Up-regulated MSI2 is associated with more aggressive chronic myeloid leukemia.

A better understanding of events triggering chronic myeloid leukemia progression is critical for optimized clinical management of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). We sought to validate that increased expression of Musashi 2 (MSI2), a post-transcription regulator, is associated with progression and prognosis. Screening of 152 patients with CML showed that MSI2 was significantly decreased among patients with CML in chronic phase (CP) at diagnosis (p < 0.

Peripheral blood sCD3⁻ CD4⁺ T cells: a useful diagnostic tool in angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma.

Angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma (AITL) belongs to the subgroup of mature T cell lymphomas according to the World Health Organization and is one of the common T cell lymphomas in Western countries. Particularly in cases in which histological confirmation cannot be easily achieved, immunophenotyping of peripheral blood can give important information for the differential diagnosis of AITL. sCD3⁻ CD4⁺ T cells are a typical feature of AILT in flow cytometry of peripheral blood.

Anti-leukemia T cells in AML: TNF-α⁺ CD8⁺ T cells may escape detection and possibly reflect a stage of functional impairment.

Leukemia-associated antigens such as proteinase-3 (PR3) and Wilms' tumor protein-1 (WT-1) are potential targets of T-cell responses, which can be monitored by T-cell assays within vaccination trials and after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT). In chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) an aberrant cytokine profile of antigen-specific T-cells with predominant TNF-α secretion has previously been described. The aim of this study was to investigate whether these TNF-α(+)/IFN-γ(-) CD8(+) T-cells can also be observed in AML patients after SCT.

Allogeneic partially HLA-matched dendritic cells pulsed with autologous tumor cell lysate as a vaccine in metastatic renal cell cancer: a clinical phase I/II study.

Multi-kinase inhibitors have been established for the treatment of advanced renal cell cancer, but long-term results are still disappointing and immunotherapeutic approaches remain an interesting experimental option particularly in patients with a low tumor burden. DC are crucial for antigen-specific MHC-restricted T cell immunity. Furthermore, allogeneic HLA-molecules pose a strong immunogenic signal and may help to induce tumor-specific T cell responses.

Sorafenib, but not sunitinib, induces regulatory T cells in the peripheral blood of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Induction of regulatory T cells (Treg) is an important mechanism leading to tolerance against tumors. Increased levels of Treg have been described in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients and seem to correlate with an adverse outcome. Our study aimed to analyze the influence of sorafenib and sunitinib on the frequency of Treg in patients with metastatic RCC (mRCC).

Allogeneic gene-modified tumor cells (RCC-26/IL-7/CD80) as a vaccine in patients with metastatic renal cell cancer: a clinical phase-I study.

Despite novel targeted agents, prognosis of metastatic renal cell cancer (RCC) remains poor, and experimental therapeutic strategies are warranted. Transfection of tumor cells with co-stimulatory molecules and/or cytokines is able to increase immunogenicity. Therefore, in our clinical study, 10 human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A(*)0201(+) patients with histologically-confirmed progressive metastatic clear cell RCC were immunized repetitively over 22 weeks with 2.

Vaccination with autologous non-irradiated dendritic cells in patients with bcr/abl+ chronic myeloid leukaemia.

In chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), dendritic cells (DC) and leukaemic cells share a common progeny, leading to constitutive expression of putative tumour antigens, such as bcr/abl, in DC. In this phase-I/II study, autologous DC were used as a vaccine in patients with chronic phase bcr/abl+ CML, who had not achieved an adequate cytogenetic response after treatment with alpha-interferon or imatinib. Ten patients were enrolled, DC were generated from peripheral blood monocytes and vaccination consisted of four subcutaneous injections of increasing numbers of DC (1-50 x 10(6) cells per injection) on days 1, 2, 8 and 21.

Simultaneous cytokine analysis by cytometric bead array for the detection of leukaemia-reactive T cells in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia.

In order to detect T cells against several chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML)-associated antigens we used: (i) a novel T-cell assay [cytometric bead array (CBA)]; (ii) gamma-interferon enzyme-linked immunoSPOT (gamma-IFN-ELISpot); and (iii) tetramer staining in peripheral blood from CML patients. Peptide-specific cytokine release was detected by CBA in some patients, whereas standard gamma-IFN-ELISpot and tetramer staining were negative in the vast majority of cases. In CBA, peptide-specific cytokine release was predominantly tumour necrosis factor-alpha, raising questions about the responding cells and their functional status.

CD52 is not a promising immunotherapy target for most patients with multiple myeloma.

The aim of our study was to evaluate CD52 as a target molecule for antibody therapy for multiple myeloma. Twenty consecutive bone marrow samples from myeloma patients were studied by flow cytometry using antibodies against CD45, CD38, CD138, CD3, CD19, and CD52. Most myeloma cells did not express CD52; CD52 expression was found only in a small subpopulation of plasma cells with a CD45+CD38++ phenotype.

Circulating CD4+ T lymphocytes with intracellular but no surface CD3 antigen in five of seven patients consecutively diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.

Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) accounts for less than 1% of all lymphatic malignancies. Oligoclonality or monoclonality for any of the T-cell receptor (TCR) chain genes can be demonstrated in the majority of the cases. During systematic screening for the presence of circulating lymphocytes with atypical coexpression of differentiation antigens in patients with T-cell lymphomas, we have discovered a minor population (accounting for 0.

Quantitative fluorescence flow cytometry: a comparison of the three techniques for direct and indirect immunofluorescence.

Three types of microbead calibrators available for quantitative fluorescence flow cytometry have been studied in parallel using a variety of monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs). The QIFI kit is designed for indirect immunofluorescence (IF), and both the Quantum Simply Cellular (QSC) assay and the Quanti-BRITE assay are designed for direct IF. Because of the different nature of the respective ligands, epitopes on cells versus F'ab-portions on QSC beads, large differences in titration curves for a large number of CD MoAbs were noted between QSC beads and cells.

Two subsets of peripheral blood plasma cells defined by differential expression of CD45 antigen.

The purpose of this study was to optimize the flow cytometric determination of circulating normal and malignant plasma cells (PC). We investigated peripheral blood (PB) samples of 65 patients with multiple myeloma or monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance and 47 control subjects using CD38, CD45, B-B4, CD56, VLA-4, VLA-5 and CD19 monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs). Mono- or polyclonality was determined by staining of intracellular kappa and lambda light chains.

Discrimination of HLA-B27 alleles by group-specific amplification followed by solid-phase sequencing.

HLA-B27 is known to be highly associated with ankylosing spondylitis. Until now, nine B27 subtypes have been sequenced and may contribute in different fashions to ankylosing spondylitis. Additionally, the divergent subtypes may be of clinical importance in bone marrow transplantation with alternative donors.

A novel HLA-DR13 allele (DRB1*1314) identified by single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and confirmed by direct sequencing.

A novel variant of the HLA-DR13 group is described. The new allele was found in a DR10, 13 heterozygous patient of Turkish origin, two HLA genotypically identical children of the patient typed as DR11,13, and one child typed as DR13,13. DR13 subtyping of the patient was initially performed by SSCP analysis of PCR-amplified DNA, using the 11th OHWS primers DRBAMP-3 and DRBAMP-B.

[Measures for reducing the use of homologous blood. Effects on blood coagulation during total endoprosthesis].

The influence of two different methods of autologous transfusion, preoperative donor plasmapheresis (Abbott Autotrans) and postoperative autotransfusion (intraoperative blood salvage, Dideco Autotrans), on the intravascular hemostatic system was investigated. Forty-two patients undergoing total hip surgery and preoperative donor plasmapheresis were prospectively randomized into three groups. For substitution of blood loss, patients in group 1 (control group, n = 12) received in addition to cristalloids and colloids only homologous blood, group 2 (n = 14) autologous blood, and group 3 (n = 16) additionally intra- and postoperative autologous fresh frozen plasma (FFP).

Binding of mitogenic plant lectins to human lymphocytes. Flow cytometric analysis.

Several plant lectins, such as phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), pokeweed mitogen (PWM), concanavalin A (ConA), Maclura pumifera (MPA) and Pisum sativum agglutinin (PSA), are potent mitogens for human lymphocytes. The pattern of activation induced, however, is not uniform for all mitogenic lectins. The different biological effects following lectin activation of human lymphocytes might be due at least in part to a differential binding of the various lectins to lymphocyte subsets.

[Effect of the method on the results of determining T-cell subpopulations].

Two methods of determining lymphocyte subpopulations were compared on samples obtained from 18 healthy blood donors and 16 HIV-positive patients. In the whole-blood method directly marked monoclonal antibodies were used, whereas Ficoll-separated mononuclear cells were assayed indirectly. The number of CD4-positive helper cells was significantly lower in both groups in the whole-blood test, but that of CD8-positive suppressor cells significantly increased after Ficoll separation.