TOP STORY

Hematopoietic Activity of Human Short Term Repopulating Cells in Mobilized Peripheral Blood Cell Transplants is Restricted to the First 5 Months After Transplantation
To understand post-transplant durability and lineage contribution of short term repopulating cells (STRC), researchers compared repopulation kinetics of mobilized peripheral blood (high STRC content) to cord blood transplants (low STRC content) in long-lived NOD. [Blood]

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Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. EDT; 2:00 p.m. BST
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SCIENCE NEWS

China Scientists Show How Arsenic Treats Blood Cancer
Scientists in China have demonstrated how arsenic destroys deadly blood cancer by targeting and killing specific proteins that keep the cancer alive. [Press release from Reuters discussing online prepublication in Science]

"Vicious Circle" Offers New Acute Leukemia Treatment Target
Researchers have identified a self-feeding "vicious circle" of molecules that keeps acute leukemia cells alive and growing and that drives the disease forward. [Press release from Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center discussing online prepublication in Cancer Cell]

New Class of Drug Kills Lymphoma Cells
Researchers have designed a new class of drugs that target BCL6, a master regulatory protein responsible for causing the most common type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. [Press release from Weill Cornell Medical College discussing online prepublication in Cancer Cell]

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CURRENT PUBLICATIONS

Arsenic Trioxide Controls the Fate of the PML-RAR(Alpha) Oncoprotein by Directly Binding PML
The identification of PML as a direct target of arsenic trioxide provides new insights into the drug’s mechanism of action and its specificity for acute promyelocytic leukemia. [Science]

A Small-Molecule Inhibitor of BCL6 Kills DLBCL Cells In Vitro and In Vivo
Researchers combined computer-aided drug design with functional assays to identify low-molecular-weight compounds that bind to the corepressor binding groove of the BCL6 BTB domain. [Cancer Cell]

Sp1/NF_kB/HDAC/miR-29b Regulatory Network in KIT-Driven Myeloid Leukemia
Results provide evidence that the mechanisms of Sp1/NF_kB/HDAC/miR-29b-dependent KIT overexpression contribute to leukemia growth and can be successfully targeted by pharmacological disruption of the Sp1/NF_kB/HDAC complex or synthetic miR-29b treatment in KIT-driven acute myeloid leukemia. [Cancer Cell]

Immunosuppressive Properties of Human Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Role of B7-H1 and Indoleamine 2,3-Dioxygenase
Researchers present evidence that umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells possess important immunomodulatory properties that may enable them to survive in an allogeneic environment. [Immunol Cell Biol]

Human Umbilical Cord Blood Derived Stem Cells Repair Doxorubicin-Induced Pathological Cardiac Hypertrophy in Mice
Findings suggest the potential therapeutic use of human umbilical cord blood in reversing heart failure conditions. [Biochem Biophys Res Commun] 

Induction of Apoptosis in Glioma Cells Requires Cell-to-Cell Contact with Human Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells
To prove the role of cell-to-cell contact in the induction of apoptotic events, researchers used a modified 0.22 micrometer Boyden's chamber where the upper surface was used to culture glioma cells (SNB19 or U87) or xenografts (4910 or 5310) and the lower surface to culture human umbilical cord blood stem cells. [Int J Oncol]

Dasatinib Impairs Long-Term Expansion of Leukemic Progenitors in a Subset of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cases
This study demonstrates that dasatinib is a potential inhibitor in a subgroup of acute myeloid leukemia, especially those that express BCR-ABL or KIT mutations. [Ann Hematol]

INDUSTRY NEWS

Fate Therapeutics Expands Stem Cell Modulator Pipeline with Acquisition of Verio Therapeutics
Under the terms of the agreement, Fate Therapeutics has formed a Canadian subsidiary, which will continue Verio’s discovery and development operations in Ottawa. The transaction has been approved on behalf of the boards of directors of both companies. [Fate Therapeutics, Inc. Press Release]

Blood Banks Fight to Keep Financial Records Private
The move by a state senator to force Florida's blood banks to open their financial books to the public is running into opposition from the institutions he seeks to regulate. [Orlando Sentinel]

Chinoda a Consultant for Cryobanks
Former Florida’s Blood Centers CEO Anne K. Chinoda is doing consulting work for Cryobanks International, an Altamonte Springs cord blood bank. [Orlando Business Journal]

POLICY NEWS

University of Chicago Physician Named to Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues
Daniel Sulmasy, MD, PhD, the Kilbride-Clinton Professor of Medicine and Ethics in the Department of Medicine and the Divinity School, and Associate Director of the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago, has been named to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. [Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, United States]

Blood Bank Hopes to Draw State Funds for New Building
The state Senate's revised capital budget contains funding for several proposed projects, including millions of dollars for a new Blood Bank of Alaska building. [Alaska Senate, United States]

Indian Council for Medical Research Clears Use of Cord Blood Banking, Minimally Manipulated Stem Cells to Treat Debilitating Diseases
Indian Council for Medical Research has consented to permit cord blood banking and use of minimally manipulated stem cells to treat debilitating diseases. [Indian Council for Medical Research, India]

National Human Genome Research Institute Names New Chief of Genome Technology Branch
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health, has named Lawrence C. Brody, Ph.D., as the new chief of its Genome Technology Branch, the largest of seven branches in the NHGRI Division of Intramural Research. [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Minor Use Minor Species Development of Drugs; Research Project Grant (R01) (RFA-FD-10-001) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Clinical Investigator Status (Biologics) [Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, United States]

Background on Study Results of U.S. Academic Researchers [Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, United States]

Secretary Sebelius Announces Five New Health and Human Services Regional Directors [Food and Drug Administration, United States]

EVENTS

XXIII International Symposium on Technological Innovations in Laboratory Hematology
May 10-12, 2010
Brighton, United Kingdom

16th Annual International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) Meeting
May 23-26, 2010
Philadelphia, United States 

8th Annual International Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation Symposium
June 3-5, 2010
San Francisco, United States

International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 8th Annual Meeting
June 16-19, 2010
San Francisco, United States

Select Biosciences World Biobanking Summit
August 24-25, 2010
Edinburgh, Scotland

International Society for Hematology and Stem Cells (ISEH) 2010 Meeting
September 15-18, 2010
Melbourne, Australia

American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) Annual Meeting & Cellular Therapy and Transfusion Medicine Expo (CTTXPO) 2010
October 9-12, 2010
Baltimore, United States

52nd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition
December 4-7, 2010
Orlando, United States

Visit our events page to stay up to date with the latest events in the cell, gene and immunotherapy community.

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