Puberty Blocker and Aging Impact on Testicular Cell States and Function.

Spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) acquisition of meiotogenetic state during puberty to produce genetically diverse gametes is blocked by drugs collectively referred as 'puberty blocker' (PB). Investigating the impact of PB on juvenile SSC state and function is challenging due to limited tissue access and clinical data. Herein, we report largest clinically annotated juvenile testicular biorepository with all children with gender dysphoria on chronic PB treatment highlighting shift in pediatric patient demography in US.

Analysis of parameters that affect human hematopoietic cell outputs in mutant c-kit-immunodeficient mice.

Xenograft models are transforming our understanding of the output capabilities of primitive human hematopoietic cells in vivo. However, many variables that affect posttransplantation reconstitution dynamics remain poorly understood. Here, we show that an equivalent level of human chimerism can be regenerated from human CD34 cord blood cells transplanted intravenously either with or without additional radiation-inactivated cells into 2- to 6-month-old NOD-Rag1-IL2Rγc (NRG) mice given a more radioprotective conditioning regimen than is possible in conventionally used, repair-deficient NOD-Prkdc-IL2Rγc (NSG) hosts.

Dissociation of Survival, Proliferation, and State Control in Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells.

The role of growth factors (GFs) in controlling the biology of human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) remains limited by a lack of information concerning the individual and combined effects of GFs directly on the survival, Mitogenesis, and regenerative activity of highly purified human HSCs. We show that the initial input HSC activity of such a purified starting population of human cord blood cells can be fully maintained over a 21-day period in serum-free medium containing five GFs alone. HSC survival was partially supported by any one of these GFs, but none were essential, and different combinations of GFs variably stimulated HSC proliferation.

Distinct signaling programs control human hematopoietic stem cell survival and proliferation.

Several growth factors (GFs) that together promote quiescent human hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) expansion ex vivo have been identified; however, the molecular mechanisms by which these GFs regulate the survival, proliferation. and differentiation of human HSCs remain poorly understood. We now describe experiments in which we used mass cytometry to simultaneously measure multiple surface markers, transcription factors, active signaling intermediates, viability, and cell-cycle indicators in single CD34 cord blood cells before and up to 2 hours after their stimulation with stem cell factor, Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand, interleukin-3, interleukin-6, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (5 GFs) either alone or combined.

Early production of human neutrophils and platelets posttransplant is severely compromised by growth factor exposure.

The critical human cells that produce neutrophils and platelets within 3 weeks in recipients of hematopoietic transplants are thought to produce these mature blood cells with the same kinetics in sublethally irradiated immunodeficient mice. Quantification of their numbers indicates their relative underrepresentation in cord blood (CB), likely explaining the clinical inadequacy of single CB units in rescuing hematopoiesis in myelosuppressed adult patients. We here describe that exposure of CD34(+) CB cells ex vivo to growth factors that markedly expand their numbers and colony-forming cell content also rapidly (within 24 hours) produce a significant and sustained net loss of their original short-term repopulating activity.

Mercury Emission Ratios from Coal-Fired Power Plants in the Southeastern United States during NOMADSS.

We use measurements made onboard the National Science Foundation's C-130 research aircraft during the 2013 Nitrogen, Oxidants, Mercury, and Aerosol Distributions, Sources, and Sinks (NOMADSS) experiment to examine total Hg (THg) emission ratios (EmRs) for six coal-fired power plants (CFPPs) in the southeastern U.S. We compare observed enhancement ratios (ERs) with EmRs calculated using Hg emissions data from two inventories: the National Emissions Inventory (NEI) and the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI).

Dominant-negative IKAROS enhances IL-3-stimulated signaling in wild-type but not BCR-ABL1(+) mouse BA/F3 cells.

Inactivating mutations in IKZF1, the gene that encodes the transcription factor IKAROS, are recurrent in poor-prognosis human B-cell leukemias, in which these mutations co-exist with BCR-ABL1 or other genetic changes that activate similar intracellular signaling pathways. However, little is known about the mechanism(s) by which loss of IKAROS activity may co-operate with BCR-ABL1 to transform lymphoid cells. To investigate this question, we used expression of a dominant-negative isoform of IKAROS (IK6) to suppress endogenous IKAROS activity in the interleukin-3 (IL-3)-dependent mouse pro-B BA/F3 cell line and in an IL-3-independent BCR-ABL1(+) derivative.

DNA barcoding reveals diverse growth kinetics of human breast tumour subclones in serially passaged xenografts.

Genomic and phenotypic analyses indicate extensive intra- as well as intertumoral heterogeneity in primary human malignant cell populations despite their clonal origin. Cellular DNA barcoding offers a powerful and unbiased alternative to track the number and size of multiple subclones within a single human tumour xenograft and their response to continued in vivo passaging. Using this approach we find clone-initiating cell frequencies that vary from ~1/10 to ~1/10,000 cells transplanted for two human breast cancer cell lines and breast cancer xenografts derived from three different patients.

A dominant-negative isoform of IKAROS expands primitive normal human hematopoietic cells.

Disrupted IKAROS activity is a recurrent feature of some human leukemias, but effects on normal human hematopoietic cells are largely unknown. Here, we used lentivirally mediated expression of a dominant-negative isoform of IKAROS (IK6) to block normal IKAROS activity in primitive human cord blood cells and their progeny. This produced a marked (10-fold) increase in serially transplantable multipotent IK6(+) cells as well as increased outputs of normally differentiating B cells and granulocytes in transplanted immunodeficient mice, without producing leukemia.

Cord blood expansion. Pyrimidoindole derivatives are agonists of human hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal.

The small number of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in cord blood units limits their widespread use in human transplant protocols. We identified a family of chemically related small molecules that stimulates the expansion ex vivo of human cord blood cells capable of reconstituting human hematopoiesis for at least 6 months in immunocompromised mice. The potent activity of these newly identified compounds, UM171 being the prototype, is independent of suppression of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, which targets cells with more-limited regenerative potential.

"Deep" sequencing accuracy and reproducibility using Roche/454 technology for inferring co-receptor usage in HIV-1.

Next generation, "deep", sequencing has increasing applications both clinically and in disparate fields of research. This study investigates the accuracy and reproducibility of "deep" sequencing as applied to co-receptor prediction using the V3 loop of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1. Despite increasing use in HIV co-receptor prediction, the accuracy and reproducibility of deep sequencing technology, and the factors which can affect it, have received only a limited level of investigation.

Distinct stromal cell factor combinations can separately control hematopoietic stem cell survival, proliferation, and self-renewal.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are identified by their ability to sustain prolonged blood cell production in vivo, although recent evidence suggests that durable self-renewal (DSR) is shared by HSC subtypes with distinct self-perpetuating differentiation programs. Net expansions of DSR-HSCs occur in vivo, but molecularly defined conditions that support similar responses in vitro are lacking. We hypothesized that this might require a combination of factors that differentially promote HSC viability, proliferation, and self-renewal.

Limited evolution of inferred HIV-1 tropism while viremia is undetectable during standard HAART therapy.

Background: HIV patients on suppressive antiretroviral therapy have undetectable viremia making it impossible to screen plasma HIV tropism if regimen change is required during suppression. We investigated the prevalence and predictors of tropism switch from CCR5-using ("R5") to non-CCR5-using ("non-R5") before and after viral suppression in the initially therapy-naïve HOMER cohort from British Columbia, Canada.

Methods: We compared pre-therapy and post-suppression viral genotypic tropism in patients who initiated on PI/NNRTI-based antiretroviral regimens between 1996-1999 (n = 462).

Control of the hematopoietic stem cell state.

Several studies have demonstrated the clonal transmission of distinct differentiation and self-renewal properties in hematopoietic stem cells during the regeneration of blood production in transplanted recipients. A recent publication now identifies Vwf expression as a discriminating marker of a hematopoietic stem cell state that is primed for platelet production in response to thrombopoietin, but also subject to developmental and other, as yet undefined, cues.

Analysis of the clonal growth and differentiation dynamics of primitive barcoded human cord blood cells in NSG mice.

Human cord blood (CB) offers an attractive source of cells for clinical transplants because of its rich content of cells with sustained repopulating ability in spite of an apparent deficiency of cells with rapid reconstituting ability. Nevertheless, the clonal dynamics of nonlimiting CB transplants remain poorly understood. To begin to address this question, we exposed CD34+ CB cells to a library of barcoded lentiviruses and used massively parallel sequencing to quantify the clonal distributions of lymphoid and myeloid cells subsequently detected in sequential marrow aspirates obtained from 2 primary NOD/SCID-IL2Rγ(-/-) mice, each transplanted with ∼10(5) of these cells, and for another 6 months in 2 secondary recipients.

Developmental changes in the in vitro activated regenerative activity of primitive mammary epithelial cells.

Many normal adult tissues contain rare stem cells with extensive self-maintaining regenerative potential. During development, the stem cells of the hematopoietic and neural systems undergo intrinsically specified changes in their self-renewal potential. In the mouse, mammary stem cells with transplantable regenerative activity are first detectable a few days before birth.

The Lin28b-let-7-Hmga2 axis determines the higher self-renewal potential of fetal haematopoietic stem cells.

Mouse haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) undergo a postnatal transition in several properties, including a marked reduction in their self-renewal activity. We now show that the developmentally timed change in this key function of HSCs is associated with their decreased expression of Lin28b and an accompanying increase in their let-7 microRNA levels. Lentivirus-mediated overexpression of Lin28 in adult HSCs elevates their self-renewal activity in transplanted irradiated hosts, as does overexpression of Hmga2, a well-established let-7 target that is upregulated in fetal HSCs.

Heterogeneity in hematopoietic stem cell populations: implications for transplantation.

Purpose Of Review: Transplantation of hematopoietic cells is now a well established clinical procedure, although optimal outcomes are not always obtained. This reflects insufficient knowledge of the different subsets of primitive cells required to achieve a rapid and permanent recovery of mature blood cell production. Here we review recent findings that extend our understanding of these cells and their regulation, and implications for the ex-vivo expansion of these cells.

Enhanced normal short-term human myelopoiesis in mice engineered to express human-specific myeloid growth factors.

Unlabelled: Better methods to characterize normal human hematopoietic cells with short-term repopulating activity cells (STRCs) are needed to facilitate improving recovery rates in transplanted patients.We now show that 5-fold more human myeloid cells are produced in sublethally irradiated NOD/SCID-IL-2Receptor-γchain-null (NSG) mice engineered to constitutively produce human interleukin-3, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and Steel factor (NSG-3GS mice) than in regular NSG mice 3 weeks after an intravenous injection of CD34 human cord blood cells. Importantly, the NSG-3GS mice also show a concomitant and matched increase in circulating mature human neutrophils.

Factors influencing the sensitivity and specificity of conventional sequencing in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 tropism testing.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) V3 loop sequence can be used to infer viral coreceptor use. The effect of input copy number on population-based sequencing of the V3 loop of HIV-1 was examined through replicate deep and population-based sequencing of samples with known tropism, a heterogeneous clinical sample (624 population-based sequences and 47 deep-sequencing replicates), and a large cohort of clinical samples from phase III clinical trials of maraviroc including the MOTIVATE/A4001029 studies (n = 1,521). Proviral DNA from two independent samples from each of 101 patients from the MOTIVATE/A4001029 studies was also analyzed.

Correlates of protective cellular immunity revealed by analysis of population-level immune escape pathways in HIV-1.

HLA class I-associated polymorphisms identified at the population level mark viral sites under immune pressure by individual HLA alleles. As such, analysis of their distribution, frequency, location, statistical strength, sequence conservation, and other properties offers a unique perspective from which to identify correlates of protective cellular immunity. We analyzed HLA-associated HIV-1 subtype B polymorphisms in 1,888 treatment-naïve, chronically infected individuals using phylogenetically informed methods and identified characteristics of HLA-associated immune pressures that differentiate protective and nonprotective alleles.

Increasingly successful highly active antiretroviral therapy delays the emergence of new HLA class I-associated escape mutations in HIV-1.

Background: HLA class I-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) exert strong selective pressures on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), leading to escape mutations compromising virologic control. Immune responses continue to shape HIV-1 evolution after HAART initiation, but the extent and rate at which this occurs remain incompletely quantified. Here, we characterize the incidence and clinical correlates of HLA-associated evolution in HIV-1 Pol after HAART initiation in a large, population-based observational cohort.

Aldehyde dehydrogenase activity is a biomarker of primitive normal human mammary luminal cells.

Elevated aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) expression/activity has been identified as an important biomarker of primitive cells in various normal and malignant human tissues. Here we examined the level and type of ALDH expression and activity in different subsets of phenotypically and functionally defined normal human mammary cells. We find that the most primitive human mammary stem and progenitor cell types with bilineage differentiation potential show low ALDH activity but undergo a marked, selective, and transient upregulation of ALDH activity at the point of commitment to the luminal lineage.

Deep V3 sequencing for HIV type 1 tropism in treatment-naive patients: a reanalysis of the MERIT trial of maraviroc.

Background: Deep sequencing is a highly sensitive technique that can detect and quantify the proportion of non-R5 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) variants, including small minorities, that may emerge and cause virologic failure in patients who receive maraviroc-containing regimens. We retrospectively tested the ability of deep sequencing to predict response to a maraviroc-containing regimen in the Maraviroc versus Efavirenz in Treatment-Naive Patients (MERIT) trial. Results were compared with those obtained using the Enhanced Sensitivity Trofile Assay (ESTA), which is widely used in clinical practice.