Clonal evolution in leukemia / 中国实验血液学杂志

The theory of evolution of tumor cell population has been established for nearly 40 years. It was widely accepted for research and clinical anti-tumor treatment. Recently, it was suggested that cancer stem cells are the unit of evolution. Considering recent advances on genesis of tumor and leukemia with ecological and evolutionary views, this article reviews origin and evolution of leukemia stem cells. Over the last few years, clinical and experimental data suggest there are two paths for the origin of leukemia stem cells: from a transformed hematopoietic stem cell or progenitor. The mechanisms of leukemia stem cell formation and clonal evolution were elucidated. Sub-clonal mutations and clonal architectures in leukemia were studied and a mosaic evolution pattern is described. Random evolution or non-inherited mutations of leukemia cells would accelerate the progression of malignant disease. Finally, the mosaic or network mechanism for leukemogenesis is also discussed.

Membrane-bound cytokine and feedforward regulation / 中国实验血液学杂志

Feedback and feedforward widely exist in life system, both of them are the basic processes of control system. While the concept of feedback has been widely used in life science, feedforward regulation was systematically studied in neurophysiology, awaiting further evidence and mechanism in molecular biology and cell biology. The authors put forward a hypothesis about the feedforward regulation of membrane bound macrophage colony stimulation factor (mM-CSF) on the basis of their previous work. This hypothesis might provide a new direction for the study on the biological effects of mM-CSF on leukemia and solid tumors, and contribute to the study on other membrane bound cytokines.

Co-evolutionary analysis on strategy for therapy of spreading cancer / 中国实验血液学杂志

Evolutionary medicine can give rational explanation for metabolism diseases via ecology and evolutionary theory. Recently, the view of somatic cell macroevolution was used in the study on the genesis and development of tumors, which provided new insight in the research work on tumors. In this article, the well-adopted tumor therapy strategy, "Dancing with Cancer", was analyzed preliminarily from the point of co-evolution game theory, based on the non-classical immunology theory and genome theory. The importance of increasing host fitness by changing host life-style to enhance tolerance was emphasized, which is the basis of the Dancing with Cancer strategy. On the other hand, the spreading tumor cells are not equally malignant and spreading tumors should be treated as other chronic diseases. Finally, basic and clinical research should be strengthened to improve the efficiency of the "Dancing with Cancer" strategy.

Mechanism of leukemia relapse: novel insights on old problem / 中国实验血液学杂志

Relapse, which puzzled several generations of hematologists, is the bottle-neck of radical treatment for leukemias. The progress of Human Microbiome Project at the beginning of 21st century suggested that human body was a super-organism constituted by the core of human cells and symbiotic microorganisms. The elucidation and characterization of endogenous retrovirus and prion protein suggested the possible effects of co-evolutional microorganisms on human health. Recently, the elucidation of the roles of tunneling nanotubes in intercellular communication and transportation suggested a novel way for cellular communication and transport of oncogenic materials. The role and significance of in vivo cell fusion have been studied in more detail. On the other hand, donor cell leukemia was reported. All of these approaches provide novel insights for studying the mechanism of leukemia relapse. Based on previous work, the authors suggest the hypothesis: there are two possible mechanisms for the relapse of leukemias: the minimal residual disease (MRD) and intercellular transportation of oncogenic materials.

Leukocyte synapse: structure, function and significance / 中国实验血液学杂志

Neuronal synapse is the critical structure of neuronal network. Immune system is mainly consisted of invisible network. Recently, evidence showed that leukocyte synapses between immune cells named as immunological synapses (IS), were formed under some functional conditions to form temporal local network. In fact, they are dynamic structures, which can be classified into synapse and kinase. Different leukocytes have different synapses. Inflammatory and leukemic cells showed special patterns of IS. Similar structure is also observed in some viral infected lymphocytes, which is called virological synapse (VS). This is one of the mechanisms for viral transmission, not only enhancing the transmission efficiency but also mediating the escape from antibody neutralization, leading persistent infection. Recently the flower-like poly synapses was reported by French scientists. This is a multi-tunneling nanotube flower-like structure on cell surface. We had observed this kind of structure in EB virus infected human leukemic cell line J6-2. In this paper, the structure and function of leukocyte synapses are reviewed combined with authors' own work. Their significance is discussed.

Functional multi-polarization of white blood cells and its significance / 中国实验血液学杂志

Immune and hemopoiesis are one of basic project of experimental hematology. Immune function is a essential activity of white blood cells. It was puzzled for the diversity and complexity of immune response. Polarized immune response of immune cells was discovered 30 years ago, which facilitates the study on differentiation of lymphocyte. Recently recognition on multifunctional polarized immune response of lymphocyte and monocyte/macrophage would promote to elucidate the regulatory network of immune cells, diversity and complexity of immune response as well as the study on hemopoiesis. In this paper the approach of multifunctional polarized immune response of lymphocyte, monocyte/macrophage and dendritic cells were reviewed, and their role, especially in cytokine storm and tumor pro-inflammation condition were discussed.

Reprogramming in origin and development of leukemia stem/progenitor cells / 中国实验血液学杂志

The success of yielding induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from human somatic cells demonstrates the important role of reprogramming in the formation of stem/progenitor cells and initiates the exploration of the origin of leukemia stem cells. In our previous work, we have found two types of leukemia, bona fide leukemia and non-bona fide leukemia. Different leukemias originate from different leukemia stem/progenitor cells which are critical to the genesis and evolution of leukemia. Bona fide leukemia and non-bona fide leukemia originate from leukemia stem cells and progenitor cells, respectively. Recent research suggests that different types of leukemia are influenced by the reprogramming state of their origin cells.

Latent infection of human herpes virus in hematopoietic system / 中国实验血液学杂志

Up to date, eight types of human herpes viruses have been identified, all of which are ubiquitous, and usually establish latent infection in the host after primary infection. Since most of the herpes viruses are maintained in an asymptomatic form, they are often neglected. However, under some circumstances, these herpes viruses can cause fatal or severe diseases. Furthermore, the association of herpes viruses with hematopoietic malignancies is attracting researchers' attention. With the extensive development of hematopoietic stem cell and organ transplantation, reports regarding transplantation failure and complication caused by infection of human herpes virus has been increasing. Cytokine storm was firstly suggested as the mechanism of graft-versus-host diseases. In recent years, which has also been applied in the pathogenesis research of inflammation, and is supposed to play an important role in severe virus infection. In this paper, through discussing the possible role of latent infection of human herpes virus in the failure or complication of bone marrow or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and in refractory leukemia, the function and significance of latent infection of human herpes virus and the cytokine storm it caused were investigated.

Research Value of Multi-clone Cell Line: A Comment for the 30th Anniversary of J6-1 Human Leukemic Cell Line / 中国实验血液学杂志

J6-1 cell line is the first leukemic cell line established in China. It is a multi-clone cell line infected with both EBV and HHV-6. Many cytokines, receptors and other genes were cloned from J6-1 cell line since its establishment 30 years ago. Valuable information on leukemic characteristics and functions were obtained from the studies on this cell line, which could be categorized into several research subjects. These achievements implied the unique research value of multi-clone cell lines. This comment focuses attention on research advance of the J6-1 leukemic cell line in 30 years, including heterogeneity and multi-cloning of J6-1 cells, survival mechanism of J6-1 cell populations, abnormal intercellalar communication of J6-1 cells with its significance and inspiration from J6-1 cell line.

Leukemia stem cells and their microenvironment--editorial / 中国实验血液学杂志

As pioneer of tumor stem cell research, leukemia stem cell research has not only important theoretical significance, but also clinical application potential. The survival and development of stem cells are directly impacted by their microenvironment. The research on leukemia stem cells and their microenvironment are now becoming a hot topic. The author presumes that stem cells are a population with heterogenecity and hierarchy; any single cell from the population is difficult to form a clone; the interaction between the leukemia stem cell and its microenvironment can be described by the concept of leukemia stem cell niche. In this article, the leukemia cell population with heterogenecity and hierarchy as well as leukemia stem cell niche were summarized and discussed.

Cloning and functional analysis of P2X7 receptor from J6-1 leukemia cells / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To clone the entire coding sequence and analyze the function of P2X7 receptor of J6-1 human leukemia cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The entire coding sequence of P2X7 receptor was amplified by RT-PCR and then inserted into pTARGET plasmid to construct an eukaryotic expressing plasmid followed by DNA sequencing. HEK293 cells stably expressing P2X7 receptor were obtained after transfection and screening, and confirmed by RT-PCR and Western blotting. The bleb formation upon agonist stimulation was observed under phase contrast microscope.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The entire coding sequence of P2X7 receptor of J6-1 cells was successfully cloned. DNA sequencing analysis revealed a substitution of G559, for A559, causing a substitution of Glu187 for Gln187. The P2X7 receptor derived from J6-1 cells could be functionally expressed in HEK293 cells, in which bleb formation could be detected upon stimulation.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The entire coding sequence of P2X7 receptors was successfully cloned from J6-1 leukemia cells. Other unknown mechanism may contribute to the dysfunction of P2X7 receptor in these cells.</p>

Apoptosis or necrosis, should which be expected for tumor cells? / 中国实验血液学杂志

Evidence has indicated that low doses of anti-tumor regimens can induce cell apoptosis in vitro, although different regimens induce apoptosis by different mechanism and pathway. In recent years, new tumor treatment strategy has been mainly focused on inducing tumor cell apoptosis. The present review discusses the advantages and disadvantages of inducing tumor cell apoptosis. The benefit of inducing apoptosis is not to cause inflammatory reaction, but as its disadvantage, it inhibits immune responses, and the phagocytosis of apopotic bodies may result in horizontal transfer of genes (including oncogenes and other oncogenic materials), which can be one of the causes of tumor relapse. This paper proposes that the tumor treatment strategy should be turn into promoting tumor cell necrosis and inducing anti-tumor immune responses.

Effects of various inducers on the expression of P2X7 receptor in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells / 生理学报

Regulation of P2X7 receptor expression is of interest because activation of this receptor by extracellular ATP triggers a wide variety of cell functions in leukocytes. However, its expression and modulation in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and monocytes remain unclear. RT-PCR was used to detect the constitutive level of P2X7 receptor and the levels upon stimulation with bacteria, bacterial product, mitogen and various cytokines in human PBMC and monocytes. P2X7 receptor mRNA was detected in PBMC and monocytes. P2X7 receptor expression in PBMC was up-regulated by interleukin-2, -4, -6 (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6) tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and heat-inactivated Staphylococcus aureus Cowan strain I (SAC). However, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) and phytohemagglutinin-M (PHA-M) had little effect on the expression of P2X7 receptor. Furthermore, LPS and M-CSF could up-regulate P2X7 receptor expression in monocytes, while IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha and GM-CSF had weak effects, but pretreatment with these inducers could not further enhance LPS-stimulated P2X7 receptor expression in monocytes. The results obtained demonstrate that inflammatory stimuli drive P2X7 expression, thus supporting the hypothesis that P2X7 receptor may play a role in the inflammatory responses against bacteria infection, which need further verification.

Expression of gelatinase A and B in cord blood CD34+ cells and leukemic cell lines / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the expression of gelatinases, including matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9, gelatinase B) and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2, gelatinase A), in CD(34)(+) cells and leukemic cell lines, and explore the significance of gelatinase in migrating and homing capacity of CD(34)(+) cells, as well as the role of gelatinase in leukemia pathogenesis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>CD(34)(+) cells were isolated from umbilical cord blood and normal bone marrow by Mini MACS system. By zymogram analysis, MMP-2 and MMP-9 were detected in the serum free condition medium of CD(34)(+) cells and cell lines.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>One brilliant band with molecular weight of 92 x 10(3) was detected in condition medium of cord blood CD(34)(+) cells. No band was detected in condition medium of bone marrow CD(34)(+) cells. Brilliant bands with molecular weight of 92 x 10(3) and 72 x 10(3) were detected in the condition medium of U937, KG-1a and HL-60 cell lines, but not in that of HEL, Namalva, CEM, K562 and LCL-H cell lines. In the condition media of J6-1 and J6-2 cells only the 92 x 10(3) band was detected.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Cord blood CD(34)(+) cells produced MMP-9, but bone marrow CD(34)(+) cells did not, partly explains the fact that cord blood CD(34)(+) cells possessed higher migrating capacity in comparison with bone marrow CD(34)(+) cells. The expression of MMP-9 and MMP-2 in leukemic cell lines varied.</p>

Functional redundancy and its significance of cytokine and transcription factor--a concise review / 中国实验血液学杂志

The term "functional redundancy" has been used as key words in foreign literature recently. However, it is rarely appeared in Chinese literature. Functional redundancy is an important characteristic of cytokines and transcription factors. The author gives personal opinion on this term for discussion.