Zebrafish were proposed as an alternative to mammalian models to assess the efficacy and toxicity of antileukemic drugs. Due to the limited number of transgenic zebrafish leukemia models, we explored human leukemic cell xenograft in zebrafish embryos. Human leukemic cell lines and blast cells sorted from patients with acute myelogenous leukemia were injected 48 hours post-fertilization and rema...

The i.p. transplantation of viable leukemic cells from AKR mice to newborn W /Fu rats resulted in 2 manifestations of lymphoid leukemia. An early form was characterized by growth of the transplanted leukemic cells in the abdominal cavity. Late leukemias were thymic lymphosarcomas with or without leukemic blood changes (12). Late leukemias were previously considered viral tumors induced by the l...

The discovery in human leukemic cells of particulate elements encapsulating 70S RNA and RNA-directed DNA polymerase made possible the synthesis of a [(3)H]DNA probe that could detect leukemia-specific sequences in the DNA of normal and leukemic individuals. In an earlier study of a series of unrelated leukemic patients, we established that the nuclear DNA of their leukemic cells contain particl...

The biological roles of the soluble granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) receptor, which arises as a result of alternative RNA splicing, are as yet unknown. In this study, we examined the in vitro effect of a chimeric protein composed of the extracellular region of a murine G-CSF receptor and the human IgG1 Fc region because a human natural soluble G-CSF receptor was not available. Fir...

The existence of cancer stem cells has long been postulated, but was proven less than 20 years ago following the demonstration that only a small sub-fraction of leukemic cells from acute myeloid leukemia patients were able to propagate the disease in xenografts. These cells were termed leukemic stem cells since they exist at the apex of a loose hierarchy, possess extensive self-renewal and the ...

Imatinib and other tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) have improved treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML); however, most patients are not cured. Deeper mechanistic understanding may improve TKI combination therapies to better control the residual leukemic cell population. In analyzing our patients' data, we found that many patients who otherwise responded well to imatinib therapy still ...

In some inbred strains of mice a large number die of leukemia. The role of heredity in leukemia has been studied by many investigators, who have observed leukemic incidences in hybrids of high and low leukemic strains. Reviewing these studies, Fur th (S) states that the evidence that genes are a strong influence on the incidence of leukemia is conclusive but that environmental factors modify th...

BACKGROUND Leukemic cells originate from hypoxic bone marrow, which protects them from anti-cancer drugs. Although many factors that cause drug resistance in leukemic cells have been studied, the effect of hypoxia on drug-induced apoptosis is still poorly understood. METHODS In this study, we examined the effect of hypoxia on anti-leukemic drug resistance in leukemic cell lines treated with c...

A costimulatory signal from B7-1 (CD80) to its counter-receptor CD28 is required for T-cell activation. Many tumors, including most human leukemias, lack expression of B7-1, and this has been suggested to contribute to the failure of immune recognition of these diseases. A murine leukemia model system was developed to assess the potential role of B7-1 in the induction immunity to leukemia cells...