A hematopoietic growth factor, thrombopoietin, has a proapoptotic role in the brain.

Central nervous and hematopoietic systems share developmental features. We report that thrombopoietin (TPO), a stimulator of platelet formation, acts in the brain as a counterpart of erythropoietin (EPO), a hematopoietic growth factor with neuroprotective properties. TPO is most prominent in postnatal brain, whereas EPO is abundant in embryonic brain and decreases postnatally.

Mesengenic progenitor cells derived from human placenta.

Progenitor cells with differentiation capacity along multiple mesengenic lineages are attractive tools for numerous purposes in regenerative medicine. Such mesengenic progenitor cells have been isolated from adult mammalian bone marrow, and we here report placental tissue as an alternative source for these cells. By means of dissection/proteinase digestion techniques, high numbers of viable mononuclear cells were harvested from human placenta at term, and a mesenchymal cell population with characteristic expression of CD9, CD29, and CD73 was obtained in culture.

Increased peripheral stem cell pool in MDS: an indication of disease progression?

The colony-forming capacity of the peripheral blood stem/progenitor cells (PBSC) in different forms of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) was investigated. In most cases of refractory anemia (RA) the colony growth of PBSC was definitely reduced as compared to the controls. However, in RA with unfavorable chromosomal aberrations, in refractory anemia with ringed sideroblasts (RARS) and in advanced stages of MDS such as refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB) and refractory anemia in transformation (RAEB-t), the number of myeloid progenitor cells increased up to 100-fold.

Stimulation of human hematopoietic progenitor cells by the alkylphosphocholines hexadecylphosphocholine and hexadecyl-N,N,N-trimethyl-hexanolamine.

Hexadecylphosphocholine (HePC) represents a new class of membrane-active antitumoral compounds, the alkylphosphocholines. In vivo studies of HePC showed an increase in the total white blood count (WBC) in the highest dosage group in DMBA-induced breast carcinoma in the rat. In phase II studies most of 70 patients treated orally with HePC likewise showed a significant increase in WBC and a rise in platelet count.

A prospective, randomized, sequential, crossover trial of large-volume versus normal-volume leukapheresis procedures: effect on progenitor cells and engraftment.

Background: The influence of leukapheresis size on the number of harvested peripheral blood progenitor cells is still unclear. A prospective randomized crossover trial was thus performed, to evaluate the effect of large-volume leukapheresis (LVL) versus normal-volume leukapheresis (NVL) on progenitor cells and engraftment in 26 patients with breast cancer and 15 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who were eligible for peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation.

Study Design And Methods: Patients were randomly assigned to undergo either LVL on Day 1 and on Day 2 or vice versa.