BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The regulation of hematopoiesis by marrow stroma in vitro, has been shown to be abnormal in some patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). This study was performed to assess whether a range of mechanisms may be altered within the MDS microenvironment. DESIGN AND METHODS The effects of diffusible factors produced by normal or MDS stromal layers on hematopoietic c...

BACKGROUND Keratocyte loss by apoptosis following epithelial debridement is a well-recognized entity. In a study of corneal buttons obtained from patients of corneal ulcer undergoing therapeutic keratoplasty, we observed loss of keratocytes in the normal appearing corneal stroma, surrounding the zone of inflammation. Based on these observations, we hypothesized that the cell loss in the inflamm...

Patients with low-grade myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) show high levels of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and up-regulation of apoptosis in the marrow. In contrast, marrow cells in advanced MDS are typically resistant to TNFα-induced apoptosis but are rendered apoptosis-sensitive on coculture with stroma. The present studies show that CD34(+) marrow cells in advanced MDS express high levels of...

PURPOSE To study the role of tears in the death of keratocytes after epithelium removal in the mouse cornea. METHODS In anesthetized mice, an approximately 1-mm circle of epithelium was removed from the center of the cornea, exposing the underlying stroma. In one group of animals, access of tears to the bare stroma was allowed-in vivo, by closing the eyelids, or ex vivo, by dropping tears fro...

Patients with low-grade myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) show high levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF ) and upregulation of apoptosis in the marrow. In contrast, marrow cells in advanced MDS are typically resistant to TNF -induced apoptosis but are rendered apoptosissensitive on coculture with stroma. The present studies show that CD34 marrow cells in advanced MDS express high levels of TWIST,...

We previously analyzed human prostate tissue containing stroma near to tumor and from cancer-negative tissues of volunteers. Over 100 candidate gene expression differences were identified and used to develop a classifier that could detect nearby tumor with an accuracy of 97% (sensitivity = 98% and specificity = 88%) based on 364 independent test cases from primarily European American cases. The...