b,are activated by a variety of cytokines. To assess the role of the Stat5 proteins,mutant mice were derived that have the genes deleted individually or together. The phenotypes of the mice demonstrate an essential,and often redundant,role for the two Stat5 proteins in a spectrum of physiological responses associated with growth hormone and prolactin. Conversely,the responses to a variety of cytokines that activate the Stat5 proteins,including erythropoietin,are largely unaffected. View Publication

Any epithelial portion of a normal mouse mammary gland can reproduce an entire functional gland when transplanted into an epithelium-free mammary fat pad. Mouse mammary hyperplasias and tumors are clonal dominant populations and probably represent the progeny of a single transformed cell. Our study provides evidence that single multipotent stem cells positioned throughout the mature fully developed mammary gland have the capacity to produce sufficient differentiated progeny to recapitulate an entire functional gland. Our evidence also demonstrates that these stem cells are self-renewing and are found with undiminished capacities in the newly regenerated gland. We have taken advantage of an experimental model where mouse mammary tumor virus infects mammary epithelial cells and inserts a deoxyribonucleic acid copy(ies) of its genome during replication. The insertions occur randomly within the somatic genome. CzechII mice have no endogenous nucleic acid sequence homology with mouse mammary tumor virus; therefore all viral insertions may be detected by Southern analysis provided a sufficient number of cells contain a specific insertional event. Transplantation of random fragments of infected CzechII mammary gland produced clonal-dominant epithelial populations in epithelium-free mammary fat pads. Serial transplantation of pieces of the clonally derived outgrowths produced second generation glands possessing the same viral insertion sites providing evidence for self-renewal of the original stem cell. Limiting dilution studies with cell cultures derived from third generation clonal outgrowths demonstrated that three multipotent but distinct mammary epithelial progenitors were present in clonally derived mammary epithelial populations. Estimation of the potential number of multipotent epithelial cells that may be evolved from an individual mammary-specific stem cell by self-renewal is in the order of 10(12)-10(13). Therefore,one stem cell might easily account for the renewal of mammary epithelium over several transplant generations. View Publication