1,720,957 research outputs found

    The JAK3-selective inhibitor PF-956980 reverses the resistance to cytotoxic agents induced by interleukin-4 treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells: potential for reversal of cytoprotection by the microenvironment

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    Extensive evidence suggests that the malignant cells of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients are in close contact with activated T lymphocytes, which secrete a range of cytoprotective cytokines including interleukin-4 (IL-4). IL-4 induced the rapid phosphorylation and activation of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 transcription factor in CLL cells in vitro. Longer incubation with IL-4 resulted in up-regulation of the antiapoptotic proteins, Mcl-1 and Bcl-X(L). All of these events were blocked by the JAK3-selective inhibitor, PF-956980. A dye reduction cytotoxicity assay showed that IL-4 induced resistance to the cytotoxic drugs fludarabine and chlorambucil and to the novel p53-elevating agent nutlin 3. IL-4-induced drug resistance was reversed by PF-956980. These conclusions were confirmed by independent assays for apoptosis induction (annexin V binding, cleavage of poly[ADP-ribose] polymerase, and morphologic analysis). Coculture with bone marrow stromal cells in the presence of supernatants derived from activated T-lymphocyte cultures also protected CLL cells from apoptosis induction by chlorambucil. Protection by these combined signals was reversed by PF-956980. The data here provide a preclinical rationale for the possible therapeutic use of PF-956980 in conjunction with conventional cytotoxic drugs to achieve more extensive killing of CLL cells by overcoming antiapoptotic signaling by the microenvironment

    Selective apoptotic killing of malignant hemopoietic cells by antibody-targeted delivery of an amphipathic peptide.

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    The alpha-helical amphipathic peptide D-(KLAKLAK)2 is toxic to eukaryotic cells if internalized by a suitable targeting mechanism. We have targeted this peptide to malignant hemopoietic cells via conjugation to monoclonal antibodies, which recognize lineage-specific cell surface molecules. An anti-CD19/peptide conjugate efficiently killed 3/3 B lymphoid lines. However, an anti-CD33/peptide conjugate was cytotoxic to only one of three CD33-positive myeloid leukemia lines. The IC50 towards susceptible lines were in the low nanomolar range. Conjugates were highly selective and did not kill cells that did not express the appropriate cell surface cognate of the antibody moiety. Anti-CD19/peptide conjugates efficiently killed cells from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia but anti-CD33/peptide reagents were less effective against fresh acute myeloid leukemia cells. We therefore suggest that amphipathic peptides may be of value as targeted therapeutic agents for the treatment of a subset of hematologic malignancie

    Differential cytopathology and kinetics of measles oncolysis in T=two primary B-cell malignancies provides mechanistic insights

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    Clinical trials using vaccine measles virus (MV) as anticancer therapy are already underway. We compared the oncolytic potential of MV in two B-cell malignancies; adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL, an aggressive leukemia) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL, an indolent leukemia overexpressing Bcl-2) using patient-derived material. In vitro, distinct cytopathological effects were observed between MV-infected primary ALL and CLL cells, with large multinucleated syncytia forming in ALL cultures compared to minimal cell-to-cell fusion in infected CLL cells. Cell viability and immunoblotting studies confirmed rapid cell death in MV-infected ALL cultures and slower MV oncolysis of CLL cells. In cell lines, overexpression of Bcl-2 diminished MV-induced cell death providing a possible mechanism for the slower kinetic of MV oncolysis in CLL. In vivo, intratumoral MV treatment of established subcutaneous ALL xenografts had striking antitumor activity leading to complete resolution of all tumors. The antitumor activity of MV was also evident in disseminated ALL xenograft models. In summary, both ALL and CLL are targets for MV-mediated lysis albeit with different kinetics. The marked sensitivity of both primary ALL cells and ALL xenografts to MV oncolysis highlights the tremendous potential of MV as a novel replicating-virus therapy for adult AL

    2-Phenylacetylenesulfonamide (PAS) induces p53-independent apoptotic killing of B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells.

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    We studied the actions of 2-phenylacetylenesulfonamide (PAS) on B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells. PAS (5-20 microM) initiated apoptosis within 24 hours, with maximal death at 48 hours asassessed by morphology, cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), caspase 3 activation, and annexin V staining. PAS treatment induced Bax proapoptotic conformational change, Bax movement from the cytosol to the mitochondria, and cytochrome c release, indicating that PAS induced apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway. PAS induced approximately 3-fold up-regulation of proapoptotic Noxa protein and mRNA levels. In addition, Noxa was found unexpectedly to be bound to Bcl-2 in PAS-treated cells. PAS treatment of CLL cells failed to up-regulate p53, suggesting that PAS induced apoptosis independently of p53. Furthermore, PAS induced apoptosis in CLL isolates with p53 gene deletion in more than 97% of cells. Normal B lymphocytes were as sensitive to PAS-induced Noxa up-regulation and apoptosis as were CLL cells. However, both T lymphocytes and bone marrow hematopoietic progenitor cells were relatively resistant to PAS. Our data suggest that PAS may represent a novel class of drug that induces apoptosis in CLL cells independently of p53 status by a mechanism involving Noxa up-regulation

    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

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more sophisticated methods

    Author Index

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