Publications by authors named "Theodoros Kosteas"

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Lipodystrophies represent a group of heterogeneous disorders characterized by loss of fat tissue. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Using mice carrying an ERCC1-XPF DNA repair defect systematically or in adipocytes, we show that DNA damage signaling triggers a chronic autoinflammatory response leading to fat depletion.

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Nucleotide excision repair (NER) defects are associated with cancer, developmental disorders and neurodegeneration. However, with the exception of cancer, the links between defects in NER and developmental abnormalities are not well understood. Here, we show that the ERCC1-XPF NER endonuclease assembles on active promoters in vivo and facilitates chromatin modifications for transcription during mammalian development.

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The human CD2 (hCD2) locus control region (LCR) inserted in the mouse CD8 gene complex activates expression of the CD8 genes in T cell subsets in which the CD8 locus is normally silenced (e.g., CD4(+) single-positive T cells).

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Natural deletions of the human gamma-globin gene cluster lead to specific syndromes characterized by increased production of fetal hemoglobin in adult life and provide a useful model to delineate novel cis-acting elements involved in the developmental control of hemoglobin switching. A hypothesis accounting for these phenotypic features assumes that silencers located within the Agamma-to delta-gene region are deleted in hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH) and deltabeta-thalassemias, leading to failure of switching. In the present study, we sought to clarify the in vivo role of two elements, termed Enh and F, located 3' to the Agamma-globin, in silencing the fetal genes.

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To probe the pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying neutropenia in patients with chronic idiopathic neutropenia (CIN) with hypoplastic and left-shifted granulocytic series in the bone marrow (BM), we have studied granulocytopoiesis in 32 adults with CIN by evaluating the number and survival characteristics of cells in several stages of granulocyte differentiation using flow cytometry and BM culture assays. We found that patients with CIN displayed a low percentage of CD34(+)/CD33(+) cells, defective granulocyte colony-forming unit (CFU-G) growth potential of BM mononuclear or purified CD34(+) cells, and low CFU-G recovery in long-term BM cultures (LTBMCs), compared with controls (n = 46). A low percentage of CD34(+)/CD33(+) cells in patients was associated with accelerated apoptosis and Fas overexpression within this cell compartment compared with controls.

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