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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

With their unique ability to differentiate into all cell types,embryonic stem (ES) cells hold great therapeutic promise. To improve the efficiency of embryoid body (EB)-mediated ES cell differentiation,we studied murine EBs on the basis of their size and found that EBs with an intermediate size (diameter 100-300 microm) are the most proliferative,hold the greatest differentiation potential,and have the lowest rate of cell death. In an attempt to promote the formation of this subpopulation,we surveyed several biocompatible substrates with different surface chemical parameters and identified a strong correlation between hydrophobicity and EB development. Using self-assembled monolayers of various lengths of alkanethiolates on gold substrates,we directly tested this correlation and found that surfaces that exhibit increasing hydrophobicity enrich for the intermediate-size EBs. When this approach was applied to the human ES cell system,similar phenomena were observed. Our data demonstrate that hydrophobic surfaces serve as a platform to deliver uniform EB populations and may significantly improve the efficiency of ES cell differentiation. View Publication

Abnormal differentiation of myeloid cells is one of the hallmarks of cancer. However,the molecular mechanisms of this process remain elusive. In this study,we investigated the effect of tumor-derived factors on Janus kinase (Jak)/STAT signaling in myeloid cells during their differentiation into dendritic cells. Tumor cell conditioned medium induced activation of Jak2 and STAT3,which was associated with an accumulation of immature myeloid cells. Jak2/STAT3 activity was localized primarily in these myeloid cells,which prevented the differentiation of immature myeloid cells into mature dendritic cells. This differentiation was restored after removal of tumor-derived factors. Inhibition of STAT3 abrogated the negative effects of these factors on myeloid cell differentiation,and overexpression of STAT3 reproduced the effects of tumor-derived factors. Thus,this is a first demonstration that tumor-derived factors may affect myeloid cell differentiation in cancer via constitutive activation of Jak2/STAT3. View Publication

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are highly useful in a variety of cell therapies owing to their multipotential differentiation capability. MSCs derived from umbilical cord blood are generally isolated by their plastic adherence without using specific cell surface markers and examined for their osteogenic,adipogenic,and chondrogenic differentiation properties retrospectively. Here,we report 2 subpopulations of MSCs,separated based on aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity. MSCs with a high ALDH activity (Alde-High) proliferated more than those with a low ALDH activity (Alde-Low). Alde-High MSCs had a greater ability to differentiate than Alde-Low MSCs in in vitro culture. Transplantation of Alde-High MSCs into fractured mouse femurs enabled early repair of tissues and rapid bone substitution. Alde-High MSCs were also more responsive to hypoxia than Alde-Low MSCs,with the upregulation of Flt-1,CXCR4,and Angiopoietin-2. Thus,MSCs with a high ALDH activity might serve as an effective therapeutic tool for healing fractures within a short period of time. View Publication

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) regulates the transcription of genes whose products play critical roles in energy metabolism,erythropoiesis,angiogenesis,and cell survival. Limited information is available concerning its function in mammalian hematopoiesis. Previous studies have demonstrated that homozygosity for a targeted null mutation in the Hif1alpha gene,which encodes the hypoxia-responsive alpha subunit of HIF-1,causes cardiac,vascular,and neural malformations resulting in lethality by embryonic day 10.5 (E10.5). This study revealed reduced myeloid multilineage and committed erythroid progenitors in HIF-1alpha-deficient embryos,as well as decreased hemoglobin content in erythroid colonies from HIF-1alpha-deficient yolk sacs at E9.5. Dysregulation of erythropoietin (Epo) signaling was evident from a significant decrease in mRNA levels of Epo receptor (EpoR) in Hif1alpha-/- yolk sac as well as Epo and EpoR mRNA in Hif1alpha-/- embryos. The erythropoietic defects in HIF-1alpha-deficient erythroid colonies could not be corrected by cytokines,such as vascular endothelial growth factor and Epo,but were ameliorated by Fe-SIH,a compound delivering iron into cells independently of iron transport proteins. Consistent with profound defects in iron homeostasis,Hif1alpha-/- yolk sac and/or embryos demonstrated aberrant mRNA levels of hepcidin,Fpn1,Irp1,and frascati. We conclude that dysregulated expression of genes encoding Epo,EpoR,and iron regulatory proteins contributes to defective erythropoiesis in Hif1alpha-/- yolk sacs. These results identify a novel role for HIF-1 in the regulation of iron homeostasis and reveal unexpected regulatory differences in Epo/EpoR signaling in yolk sac and embryonic erythropoiesis. View Publication

Definitive erythropoiesis occurs in islands composed of a central macrophage in contact with differentiating erythroblasts. Erythroid maturation including enucleation can also occur in the absence of macrophages both in vivo and in vitro. We reported previously that loss of Rb induces cell-autonomous defects in red cell maturation under stress conditions,while other reports have suggested that the failure of Rb-null erythroblasts to enucleate is due to defects in associated macrophages. Here we show that erythropoietic islands are disrupted by hypoxic stress,such as occurs in the Rb-null fetal liver,that Rb(-/-) macrophages are competent for erythropoietic island formation in the absence of exogenous stress and that enucleation defects persist in Rb-null erythroblasts irrespective of macrophage function. View Publication

The histo-blood group i and I antigens have been characterized as straight and branched repeats of N-acetyllactosamine,respectively,and the conversion of the straight-chain i to the branched-chain I structure on red cells is regulated to occur after birth. It has been demonstrated that the human I locus expresses 3 IGnT transcripts,IGnTA,IGnTB,and IGnTC,and that the last of these is responsible for the I branching formation on red cells. In the present investigation,the K-562 cell line was used as a model to show that the i-to-I transition in erythroid differentiation is determined by the transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBPalpha),which enhances transcription of the IGnTC gene,consequently leading to formation of the I antigen. Further investigation suggested that C/EBPalpha IGnTC-activation activity is modulated at a posttranslational level,and that the phosphorylation status of C/EBPalpha may have a crucial effect. Results from studies using adult and cord erythropoietic cells agreed with those derived using the K-562 cell model,with lentiviral expression of C/EBPalpha in CD34(+) hemopoietic cells demonstrating the determining role of C/EBPalpha in the induction of the IGnTC gene as well as in I antigen expression. View Publication

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are defined by their ability to repopulate all of the hematopoietic lineages in vivo and sustain the production of these cells for the life span of the individual. In the absence of reliable direct markers for HSCs,their identification and enumeration depends on functional long-term,multilineage,in vivo repopulation assays. The extremely low frequency of HSCs in any tissue and the absence of a specific HSC phenotype have made their purification and characterization a highly challenging goal. HSCs and primitive hematopoietic cells can be distinguished from mature blood cells by their lack of lineage-specific markers and presence of certain other cell-surface antigens,such as CD133 (for human cells) and c-kit and Sca-1 (for murine cells). Functional analyses of purified subpopulations of primitive hematopoietic cells have led to the development of several procedures for isolating cell populations that are highly enriched in cells with in vivo stem cell activity. Simplified methods for obtaining these cells at high yield have been important to the practical exploitation of such advances. This article reviews recent progress in identifying human and mouse HSCs and current techniques for their purification. View Publication

Here we describe the in vitro generation of a novel adherent cell fraction derived from highly enriched,mobilized CD133(+) peripheral blood cells after their culture with Flt3/Flk2 ligand and interleukin-6 for 3 to 5 weeks. These cells lack markers of hematopoietic stem cells,endothelial cells,mesenchymal cells,dendritic cells,and stromal fibroblasts. However,all adherent cells expressed the adhesion molecules VE-cadherin,CD54,and CD44. They were also positive for CD164 and CD172a (signal regulatory protein-alpha) and for a stem cell antigen defined by the recently described antibody W7C5. Adherent cells can either spontaneously or upon stimulation with stem cell factor give rise to a transplantable,nonadherent CD133(+)CD34(-) stem cell subset. These cells do not generate in vitro hematopoietic colonies. However,their transplantation into nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency (NOD/SCID) mice induced substantially higher long-term multilineage engraftment compared with that of freshly isolated CD34(+) cells,suggesting that these cells are highly enriched in SCID-repopulating cells. In addition to cells of the myeloid lineage,nonadherent CD34(-) cells were able to give rise to human cells with B-,T-,and natural killer-cell phenotype. Hence,these cells possess a distinct in vivo differentiation potential compared with that of CD34(+) stem cells and may therefore provide an alternative to CD34(+) progenitor cells for transplantation. View Publication

The hemopoietic stem cell (HSC) compartment encompasses cell subsets with heterogeneous proliferative and developmental potential. Numerous CD34(-) cell subsets that might reside at an earlier stage of differentiation than CD34(+) HSCs have been described and characterized within human umbilical cord blood (UCB). We identified a novel subpopulation of CD34(-)CD133(-)CD7(-)CD45(dim)lineage (lin)(-) HSCs contained within human UCB that were endowed with low but measurable extended long-term culture-initiating cell activity. Exposure of CD34(-)CD133(-)CD7(-)CD45(dim)lin(-) HSCs to stem cell factor preserved cell viability and was associated with the following: 1) concordant expression of the stem cell-associated Ags CD34 and CD133,2) generation of CFU-granulocyte-macrophage,burst-forming unit erythroid,and megakaryocytic aggregates,3) significant extended long-term culture-initiating cell activity,and 4) up-regulation of mRNA signals for myeloperoxidase. At variance with CD34(+)lin(-) cells,CD34(-)CD133(-)CD7(-)CD45(dim)lin(-) HSCs maintained with IL-15,but not with IL-2 or IL-7,proliferated vigorously and differentiated into a homogeneous population of CD7(+)CD45(bright)CD25(+)CD44(+) lymphoid progenitors with high expression of the T cell-associated transcription factor GATA-3. Although they harbored nonclonally rearranged TCRgamma genes,IL-15-primed CD34(-)CD133(-)CD7(-)CD45(dim)lin(-) HSCs failed to achieve full maturation,as manifested in their CD3(-)TCRalphabeta(-)gammadelta(-) phenotype. Conversely,culture on stromal cells supplemented with IL-15 was associated with the acquisition of phenotypic and functional features of NK cells. Collectively,CD34(-)CD133(-)CD7(-)CD45(dim)lin(-) HSCs from human UCB displayed an exquisite sensitivity to IL-15 and differentiated into lymphoid/NK cells. Whether the transplantation of CD34(-)lin(-) HSCs possessing T/NK cell differentiation potential may impact on immunological reconstitution and control of minimal residual disease after HSC transplantation for autoimmune or malignant diseases remains to be determined. View Publication

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells defined by their ability to self-renew and differentiate to progenitors and terminally differentiated cells. Stem cells have been isolated from almost all tissues,and an emerging idea is that they share common characteristics such as the presence of ATP-binding cassette transporter G2 and high telomerase and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity,raising the hypothesis of a set of universal stem cell markers. In the present study,we describe the isolation of primitive neural stem cells (NSCs) from adult and embryonic murine neurospheres and dissociated tissue,based on the expression of high levels of ALDH activity. Single-cell suspension was stained with a fluorescent ALDH substrate termed Aldefluor and then analyzed by flow cytometry. A population of cells with low side scatter (SSC(lo)) and bright ALDH (ALDH(br)) activity was isolated. SSC(lo)ALDH(br) cells are capable of self-renewal and are able to generate new neurospheres and neuroepithelial stem-like cells. Furthermore,these cells are multipotent,differentiating both in neurons and macroglia,as determined by immunocytochemistry and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis. To evaluate the engraftment potential of SSC(lo)ALDH(br) cells in vivo,we transplanted them into mouse brain. Donor-derived neurons with mature morphology were detected in the cortex and subcortical areas,demonstrating the capacity of this cell population to differentiate appropriately in vivo. The ALDH expression assay is an effective method for direct identification of NSCs,and improvement of the stem cell isolation protocol may be useful in the development of a cell-mediated therapeutic strategy for neurodegenerative diseases. View Publication