Release of early human hematopoietic progenitors from quiescence by antisense transforming growth factor beta 1 or Rb oligonucleotides.

We have used antisense oligonucleotides to study the roles of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) and the two antioncogenes, retinoblastoma susceptibility (Rb) and p53, in the negative regulation of proliferation of early hematopoietic cells in culture. The antisense TGF-beta sequence significantly enhanced the frequency of colony formation by multi-lineage, early erythroid, and granulomonocytic progenitors, but did not affect colony formation by late progenitors. Single cell culture and limiting dilution analysis indicated that autocrine TGF-beta is produced by a subpopulation of early progenitors. Antisense Rb but not antisense p53 yielded similar results in releasing multipotential progenitors (colony-forming unit-granulocyte/erythroid/macrophage/megakaryocyte) from quiescence. Rb antisense could partially reverse the inhibitory effect of exogenous TGF-beta. Anti-TGF-beta blocking antibodies, antisense TGF-beta, or Rb oligonucleotides all had similar effects. No additive effects were observed when these reagents were combined, suggesting a common pathway of action. Our results are consistent with the model that autocrine production of TGF-beta negatively regulates the cycling status of early hematopoietic progenitors through interaction with the Rb gene product.

A sub-population of high proliferative potential-quiescent human mesenchymal stem cells is under the reversible control of interferon alpha/beta.

Type I interferon (IFN) is shown to control the reversible quiescence of a primitive human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) subpopulation. A 24 h pre-treatment of Stro1+/GlycoA- or CD45-/GlycoA- subpopulations with a monoclonal antibody (mAb) against the IFNAR1 chain of the human type I IFN receptor (64G12), or with a polyclonal anti-IFNalpha antibody, resulted in a marked increase in the number of very large colonies (CFU-F >3000 cells) obtained in the presence of low, but necessary, concentrations of bFGF. Over a 2-month culture period, this short activation promoted a faster and greater amplification of mesenchymal progenitors for adipocytes and osteoblasts. Activation correlated with inhibition of STAT1 and STAT2 phosphorylation and of STAT1 nuclear translocation. A non-neutralizing anti-IFNAR1 mAb was ineffective. We demonstrate that control and activated MSCs express ST3GAL3, a sialyltransferase necessary to produce the embryonic antigens SSEA-3 and -4. Interestingly, activated MSC progeny expressed SSEA-3 and -4 at a higher level than control cultures, but this was not correlated with a significant expression of other embryonic markers. As MSCs represent an essential tool in tissue regeneration, the use of 64G12, which rapidly recruits a higher number of primitive cells, might increase amplification safety for cell therapy.

Location of adult and fetal aldolases A, B, and C by immunoperoxidase technique in LF fast-growing rat hepatomas.

The resurgence of aldolase isozymes in cancerous tissues is a well-known but poorly understood phenomenon. This resurgence poses the problem of whether or not adult and fetal aldolase isozymes are produced by the same cells. For clarification of this question, the immunoperoxidase technique was used to locate aldolases A, B, and C in one type of fast-growing hepatoma, the LF hepatoma and, by comparison, in normal adult liver. Under optical microscopy, aldolases A and C were located in the cytoplasm of almost all of the cancerous cells. An isozyme antigenically identical with aldolase B was also demonstrated to be present in almost all of the cells, but the reaction indicating the presence of this isozyme was weaker. In normal adult liver, only aldolases A and B were demonstrated to be present in almost all the hepatocytes. Under electron microscopy in LF hepatoma, the three isozymes were found to be present mainly in the cytoplasm. These facts suggest that the three types of aldolase are very probably present in the same cells at the same time, and they provide indirect arguments leading us to think that the resurgence of fetal aldolase isozymes in cancer is not the consequence of cellular selection but is due to a disturbance at the gene control level.

c-fos mRNA constitutive expression by mature human megakaryocytes.

By in situ hybridization with a c-fos probe, we have shown that human bone marrow megakaryocytes cultured in the presence of 20% aplastic anemia plasma constitutively express c-fos mRNA. At day 0, megakaryocytes are mostly immature and only 3% of them are labeled. The number of labeled cells reached 23% after 12 days of culture. Interleukin 3 (IL-3) and IL-6 added together at day 10 further increased this number to 31% 2 days later. Mature labeled megakaryocytes were more numerous and more strongly labeled than immature ones. These results suggest that c-fos could play a role in megakaryocytic terminal differentiation, either in the polyploidization or in the thrombopoietic function unique to these cells.

Dexamethasone-induced stimulation of arachidonic acid release by U937 cells grown in defined medium.

Since the presence of serum in culture media has been shown to alter prostaglandin production, as well as to interfere with the action of anti-inflammatory drugs, we have studied the effect of dexamethasone, a potent steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, on the metabolism of arachidonic acid by human monocyte-like cells (U937) grown in a fully defined medium. Under these culture conditions, dexamethasone (10(-6) M, 24 h) induced a marked stimulation of the release of unmetabolized arachidonic acid into the culture medium. The steroid also induced an inhibition of cell proliferation which became significant only after 48 h of treatment. The accumulation of arachidonic acid in the medium after steroid treatment was associated with a significant inhibition of cell acyltransferase activity, suggesting that steroids may also act upon arachidonic acid metabolism at sites other than those of phospholipase activity.

Additive effects of steel factor and antisense TGF-beta 1 oligodeoxynucleotide on CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells.

We previously demonstrated that TGF-beta 1 antisense oligodeoxynucleotides can release early CD34+ bone marrow progenitors from quiescence, and increase the numbers of mixed and large erythroid colonies. As Steel Factor (SF) has a similar effect on colony formation by CD34+ cells, we tested whether this factor acts by blocking the inhibitory effects of TGF-beta. That this is not generally the case was demonstrated by the finding that the combination of TGF-beta 1 antisense with SF in cultures of CD34+ bone marrow cells yielded enhanced colony formation that was more than additive when compared to cultures containing the single agents. This combination also yielded enhanced colony formation by CD34+ umbilical cord blood cells, but in this case, the effect was slightly less than additive. Thus in cord blood, some, but not all, of the progenitors that are maintained in quiescence by TGF-beta can be triggered into cycle by SF. However, the absolute number of CFU-GEMMs found in the antisense TGF-beta plus SF cultures of cord blood was 4-fold higher than that found in comparable bone marrow cultures. These data correlate well with our previous observations that umbilical cord blood contains 4-fold more CD34+ CD38- cells, the population found to respond to TGF-beta 1 antisense oligodeoxynucleotides.

An improved panning technique for the selection of CD34+ human bone marrow hematopoietic cells with high recovery of early progenitors.

The human hematopoietic pluripotent repopulating "stem cell" is thought to be present within a minor subpopulation of CD34+ cells. This has not been definitively shown, although the more primitive CD34+ cell subset contains precursors for all lymphoid and nonlymphoid cell lineages. When purifying CD34+ cells, it is important to recover these early progenitors, which are more strongly immunoadsorbent to the separation devices. Using a commercialized panning system (AIS CELLector flasks), we observed that a high degree of purity requires a thorough washing procedure so that cells not binding or weakly binding to CD34 antibodies are removed. High recoveries can be obtained if the adherent cells are then efficiently detached by a 2-hour incubation in culture medium without added cytokines. In this way, we can routinely obtain 93.5 +/- 3.4% purity of CD34+ cells with a 74% yield of the multipotent colony-forming units (CFU-GEMM). Complete recovery of the putative "stem cell," or at least the early progenitor cell compartment (CD34+ CD38low/- CD34+ Thy-1+ cells), is also obtained. More than 30% of these cells can generate day-14 colonies in vitro. Comparable results were obtained when the separation was scaled up for clinical application using appropriate large-scale devices. The various incubation times of the procedure can be easily adjusted to the work schedule. This renders the procedure easy to handle, efficient, safe, and, because the cells can be observed under light microscopy, easy to control.

Increased stable retroviral gene transfer in early hematopoietic progenitors released from quiescence.

It has been previously demonstrated that prestimulation with cytokines could improve gene transfer in hematopoietic progenitors. However, we have shown that no combination of cytokines so far tested is able to release rapidly in vitro the stem cell compartment from quiescence unless an autocrine transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) is blocked by specific oligonucleotide antisense or antiserum (Hatzfeld et al., 1991, J. Exp. Med., 174, 925). We now report that a 10-hr cytokine prestimulation of SBA-CD34high human umbilical cord blood progenitors increases retrovirally mediated transfer of the nls-lacZ reporter gene from 1% to 23.8% and addition of anti-TGF-beta serum doubles this increase (47.3%). Interestingly, the effect of anti-TGF-beta preincubation on gene transfer is most effective on the most immature progenitors, which develop into high proliferative potential mixed colonies with 1-2 x 10(5) cells. Anti-TGF-beta serum pretreatment increases gene transfer in these early colony-forming units granulocyte-erythroid-megakaryocyte-macrophage (CFU-GEMM) from 54.1% to 93.3%. It augments significantly the stability of gene expression in all subpopulations of mixed colonies. Colonies obtained after pretreatment with anti-TGF-beta serum are larger and the expression of the stably integrated recombinant provirus does not reduce their size. This prestimulation method provides a substantial improvement for gene transfer efficiency within the quiescent stem cell compartment that is responsible for long-term engraftment.

DNA transfection in COS cells: a low-cost serum-free method compared to lipofection.

We describe a defined medium that allows efficient DNA transfections in COS cells and transient expression of the corresponding recombinant protein in serum-free conditions. With a modified DEAE-dextran/chloroquine method, we obtained 80% more transfected cells expressing the recombinant human interleukin-2 receptor than with transfection with cationic liposomes, one of the most efficient techniques to date. The absence of serum in the culture medium should reduce subsequent purification steps for production of recombinant mammalian proteins. Moreover, it should allow investigations dealing with the role of serum or other exogenous factors on mRNA stability or post-translation events during protein synthesis.

Specific dose-response effects of TGF-beta1 on developmentally distinct hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells from human umbilical cord blood.

INTRODUCTION: Transforming Growth Factor-beta1 is known to maintain primitive human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells in a quiescent state. However, its specific role in the control of distinct progenitor cell types needs to be further elucidated. In this study, we have investigated the dose-response effect of TGF-beta1 on progenitors ranging from primitive high proliferative potential (HPP)-Mix, -GM or -BFU-E to later BFU-E, CFU-G or CFU-M. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A clonal semi-solid assay has been used to analyze the effects of a TGF-beta1 blocking antibody (anti-TGF-beta1) or that of active TGF-beta1 added to the medium at concentrations from 10-3000 pg/ml, on these different hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell types. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A preferential growth inhibitory effect on the earlier progenitors was observed when low concentrations of TGF-beta1 (10-300 pg/ml) were used. Concentrations of 10-30 pg/ml TGF-beta1 were sufficient to inhibit 90% of the primitive multipotent HPP-Mix, while 100-300 pg/ml TGF-beta1 were required to inhibit 70% of the bipotent HPP-GM and early HPP-BFU-E. TGF-beta1 did not significantly inhibit or activate the growth of later CFU-G and CFU-M, even when added at concentrations 10-100 fold higher. In contrast, a significant growth-inducing effect of very low TGF-beta1 concentrations (< or =30 pg/ml) on a subset of later BFU-E was observed and cannot be explained by a switch of early into later BFU-E. These results emphasize the polyfunctional role of TGF-beta1 in the regulation of hematopoiesis and the need for low, physiological concentrations of TGF-beta1, when studying both the stem cell compartment and more mature progenitor cell subpopulations.

Isoelectrofocusing of aldolase B from normal human livers and from livers with hereditary fructose intolerance.

By isoelectrofocusing in thin-layer acrylamide-ampholine gel, normal human aldolase B has been resolved into 5 bands. Moreover we were able to specifically stain (after isoelectrofocusing) the mutated aldolase B in livers with hereditary fructose intolerance, and to show that only the 3 most anodic bands are seen. Some different hypotheses are discussed to account for the microheterogeneity of the normal aldolase B, and for the different isoelectrofocusing pattern found in livers with hereditary fructose intolerance.

Fibrinogen cooperates with cytokines to induce interleukin-6 receptor mRNA expression in human hematopoietic CD34+ progenitors.

We have previously demonstrated that purified human fibrinogen (Fg), a major plasma component removed during serum preparation, shows mitogenic properties towards lymphoma cells and normal human hematopoietic progenitors. Indeed, adding Fg with IL-3 to a serum-containing medium stimulates growth of human CD34+ progenitors. In this report, we show in serum-free medium, that this stimulating effect only occurs in the presence of IL-6. To clarify the cooperative effect between Fg and IL-6, the kinetics of IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) mRNA expression in CD34+ cells have been analyzed by semi-quantitative in situ hybridization. In the presence of both IL-3 and Fg, more cells express IL-6R mRNA, and this expression per cell is significantly greater than with each factor added separately. These results suggest that Fg does not promote the growth of normal cells by itself, but sensitizes the cells to cytokines. Fg behaves not as a "progression" factor but as a typical "competence" factor, which induces a faster and greater IL-6R expression in early human hematopoietic progenitors by cooperating with other cytokines.

[New therapeutic approachs in melanoma]. / Approches thérapeutiques innovantes dans le mélanome.

During the last decade, new insights in cellular and molecular biology have opened new avenues in cancer immunotherapy. Two distinct modalities have been developed: adoptive immunotherapy and anti-tumoral vaccination (active immunotherapy). We will first describe the main strategies of adoptive immunotherapy and then elaborate on the protocols of anti-tumoral vaccination against tumor associated antigens (TAA). In that context, we will pay peculiar attention on the pivotal role of dendritic cells (DC) as natural adjuvant.

[Human embryonic stem cells: practical problems and scientific potentialities]. / Les cellules souches embryonnaires humaines: problèmes pratiques et potentialités scientifiques.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are derived from pre-implantation embryos given to research with the informed consent of the parents. These cells cannot give rise to a human being: they are not totipotent. They have an unlimited self-renewal capacity and they can generate the three embryonic germ layers, their respective derivatives and the extra-embryonic tissues: they are pluripotent. These cells represent an outstanding material for understanding functional genomics of not yet characterized human genes. They will be an important tool for pharmaceutical and clinical research.