Assessing the delivery of neutrophils to tissues in neutropenia

Studies of neutrophil kinetics in neutropenic individuals, as well as clinical observations of variability in the occurrence of infection among patients with neutropenia, have suggested that blood neutrophil counts may not uniformly reflect the effective delivery of neutrophils to extravascular tissues where the cells perform their principal host defense functions. To evaluate this possibility we developed a sensitive, reproducible method of measuring the extravascular delivery of neutrophils to a normal mucosal site of neutrophil turnover. This method is based upon the quantification of neutrophils recoverable from saline mouth wash specimens. Twenty-five mL specimens, obtained in a controlled manner from neutropenic patients and normal subjects, were centrifuged and the sediments resuspended in 1.0 mL Hank's buffer with 2 micrograms acridine orange, incubated at 37 degrees C for 15 minutes, and then examined in a hemocytometer chamber by fluorescence microscopy. Neutrophils could be clearly distinguished by their characteristic fluorescence and were counted. With this method as few as 1,500 neutrophils were detected reliably in mouth wash specimens. Mucosal neutrophil counts varied less than 10% with repeated sampling of individual subjects over 5-day periods and were consistently greater than 1.3 X 10(5)/specimen in non-neutropenic individuals. Although profound neutropenia was generally reflected by lower than normal oral mucosal neutrophil counts, these counts were significantly higher in individuals with chronic severe neutropenia (blood neutrophils less than 300/mm3) than in patients with acute neutropenia of comparable severity that had developed following chemotherapy. Also, in individuals recovering from profound neutropenia, neutrophils usually reappeared earlier in mouth wash specimens than in blood, and oral mucosal neutrophil counts attained recovery levels more rapidly than did blood counts. This phenomenon was particularly evident in an individual with cyclic neutropenia. Moreover, mucosal neutrophils could occasionally be detected in profoundly neutropenic patients when neutrophils were not present in blood samples. These findings indicate that mucosal neutrophil counts in individuals with neutropenia provide information about the delivery of neutrophils to tissues that may not be apparent from blood neutrophil counts alone.     

Influence of age on the clinical and biological characteristics of systemic scleroderma

PURPOSE: The present study was aimed at assessing the influence of age on clinical and biological features of systemic sclerosis. METHODS: This retrospective study included 151 consecutive patients with systemic sclerosis. The median age at diagnosis was 50.0 years (range: 10-84 years). Patients were divided into two groups according to their age (lower than 50.0 years of age: 73 patients, equal to or above 50 years of age: 78 patients). The following features were compared between the two groups: gender, disease duration, extent of skin sclerosis, Crest syndrome, lung fibrosis, secondary Sj?gren's syndrome, antinuclear, anticentromere, and anti-Scl70 antibodies. RESULTS: The disease duration was significantly higher in patients over 50 years of age (7.1 +/- 6.8 years vs 5.5 +/- 5.0 years, P < 0.05). Crest syndrome, secondary Sj?gren's syndrome and anticentromere antibodies were significantly more common in patients over 50 years of age (17/73 vs 30/78, P < 10(-2); 9/73 vs 20/78, P < 10(-2), and 19/73 vs 31/78, P < 0.05; respectively). Anti-Scl70 antibodies were significantly more common in patients under 50 years of age (17/73 vs 10/78, P < 10(-2)). No significant difference was found in regard to the other features. CONCLUSION: The clinical and biological patterns of systemic sclerosis are different according to the age at disease onset. Crest syndrome including anticentromere antibodies and Sj?gren's syndrome is more common in elderly patients, while anti- Scl-70 antibodies are more common in younger patients. This suggests the involvement of various mechanisms in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis, and that these mechanisms may depend on the age.     

Amplification of genes encoding human myeloid membrane antigens after DNA-mediated gene transfer

Spontaneous amplification of genes encoding two different human myeloid surface antigens was observed after DNA-mediated gene transfer of cellular DNA from the human myeloid cell line HL-60 into NIH-3T3 mouse fibroblasts. Transformed recipient cells with highly amplified expression of either of two donor membrane polypeptides, gp150 or p67, were isolated with a fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS), using monoclonal antibodies specific for human myeloid cells. Immunoprecipitation of enzymatically radioiodinated polypeptides from the surface of transformed NIH-3T3 cells confirmed that expression of these proteins was amplified tenfold to 20-fold in comparison to their expression on human myeloid cell lines. The cellular DNA of cloned secondary and tertiary transformants expressing high levels of gp150 and p67 contained amplified sets of DNA restriction fragments that hybridized with human repetitive DNA sequences. Cytogenetic analysis of subclones overexpressing gp150 revealed extrachromosomal double minutes (DMs), whose presence correlated with the unstable expression of the membrane polypeptide. Human sequences in gp150-positive clones did not localize to chromosomes, consistent with their association with extrachromosomal DMs. By contrast, p67-positive subclones stably expressed the antigen, and in situ hybridization to metaphase spreads demonstrated that amplified human DNA sequences were integrated into a specific marker chromosome. Cytogenetic analysis of the parental NIH- 3T3 subclone used in these studies disclosed DMs in a low percentage of metaphases, suggesting that the recipient cells have a propensity for amplifying donor DNA.     

Molecular heterogeneity in acute leukemia lineage switch

Six cases of acute leukemia that underwent lineage switch from acute lymphocytic leukemia to acute myelogenous leukemia are reported. The mean age of the patients was 24 years, time to conversion was 36 months, and survival after conversion was only 3 months. Of the three cases which showed abnormal metaphases at both diagnosis and conversion, two (cases 2, 5) showed related cytogenetic abnormalities, and the third showed (case 3) independent chromosomal changes. Molecular analysis for immunoglobulin heavy chain and T-cell receptor beta chain genes showed that five of the six cases had rearrangement of at least one of these lymphoid associated genes at conversion to acute myelogenous leukemia. The single case (case 3) in which there were no lymphoid gene rearrangements at conversion was also the only case in which independent karyotypic abnormalities at diagnosis and conversion were demonstrated. Our findings suggest that lineage switch can represent either relapse of the original clone with heterogeneity at the molecular level or the emergence of a second new leukemic clone without molecular heterogeneity.     

5-hydroxytryptamine 2B receptor regulates cell-cycle progression: cross-talk with tyrosine kinase pathways

In this paper, we present evidence that activation of 5-hydroxytryptamine 2B (5-HT2B) receptors by serotonin (5-HT) leads to cell-cycle progression through retinoblastoma protein hyperphosphorylation and through activation of both cyclin D1/cdk4 and cyclin E/cdk2 kinases by a mechanism that depends on induction of cyclin D1 and cyclin E protein levels. The induction of cyclin D1 expression, but not that of cyclin E, is under mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) control, indicating an independent regulation of these two cyclins in the 5-HT2B receptor mitogenesis. Moreover, by using the specific platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) inhibitor AG 1296 or by overexpressing a kinase-mutant PDGFR, we show that PDGFR kinase activity is essential for 5-HT2B-triggered MAPK/cyclin D1, but not cyclin E, signaling pathways. 5-HT2B receptor activation also increases activity of the Src family kinase, c-Src, Fyn, and c-Yes. Strikingly, c-Src, but not Fyn or c-Yes, is the crucial molecule between the G(q) protein-coupled 5-HT2B receptor and the cell-cycle regulators. Inhibition of c-Src activity by 4-amino-5-(4-methylphenyl)-7-(t-butyl)pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine (PP1) or depletion of c-Src is sufficient to abolish the 5-HT-induced (i) PDGFR tyrosine kinase phosphorylation and MAPK activation, (ii) cyclin D1 and cyclin E expression levels, and (iii) thymidine incorporation. This paper elucidates a model of 5-HT2B receptor mitogenesis in which c-Src acts alone to control cyclin E induction and in concert with the receptor tyrosine kinase PDGFR to induce cyclin D1 expression via the MAPK/ERK pathway.     

Biological evaluation of intervertebral disc cells in different formulations of gellan gum‐based hydrogels

Gellan gum (GG)‐based hydrogels are advantageous in tissue engineering not only due to their ability to retain large quantities of water and provide a similar environment to that of natural extracellular matrix (ECM), but also because they can gelify in situ in seconds. Their mechanical properties can be fine‐tuned to mimic natural tissues such as the nucleus pulposus (NP). This study produced different formulations of GG hydrogels by mixing varying amounts of methacrylated (GG‐MA) and high‐acyl gellan gums (HA‐GG) for applications as acellular and cellular NP substitutes. The hydrogels were physicochemically characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis. Degradation and swelling abilities were assessed by soaking in a phosphate buffered saline solution for up to 170 h. Results showed that as HA‐GG content increased, the modulus of the hydrogels decreased. Moreover, increases in HA‐GG content induced greater weight loss in the GG‐MA/HA‐GG formulation compared to GG‐MA hydrogel. Potential cytotoxicity of the hydrogel was assessed by culturing rabbit NP cells up to 7 days. An MTS assay was performed by seeding rabbit NP cells onto the surface of 3D hydrogel disc formulations. Viability of rabbit NP cells encapsulated within the different hydrogel formulations was also evaluated by Calcein‐AM and ATP assays. Results showed that tunable GG‐MA/HA‐GG hydrogels were non‐cytotoxic and supported viability of rabbit NP cells. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.