1,721,109 research outputs found

    Kinetic rationale for cytokine induced recruitment of myeloblastic leukemia followed by cycle-specific chemotherapy in vitro.

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    In patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia incomplete response to induction chemotherapy and short disease-free survival may be related to cell kinetic quiescence of leukemic cells. In this in vitro study, we tested the hypothesis that treatment with cytokines and subsequent chemotherapy (ARA-C, daunorubicin) can increase proliferation and enhance leukemic cell kill. We evaluated the effects of recombinant human interleukin-3 (rh-IL-3), granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) and granulocyte colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) alone and in combination on AML (N = 11) and blastic phase CML (N = 3) samples. Cellular DNA and RNA, incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), cell growth fraction, cell viability, and differentiation markers were evaluated in vitro. A decrease of the quiescent cell population (p = 0.003) and an increase in S-phase cells (p = 0.001) was observed in 8/11 AML samples treated with cytokine combinations. Pronounced heterogeneity or proliferative response was seen between individual cases and different cytokines, but in the majority of the samples IL-3 was most effective. Significantly increased Ki67 expression (p = 0.009) and BrdU incorporation (p = 0.01) were also found after exposure to cytokines indicating an increase in growth fraction. DNA synthesis time was unaffected. Eight samples of AML were treated for 24 hr with ara-C following 2 days of in vitro cytokine incubation. Evaluation of leukemic cell kill showed increased cytotoxicity in three of those five samples which had significant depletions of G0 cells and increases in S-phase. None of the leukemic samples without recruitment from G0 had an increase in ARA-C cytotoxicity. This study provides detailed cell kinetic analysis of cytokine effects on AML blasts and provides a rationale for a novel approach to the treatment of AML

    DNA and RNA flow cytometry in multiple myeloma: clinical correlations.

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    Flow cytometric studies of cellular DNA and RNA content using the acridine-orange technique were conducted in 81 patients with multiple myeloma (MM). All patients were treated with the M-2 protocol and clinical response was evaluated according to the criteria of the Chronic Leukemia-Myeloma Task Force. Aneuploid DNA stemlines were found in 38.2% of untreated patients with a median DNA index (DNA-I) of 1.15 in marrow aspirates and 1.22 in biopsy specimens. The median percentage of cells with abnormal DNA content was 31.5 (aspirates) and 35 (biopsy specimens) and a positive correlation with the percentage of bone marrow plasma cells was observed. Significantly higher proliferation (S-phase) was found in marrow biopsy specimens as compared with marrow aspirates. Significantly higher RNA content (RNA index [RNA-I]) was observed in aneuploid versus diploid patients in biopsy material. There was no difference in response to the Memorial Hospital M-2 protocol between diploid and aneuploid patients. In patients with DNA-I greater than 1.15 remission duration was shorter as compared with DNA-I less than or equal to 1.15. Furthermore, no difference in cellular RNA content was noted between responders and nonresponders. This study demonstrates no correlation between cellular RNA content and response, as previously described for patients treated with vincristine, Adriamycin, and dexamethasone (VAD), but DNA aneuploidy appears to be an adverse prognostic factor in MM patients treated with the M-2 protocol. It also demonstrates that prognostic models for MM are not universal but depend on the chemotherapeutic regimen used

    Cytokine-regulated expression of survivin in myeloid leukemia

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    : Survivin, a member of the inhibitors-of-apoptosis gene family, is expressed in a cell-cycle-dependent manner in all the most common cancers but not in normal differentiated adult tissues. Survivin expression and regulation were examined in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Survivin was detected by Western blot analysis in all myeloid leukemia cell lines and in 16 of 18 primary AML samples tested. In contrast, normal CD34(+) cells and normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells expressed no or very low levels of survivin. Cytokine stimulation increased survivin expression in leukemic cell lines and in primary AML samples. In cultured primary samples, single-cytokine stimulation substantially increased survivin expression in comparison with control cells, and the combination of G-CSF, GM-CSF, and SCF increased survivin levels even further. Conversely, all-trans retinoic acid significantly decreased survivin protein levels in HL-60, OCI-AML3, and NB-4 cells within 96 hours, parallel to the induction of myelomonocytic differentiation. Using selective pharmacologic inhibitors, the differential involvement of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) and phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) pathways were demonstrated in the regulation of survivin expression. The MEK inhibitor PD98059 down-regulated survivin expression in both resting and GM-CSF-stimulated OCI-AML3 cells, whereas the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 inhibited survivin expression only on GM-CSF stimulation. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that survivin is highly expressed and cytokine-regulated in myeloid leukemias and suggest that hematopoietic cytokines exert their antiapoptotic and mitogenic effects, at least in part, by increasing survivin levels

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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