Bone Marrow Quality Index: A Predictor of Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Thalassemia.

Bone marrow (BM) continues to be the preferred source of stem cells in allogenic transplantation for nonmalignant disorders. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-primed BM is associated with low rates of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) and allows reduced collection volumes while ensuring speedy engraftment. However, variability in BM harvest quality is a concern.

Do Weekly Surveillance Cultures Contribute to Antibiotic Stewardship and Correlate with Outcome of HSCT in Children? A Multicenter Real-World Experience of 5 Years from the Indian Subcontinent.

The utility of weekly rectal swab surveillance cultures (RSSCs) as a resource to identify gut colonization with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing organisms and guide empirical antibiotic therapy in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients continues to be a subject of interest. There is an urgent need to assess and justify modifications to empirical antibiotics based on regional epidemiology and patient groups. This study aimed to study the utility of weekly rectal swab surveillance cultures (RSSCs) to guide empirical antibiotic therapy and to examine the impact of gut colonization on transplantation outcomes.

Targeted Inhibition of ULK1 Promotes Apoptosis and Suppresses Tumor Growth and Metastasis in Neuroblastoma.

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid malignancy in the pediatric population, accounting for over 9% of all cancer-related deaths in children. Autophagy is a cell self-protective mechanism that promotes tumor cell growth and survival, making it an attractive target for treating cancer. However, the role of autophagy in neuroblastoma tumor growth and metastasis is largely undefined.

Selective Reversible Inhibition of Autophagy in Hypoxic Breast Cancer Cells Promotes Pulmonary Metastasis.

Autophagy influences how cancer cells respond to nutrient deprivation and hypoxic stress, two hallmarks of the tumor microenvironment (TME). In this study, we explored the impact of autophagy on the pathophysiology of breast cancer cells using a novel hypoxia-dependent, reversible dominant-negative strategy to regulate autophagy at the cellular level within the TME. Suppression of autophagy via hypoxia-induced expression of the kinase-dead unc-51-like autophagy-activating kinase (ULK1) mutant K46N increased lung metastases in MDA-MB-231 xenograft mouse models.