The Effects of Chidamide Combined with Anti-myeloma Drugs on the Proliferation and Apoptosis of Myeloma Cells / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the effects of chidamide combined with anti-myeloma drugs on the proliferation and apoptosis of myeloma cells.@*METHODS@#The proliferation inhibition of the cells was detected by CCK-8 method, and flow cytometry was used to detected the apoptosis of the cells.@*RESULTS@#Chidamide could inhibit the proliferation of myeloma cells and promote the apoptosis of primary myeloma plasma cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner (P<0.05). In NCI-H929 cell line, chidamide combined with low-dose bortezomib and lenalidomide showed synergistic effect, while combined with dexamethasone and pomalidomide showed additive effect. In MM.1s cell line, chidamide combined with bortezomib, dexamethasone, lenalidomide and pomalidomide all showed synergistic effects.@*CONCLUSION@#Chidamide inhibits proliferation of myeloma cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner and promotes apoptosis of primary myeloma plasma cells. Furthermore, it can enhance the inhibitory effect of anti-myeloma drugs.

IDH1 Gene Mutation and Its Clinical Significance in patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia / 中国实验血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the incidence rate of IDH1 in acute myeloid leukemia and analyze its effect on clinical characteristics and prognosis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Mononuclear cells in bone marrow samples were collected from 192 adult patients with newly diagnosed AML. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct sequencing were used to amplify exon 4 of IDH1 gene, the gene sequencing was used to analyze the gene mutations, at same time, the detection of NPM1, FLT3-TKD, FLT3-ITD, C-KIT, CEPBA, TET2 and JAK2V617F and MLL mutations were carried out, the follow-up was used to determine its therapeutic efficacy and outcomes of patients. The clinical and laboratory data of these cases were collected, and their clinical characteristics and prognosis were then analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among the 192 AML patients, 13 cases were detected with IDH1 gene mutation, the mutation rate was 6.77% [95% CI (5.70%-13.38%)]. The sequencing chart of IDH1 gene showed double peaks, the mutations were heterozygous, out of them c.G395A (p.R132H) was found in 8 cases, c.C394T was found in 4 cases (p.R132C), c.C394A (p.R132S) was found in 1 cases, R132H and R132C are common, 13 cases showed missense mutation. The median age in mutation group was 52 years old, the median age in unnutration group was 40 years, there was significant difference between them (P = 0.010). Mutation rate of IDH1 gene in M1 and M2 was significantly higher than that in other FAB subtypes. There were no significant difference in sex, newly diagnosed peripheral white blood cell count, hemoglobin, platelet count, peripheral blood and bone marrow original cell proportion of primitive cells between them. Mutation of IDH1 gene had certain correlation with NPM1 gene mutation, but no correlation with FLT3-TKD, FLT3-ITD, C-KIT, TET2 and JAK2V617F and MLL natations was found. In addition, the IDH1 mutation easily occurred in patients with normal karyotype or in patients with middle prognostic risk karyotype, IDH1 mutation occurred in 11 cases with normal karyotype, the mutation rate was 10.28%, IDH1 mutation were observed in 2 cases with abnormal karyotype, the mutation rate was 3.50%, there was significant difference. In AML patients with middle prognostic risk karyotype. The complete remission (CR) and the 3 year survival (OS) rate of IDH1 mut patients were less than that in IDH1 wt, there was significant difference (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The IDH1 mutation more easily occurr in older AML patients and mutations effect of IDH1 on clinical characteristics may represent a molecular marker for poor prognosis in AML.</p>

Recent advances on diagnosis and therapy of lymphoproliferative disorders after allo-HSCT / 中国实验血液学杂志

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders(PTLD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) are a group of rare, but are grievous complications. The occurrence of these diseases are most associated with EBV infection. The clinical manifestations usually include recurrent fever, lymph node enlargement, progressive decline of three lineage cells of hemogram, EB viremia and response failure to formal broad-spectrum antibiotics therapy, then the disease rapidly deteriorated in the short term, which result in high mortality. Therefore, early diagnosis and timely effective treatment such as rituximab, donor lymphocyte infusion and/or EB virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes are needed to improve the prognosis. This review briefly summarized the diagnosis and therapy advance on the lymphoproliferative disorders after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Therapeutic efficacy of mixed hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for pediatric hematologic diseases / 中国实验血液学杂志

This study was purposed to explore the effectiveness of mixed transplantation of HLA mismatched bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells(HSC), peripheral blood HSC and umbilical cord blood HSC for treatment of pediatric blood diseases. From August 2012 to December 2012, five children with refractory hematological diseases in our hospital received allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The mixed grafts consisting of HLA-mismatched bone marrow HSC, peripheral blood HSC and umbilical cord blood HSC were used to observe the effects of umbilical cord blood HSC on the time of hematopoietic reconstruction of bone marrow, STR chimeric degrees, incidence of GVHD. and early transplant-associated complications. The results showed that all 5 children patients were grafted successfully with the median grafted time of 11 d for ANC>0.5×10(9)/L and 10 d for Plt>20×10(9)/L, respectively. On day 30, the STR-PCR test of peripheral blood showed a stable complete chimera. Five cases suffered from mild to moderate symptoms of GVHD, showing with I-II grade of skin GVHD and in which two cases suffered from diarrhea, showing I-II grade of intestinal GVHD. All the 5 patients had no liver function damage. One patient died of severe hemorrhagic cystitis and multi-site infection, and the remaining four cases survived so far on the current median follow-up time of 137 d (130 d-250 d). It is concluded that transplantation of the mixed HLA mismatched bone marrow HSC, peripheral blood HSC, with third-party cord blood HSC can increase the survival rate for pediatric patients with blood disease.

Clinical study of unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation for 25 patients with hematological diseases / 中国实验血液学杂志

This study was purposed to investigate the engraftment, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), transplantation related mortality (TRM), relapse and survival in hematologic patients received unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT). A total of 25 patients with hematological disease underwent UCBT, including 8 pediatric and 17 young adult patients. Among them 3 cases received single unit of UCBT and 22 cases received double units of UCBT. For donor/recipients human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matching: HLA 6/6 loci matched in 9 cases, HLA 4-5/6 loci matched in 16 cases. There were 19 patients with hematologic malignancies, including 3 cases in the period of disease progression and 6 cases of non-hematologic malignancies. Conditioning regimens were TBI/Cy ± Flu ± ATG or BuCy ± Flu ± ATG for 21 patients and Cy+Flu+ATG for 4 patients. For prophylaxis of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) the regimen of cyclosporine (CsA) as dominant drug was used. The results showed that among 16 patients (80.0%) achieved engraftment, 20 patients survived for more than 42 d after transplantation. The cumulative neutrophil recovery rate on day 42 after transplant was 64.0%, with a median time of 17.0 d;the cumulative platelet recovery rate on day 100 after transplant was 60.0 %, with a median time of 35.0 d. The cumulative rate of grade II-IV and III-IV aGVHD after transplantation 100 d was 44.0% and 30.7%, respectively. Until the end of the follow-up, the cumulative rate of TRM was 54.3%. For all the patients, overall survival rate was 42.7%. Out of 17 evaluable patients with hematologic malignancies 7 cases (41.2%) survived to date, and only 1 case relapsed, so event-free survival rate was 35.3%. Out of 5 evaluable patients with non-hematologic malignancies, 4 patients survived and 2 patients were in stable engraftment state, 2 cases with autologous hematopoietic recovery. Among 3 cases of hematologic malignancies at advanced stage, only 1 case survived to date. It is concluded that HLA-4-6/6 loci matched UCBT is an effective option to treat hematological diseases. Double cord blood transplantation (dUCBT) can overcome the disadvantage of insufficient cells of single cord blood UCBT to treat overweight children and adult.

Correlation of the level of Reg3α protein in plasma with gastrointestinal acute graft-versus-host disease / 中国实验血液学杂志

This study was purposed to explore the correlation of regenerating Islet-derived 3-alpha(Reg3α) protein level in plasma with the diagnosis and prognosis of the gastrointestinal acute graft-versus-host disease (GI-aGVHD) after all-HSCT, 103 patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) were observed in our hospital from December 2011 to December 2012. Peripheral blood samples were routinely collected at 9 d before allo-HSCT, 0 d, 14 d, 28 d after allo-HSCT as well as in aGVHD and at the 1 and 4 weeks after aGVHD therapy. The plasma concentrations of Reg3α were measured by using ELISA kit. The results indicated that among the 103 patients, 17 cases never developed aGVHD symptoms (no-aGVHD), 27 cases presented with non-aGVHD associated diarrhea, 10 cases presented with isolated skin aGVHD, 17 cases developed grades I-II GI-aGVHD, 32 cases with grades III-IV GI-aGVHD. The plasma concentrations of Reg3α in group of patients with GI-aGVHD and group of non-aGVHD diarrhea were 111.5 (54.7-180.2) and 23.9 (14.5-89.5) ng/ml respectively with significant difference (P < 0.001). The plasma concentrations of Reg3α in 17 patients of grades III-IV GI-aGVHD who experienced a complete or partial response and 7 patients who had no response to therapy at 4 weeks were 137.2(51.7-205.4) and 679.4(122.3-896.8) ng/ml respectively with the significant difference (P = 0.028). All of the patients who had no response to therapy died of aGVHD associated multiple organ failure. The area under the ROC curve was 0.902 when plasma concentration of Reg3α was set at 87.73 ng/ml. The sensitivity was 81.48% and the specificity was 82.86% when the critical value was used in diagnosis of grades III-IV GI-aGVHD. The probability of grades III-IV GI-aGVHD had statistical difference above and below 87.73 ng/ml after allo-HSCT (P < 0.001). It is concluded that the increase of plasma Reg3α level after transplantation suggests the incidence of grades III-IV GI-aGVHD. The high level of plasma Reg3α protein in patients with grades III-IV GI-aGVHD after the immunosuppressive treatment for four weeks indicates a poor prognosis. The plasma concentrations of Reg3α can be used as a specific biomarker of GI-aGVHD.

Quantitative monitoring of multi-donor chimerism after multi-donor allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation / 中国实验血液学杂志

This study was aimed to establish a model for detecting the donor chimerism rate following the multi-donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantations, and simplify its calculation method. Patients with hematologic disease receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation including single-donor and multi-donor were selected in this study and the donor cell chimerism rates were detected, using STR-PCR combined with capillary electrophoresis. The results indicated that the peaks of the sister alleles coming from the same individual were confirmed to have the approximate areas and can be replaced each other in the situation of mixed chimerism. In the calculation model, the value between reference chimerism and approximate chimerism have no significant difference using the hypothetical peak areas, and the result was confirmed to be accepted basing on typical measurement error between sister alleles (5% - 20%). It is concluded that the areas of share peaks can be replaced by non-share peaks and this conclusion can be used to calculate the double-donor CHM (DD-CHM)(%). Compared to the D alleles, R alleles show more strategic importance because it can lead to more accurate result and allowed simplifying the arithmetic calculations for DD-CHM(%).

Curative effect of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells for treatment of acute graft-versus-host disease of children after allo-HSCT / 中国实验血液学杂志

This study was aimed to investigate the curative effect and safety of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSC) to treat acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) of children after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). HUCMSC were isolated and cultured by collagenase digestion and passage culture. The 3rd to the 5th passage of hUCMSC were used for clinical treatment. Five cases of children acute leukemia achieved complete remission after chemotherapy. Two cases received HLA 3/6 loci matched haploidentical bone marrow HSCT. One case received HLA-matched sibling bone marrow and peripheral blood HSCT. One case received unrelated HLA 4/6 loci matched umbilical cord blood HSCT. One case received unrelated HLA 5/6 loci matched umbilical cord blood HSCT. The children received immunosuppressive therapy after III-IV aGVHD occurring. They received 0.5×10(6)/kg hUCMSC infusion when conventional therapy was ineffective. The results showed that 5 cases of children acute leukemia achieved hematopoietic reconstitution and developed the III-IV grade aGVHD. The five cases of children were infused with hUCMSC. The rash subsided, the liver function was normalized and the gastrointestinal symptoms were improved. The infusion-related adverse reaction did not happen. At present, the 5 children are in remission. It is concluded that allogeneic HSCT is an effective therapeutic method for children with acute leukemia. HUCMSC infusion can be safely and effectively used for the treatment of refractory aGVHD.

Current research advance on cellular immunotherapy for leukemia-review / 中国实验血液学杂志

Despite the chemotherapy is successful in inducing remission of hematologic malignancy, this disease also has a high probability of relapse; besides, the toxicity of chemotherapy for these patients can not be avoided. Researchers have been attempting to eliminate tumor cells by immunotherapy. Recently, various leukemia-associated antigens (LAA) that are recognized by cytotoxic T cell (CTL) in the context of HLA class I molecules have been identified. These LAA include WT1, PR-3, RHAMM, BCR-ABL and Aur-A. On the basis of these findings, various clinical trials of immunotherapy for hematologic malignancy including tumor peptide vaccination, adoptive T cell therapy, NK cell therapy and dendritic cells-cytokine induced killer (DC-CIK) cell therapy are on going. In this review, the current status and future feasibility of cellular immunotherapy for leukemia are discussed.

Ex vivo inducing cultured Epstein-Barr virus specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes and evaluation of their killing effect / 中国实验血液学杂志

This study was aimed to explore the method for induction and expansion of EB virus specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (EBV-CTL) in vitro, and to detect their killing effect. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) were collected from 6 EBV seropositive healthy donors, and EBV-transformed B lymphoblastoid cells (BLCL)were used as the antigen-presenting cells and antigen stimulant which was irradiated by 40 Gy (60)Co irradiator. The autologous PBMNC and irradiated BLCL were cultured to induce and expand the EBV-CTL, and the immunophenotype was identified by the flow cytometry. The killing effect of the EBV-CTL against the autologous BLCL (autoBLCL), the autologous PHA cultured B lymphoblastoid cells( PHA-BLCL), the allogeneic BLCL (alloBLCL) and the K562 cells were measured with LDH release assay under different effector-to-target ratio. The results showed that the 6 cell lines of EBV-CTL were induced and expanded from the EBV seropositive healthy donors, the overall increase in cell numbers varied from 18.6 to 55.0 times. After 10 stimulations, the specific killing efficiency of the EBV-CTL for the autoBLCL were 59.4%, 43.2% and 29.0% under the effector-to-target ratio of 20: 1, 10: 1 and 5: 1. The nonspecific killing efficiency for the PHA-blast, alloBLCL and K562 cells were 7.1%, 9.4% and 10.3% (P < 0.05) under the 20: 1 ratio; 6.6%, 8.3% and 8.1% (P < 0.05) under 10: 1; 5.4%, 7.3% and 6.3% (P < 0.05) under 5: 1, respectively. It is concluded that the EBV-CTL can be successfully induced and expanded ex vivo for specific killing of HLA matched BLCL and may become a potential treatment for EBV related post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders.

Serum-free culture of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells / 中国实验血液学杂志

This study was purposed to observe the culture of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSC) with serum-free medium, and compared it with the medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). The normal umbilical cords were acquired during cesarean section, and then were cultured with MesenCult-XF serum-free medium or medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). The morphology, immunophenotype, cell cycle, proliferation and differentiation potential of mesenchymal stem cells and the inhibition of mixed lymphocyte reaction were observed through different medium culture method. The results showed that the MSC cultured with serum-free MesenCult(-)XF medium could transfer and multiply for average of 6.57 ± 0.7 times, and the serum medium-cultured MSC could transfer and multiply for average of 4.59 ± 0.45 times (P < 0.05). Two kinds of medium cultured MSC all expressed CD44, CD90, CD73, CD105 antigen, but did not expressed CD31, CD45, HLA-DR and CD34 antigen, and their expression levels were not significantly different. The serum-free medium-cultured MSC (65 ± 5.2%) were all at Go/G1 phase, and the serum-contained medium-cultured MSC (62+3.1%) were at Go/G1 phase(P > 0.05); the 2 kinds of media-cultured MSC all could differentiate into fat and ossification; when serum-free medium cultured umbilical cord MSC were inoculated at the the density of 10(3), 5×10(3), 10(4), and 2×10(4) cells/well, then co-cultured with the reactant and stimulating cells, the CPM were (6.43 ± 0.47)×10(4), (4.30 ± 0.38)×10(4), (1.97 ± 0.13)×10(4) and (0.24 ± 0.03)×10(4), respectively, and the serum-containing medium-cultured MSC were incubated with different density of mixed lymphocyte, displaying CPM that were (7.85 ± 0.07)×10(4), (5.64 ± 0.12)×10(4), (3.09 ± 0.18)×10(4) and (1.73 ± 0.05)×10(4). It is concluded that the serum-free medium has been confirmed to culture MSC, which have potential of transfer and differentiation with count for clinical application, and can avoid foreign protein sensitization.

Clinical study of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells for treatment of nineteen patients with steroid-resistant severe acute graft-versus-host disease / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the safety and efficacy of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) infusion in patients with steroid-resistant severe acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 19 patients with steroid-resistant severe aGVHD received MSCs infusion treatment. The treatment response, transplantation-related mortality, events associated with infusion and relapse rate were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Two patients with grade II, 5 patients with grade III and 12 patients with grade IV aGVHD received a total of 58 infusions of MSCs. The mean total dose of MSCs was 2.13 (range 0.60 - 7.20)×10(6) cells per kg bodyweight. Seven patients received one infusion, 2 patients received two infusions, and 10 patients received three or more infusions. Eleven patients had a complete response and 4 had a partial response and 4 had no response. No patients had side-effects during or immediately after infusions, and no MSCs related tumorigenesis was detected to date. Eleven patients survived and 8 died, 4 for aGVHD, 1 for infection and 2 for aGVHD with concomitant infection and 1 for underlying leukemia relapse. The cell viability of freshly prepared MSCs is 93% (92% - 95%) by trypan blue staining. The cell viability of programmatically frozen and thawed MSCs is 72% (70% - 74%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Infusion of umbilical cord-derived MSCs expanded in vitro is an effective therapy for patients with steroid-resistant severe aGVHD without negative impact on relapse. Freshly prepared MSCs are superior to frozen and thawed cells in terms of cell viability.</p>

Impact of disease status on outcomes of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with refractory and relapsed acute myeloid leukemia / 中国实验血液学杂志

The study was aimed to evaluate the impact of disease status on the outcomes of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in patients with refractory and relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (AML). 32 patients with refractory and relapsed AML received allo-HSCT after myeloablative conditioning regimen, including 17 patients in no-remission (NR) and 15 patients in complete remission (CR) at the time of transplant. Treatment related adverse events, relapse rate and leukemia free survival (LFS) were analyzed. The results showed that the parameters of sex, age, cytogenetic risk and transplant procedures were comparable between the two groups. 30 patients had successful engraftment, except one had graft failure and one died from severe veno-occlusive disease in the NR group. The incidences of aGVHD in NR group and CR group were 47.1% (8 patients) and 33.5% (5 patients) respectively. Out of comparable patients, 5 from 9 patients in NR group developed with cGVHD, and 4 from 11 patients in CR group were subjected to cGVHD. There were no statistic difference in incidences of aGVHD and cGVHD between two group. Compa-red with CR group, NR group had a higher treatment-related mortality (29.4% vs 14.3%, P = 0.392) and relapse rate (42.9% vs 26.7% P = 0.300), but there was no significant difference. With a median follow-up of 13 (1 - 124) months, 6 patients remained alive in both of the two groups, and the 2 year LFS of them were parallel (35.3% vs 40.0%, P = 0.267). Among these 32 patients, overall survival (OS) was better in patients with age < 35 years (P = 0.044) and with the appearance of cGVHD (P = 0.046). It is concluded that allo-HSCT is an effective salvage therapy for patients with refractory and relapsed AML, and the overall outcome seems unrelated to the disease status (NR or CR) before transplantation. As such, for refractory and relapsed AML patients in non-remission, performance of allo-HSCT to achieve long-term survival is feasible.

Biological characteristics of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and JAK2 mutation in myeloproliferative neoplasms / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the biological characteristics of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and detect JAK2 mutation in BMSCs from myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>JAK2 V617F mutation and exon 12 mutation in 70 MPN patients' blood or bone marrow samples were detected. Isolated BMSCs were then characterized their phenotype, mesenchymal differentiation capacity and existence of JAK2 mutation.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>BMSCs derived from the patients were similar with healthy donors in terms of morphology, surface antigen and differentiation ability. Of them, 38 patients' blood or bone marrow samples harbored JAK2 V617F, and identified that 3 V617F-negative-patients' samples existed JAK2 exon 12. No patients' BMSC harbored JAK2 mutation though their blood or bone marrow samples carried JAK2 mutation.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>BMSCs from MPN patients had similar biological characteristics with healthy donors. BMSCs from MPN patients known to bear JAK2 mutation in blood or bone marrow cells didn't carry the mutation.</p>

Comparison of the biological characteristics of serum-free and fetal bovine serum-contained medium cultured umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the differences of biological characteristics between human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) cultured by serum-free medium or fetal bovine serum-contained complete medium to establish a xenogeneic protein-free UC-MSCs culture system.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Healthy human umbilical cord segments were digested with collagenase. UC-MSCs were cultured by serum-free MesenCult-XF medium and FBS-based αMEM complete medium, then analyzed the morphology, immunophenotype, expansion potential, lineage differentiation potential, karyotype and immunosuppression of early passages.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The average cell diameters of UC-MSCs in suspension cultured by serum-free medium and FBS-based medium were 26 (18 - 39) µm and 35 (20 - 61) µm, respectively. Cell expansion folds with serum free medium and FBS-based medium were (5.2 ± 0.2) and (3.5 ± 0.1) respectively, in the first five passages. The expansion potential of serum-free medium cultured UC-MSCs was significantly higher than FBS-based medium cultured ones (P < 0.05). A panel of markers CD29, CD44, CD90, CD73, CD105 and HLA-ABC expressed on human UC-MSCs. Hematopoietic lineage markers CD34, CD45 and HLA-DR were not detectable on UC-MSCs. The cpm were (4.57 ± 0.14)×10(4), (2.04 ± 0.16)×10(4) and (0.42 ± 0.04)×10(4), respectively when serum-free medium cultured MSCs were added to the cultures at MSCs/T cell ratios of 1:100, 1:10 and 1:5. While the cpm was (4.57 ± 0.14)×10(4), (2.04 ± 0.16)×10(4) and (0.42 ± 0.04)×10(4), respectively when serum-free medium cultured UC-MSCs were added to the cultures. The immunosuppressive potential of serum-free medium-cultured UC-MSCs was higher than serum-contained medium cultured ones at three different MSC/T cell ratios (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Compare with serum-contained medium cultured early passages of UC-MSCs, the cell diameter of serum-free medium cultured UC-MSCs was smaller with higher expansion potential. No xenogeneic proteins were presented in UC-MSCs preparations when cultured with serum-free medium. Human UC-MSCs suppressed T-cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. The immunosuppressive potential of serum-free medium cultured UC-MSCs was higher than FBS-based medium cultured ones.</p>

Ultrastructure of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells / 中国实验血液学杂志

The purpose of this study was to observe the ultrastructure of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSC). hUCMSC from full-term newborn umbilical cord were isolated and cultured by collagenase digestion, and then subcultured, amplification, and cell morphology was observed by microscopy. The immunophenotype and trilineage differentiation potential of hUCMSCs at passage 3 were analyzed. Transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to observe the ultrastructure of hUCMSC. The results indicated that appearance of hUCMSC was spindle-shaped and polygonal, and nuclei were observed. hUCMSC expressed immunophenotype CD44, CD73, CD105, did not express CD34, CD45, CD31 and human leukocyte antigen HLA-DR. hUCMSC were capable of adipogenic, osteogenic, and cartilage differentiation; the short and thick microvilli processes were seen at the surface of hUCMSC by scanning electron microscope. Two different cell morphologies of hUCMSC were seen under transmission electron microscope, the one was a quiescent period in which a large and round or oval nucleus only one nucleolus were seen, cytoplasmic organelles were less; the other was in a relatively active period in which one or two nuclei in the same one cell were observed, the organelles were rich, structure was clear, expansion of the mitochondria was visible. It is concluded that the cells successfully isolated and cultured from umbilical cord, which possess biological characteristics of MSC and display two different states of ultrastructure.

Culture and pluripotentiality of murine compact bone-derived mesenchymal stem cells / 中国实验血液学杂志

This study was purposed to culture murine compact bone-derived mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) and analyze the immunological and trilineage differentiation potential. Tibia and femur were extracted. Bone marrow cells were flushed out and compact bone fragments were digested with collagenase. The digested cells were cultured in 6-well plates. The immunophenotype, immunosuppressive function and trilineage differentiation potential were analysed by flow cytometry, mixed lympocyte reaction and Oil red O, von Kossa and alcian blue straining, respectively. The results indicated that the pure compact bone MSC could be isolated with in 3 weeks. The resulting MSC had trilineage differentiation potential and immunosuppressive effect on mixed lymphocyte reaction. The count per minute (CPM) value in control group of BALB/c T cells cocultured with irradiated C57BL/6 T cells was (2.56 ± 0.31) × 10(4), while CPM values of mixed lymphocyte cocultured with C57BL/6 compact bone MSC at ratios of 100:1 and 10:1 were (0.47 ± 0.12) × 10(4) and (0.28 ± 0.09) × 10(4). The CPM value of control group was higher than those of MSC cocultured group (P < 0.001). Compact bone-MSC had an immunosuppressive effect on mixed lymphocyte reaction in a dose dependent manner. It is concluded that murine compact bone has rich MSC and the primary MSC is contaminated with less hematopoietic cells. Murine compact bone-MSC have immunosuppressive effect on mixed lymphocyte reaction and trilineage differentiation potential. Compact bone-MSC have promising experimental study value.

Research advances of leukemia mouse hematopoietic stem cell transplantation model / 中国实验血液学杂志

Mouse model of leukemia hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the key platform to study leukemia experimental treatment, which has been widely used in anticancer drug screening and in the studies of leukemia pathogenesis and experimental treatment. Transplantation mouse model has several advantages such as short cycle of model establishment, good repetitiveness, and the more stable biological characteristics of the tumor cell lines. The source of leukemia and tumor cell lines, choice of mouse species, the establishment of transplantation model, the recent advances of GVHD model and other aspects of transplantation mouse model are summarized in this review.

Effects of simvastatin on proliferation and apoptosis of acute monocytic leukemia cell line SHI-1 / 中国实验血液学杂志

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of simvastatin (SIM) on proliferation and apoptosis of acute monocytic leukemia cell line SHI-1 and its mechanism. Experiments were divided into control and test groups (5 µmol/L, 10 µmol/L, 20 µmol/L SIM groups). The growth inhibitory rate of SHI-1 cells was detected using methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) method. The cell cycle distribution and apoptotic rate were measured by using flow cytometry. The expression of BCL-2, caspase-3 mRNA were determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The expression of BCL-2, caspase-3 protein levels were analyzed by Western blot. The results demonstrated that SIM inhibited the growth of SHI-1 cells in time- and does-dependent manners. Cell cycle analysis showed that SHI-1 cells significantly arrested in S phase (p < 0.05) after treating with SIM for 48 hours, as compared with control group. 5 µmol/L SIM in test group significantly blocked cell cycle progression, but can not induce apoptosis. The expressions of BCL-2 mRNA and protein were down-regulated and caspase-3 mRNA and protein were up-regulated along with the increase of SIM concentration (p < 0.05). It is concluded that SIM is able to inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of SHI-1 cells, the mechanism may be associated with downregulating the expression of apoptosis-related gene BCL-2, upregulating the expression of caspase-3.

Current research advance on abnormalities of mesenchymal stem cells in hematological malignancies / 中国实验血液学杂志

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have attracted high attention to their various origins, capability of multi-lineage differentiation, supporting hematopoiesis and regulating immunity. Consequently, MSC show great potential for tissue engineering and cell/gene therapy. The bone marrow microenvironment plays an important role in the pathogenesis of several hematological malignancies. It was confirmed that as key components of the hematopoietic microenvironment, MSC correlated complexly with tumor microenvironment. Recent reports showed that MSC from some patients with AML, MDS, ALL and MM harboured cytogenetic alterations. In addition, the phenotype, ability of differentiation and immunoregulatory function of MSC displayed different degree of abnormalities, suggesting that MSC played a role in the pathophysiological mechanism of malignant hematopoietic diseases. Besides, MSC have been found to participate in drug resistance of antileukemic therapy. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has become an important treatment approach for the malignant hematopoietic diseases in recent years. Because of the advantages of supporting hematopoiesis and regulating immunity, MSC are used to promote the engraftment and prophylaxis/treatment of GVHD. This review summarized briefly the abnormalities of mesenchymal stem cells in malignant hematological diseases and MSC research advances on cell therapy.