Differential cytotoxic activity of pharmacological inhibitors of IGF1R-related pathways in JAK2 driven cells.

Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) belong to a group of clonal diseases of hematopoietic stem cells characterized by aberrant proliferation of mature myeloid lineages. The constitutive activation of the JAK2/STAT signaling pathway is now well established to play a central role in MPN pathogenesis; however, accumulating evidence now indicates that the IGF1R-mediated signaling pathway contributes to the maintenance of the malignant phenotype. Studies using inhibitors of IGF1-mediated signaling have reported cytotoxic effects in cellular and murine models of MPN, but no consensus has been reached regarding the potency and efficacy of inhibitors of the IGF1R-related pathway in this context.

Phenformin increases early hematopoietic progenitors in the Jak2 murine model.

Background: Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) are disorders characterized by an alteration at the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) level, where the JAK2 mutation is the most common genetic alteration found in classic MPN (polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia, and primary myelofibrosis). We and others previously demonstrated that metformin reduced splenomegaly and platelets counts in peripheral blood in JAK2 pre-clinical MPN models, which highlighted the antineoplastic potential of biguanides for MPN treatment. Phenformin is a biguanide that has been used to treat diabetes, but was withdrawn due to its potential to cause lactic acidosis in patients.

STMN1 is highly expressed and contributes to clonogenicity in acute promyelocytic leukemia cells.

Stathmin 1 (STMN1) is a microtubule-destabilizing protein highly expressed in hematological malignancies and involved in proliferation and differentiation. Although a previous study found that the PML-RARα fusion protein, which contributes to the pathophysiology of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), positively regulates STMN1 at the transcription and protein activity levels, little is known about the role of STMN1 in APL. In this study, we aimed to investigate the STMN1 expression levels and their associations with laboratory, clinical, and genomic data in APL patients.

The Combination of Gefitinib With ATRA and ATO Induces Myeloid Differentiation in Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia Resistant Cells.

In approximately 15% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), total and phosphorylated EGFR proteins have been reported to be increased compared to healthy CD34 samples. However, it is unclear if this subset of patients would benefit from EGFR signaling pharmacological inhibition. Pre-clinical studies on AML cells provided evidence on the pro-differentiation benefits of EGFR inhibitors when combined with ATRA or ATO .

Association between leukocyte telomere length and sex by quantile regression analysis.

Introduction: Telomere length (TL) is a biomarker of cellular proliferative history. In healthy individuals, leukocyte TL shortens with age and associates with the lifespan of men and women. However, most of studies had used linear regression models to address the association of the TL attrition, aging and sex.