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Query: UNIPROT:P10721 (c-kit)
 6,575 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Analysis of the cellular/molecular basis of the early steps of hematopoietic proliferation and differentiation is hindered by the rarity of hematopoietic progenitors and stem cells (HP/HSC). The intensive efforts devoted to the development of purification methods for early HP and HSC, although initially largely unsuccessful, have recently provided a high level of HP/HSC yield and/or recovery. The methodology developed by our group, recently improved, provides not only virtually complete purification, but also abundant recovery of early HP/HSC such as colony forming units granulocyte/erythroid/macrophage/megakaryocyte (CFU-GEMM), burst forming units erythroid (BFU-E), CFU granulocyte/macrophage (CFU-GM)/CFU blast cells (CFU-B), and long-term culture initiating cells (LTC-IC) from adult peripheral and cord blood (CB). We have also developed a serum-free liquid suspension culture for unilineage erythroid (E), granulocytic (G) or monocytic (M) differentiation of stringently purified HP/HSC. These culture systems allow sequential collection and cellular/molecular analysis of discrete populations of hematopoietic cells at a homogenous stage of differentiation specifically along a unilineage pathway. These experimental tools have been utilized to investigate cellular/molecular mechanisms underlying early hematopoiesis. The transcription factor (TF) GATA-1 is considered to be the "master" gene of erythropoiesis. In highly purified HP/HSC undergoing E or GM differentiation, GATA-1 expression is characterized initially by proliferation-dependent activation and at later stages by sustained expression in the E pathway and suppression in the GM pathway. Hypothetically, similar on/off switches of lineage-restricted TF may underlie the binary fate decisions of early HP differentiation. The expression and modulation of hematopoietic growth factor receptors (HGFR) in early hematopoiesis have been extensively analyzed. The results suggest a model of transactivation cascade for HGFR such as interleukin 6 receptor (IL-6R), IL-3R, GM colony stimulating factor receptor (GM-CSFR), and erythropoietin receptor (EpR), whereby each HGF upmodulates the R(s) for distal-acting HGF(s). Finally, we have investigated the effect of HGF on reactivation of hemoglobin F (HbF) in clonogenic or liquid suspension serum-free culture of purified adult HP. The results suggest that c-kit ligand (KL) plays a key role in the reactivation of HbF synthesis in adult life, and IL-3/GM-CSF potentiate this effect at low KL level. The KL-induced HbF reactivation is seemingly related to an enhanced proliferation of early E progenitors in their differentiation pathway.
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PMID:Stringently purified human hematopoietic progenitors/stem cells: analysis of cellular/molecular mechanisms underlying early hematopoiesis. 824 48

Hematopoietic tyrosine kinase receptors (HGF-TKRs or class III TKRs) are essential for the growth and differentiation of hematopoietic cells. In this report we present a novel method that generates expression profiles of these receptors. The method was tested and optimized using the myeloblastic/ promyelocytic cell line KG1. The method involves PCR of cDNA using class III-specific degenerate primers and subsequent restriction enzyme digests of the 147 bp amplicons followed by fractionation on denaturing poly-acrylamide gels. This primary fingerprint of KG1 revealed equal expression of c-kit and flt3 and to a lesser extent PDGF-R alpha and c-fms. One residual band of unknown origin was seen and appeared to be the proto-oncogene RET following cloning and sequence analysis. This tyrosine kinase receptor is known to play an important role in neural development. In order to detect less abundantly expressed sequences, a secondary fingerprint was generated by pre-digestion of the receptors present in the primary expression profile and subsequent amplification of the residual band. No other tyrosine kinase receptors were observed in KG1. In conclusion, this method allows direct visualization of expression of the HGF-TKRs and has the potential to detect novel homologous receptors.
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PMID:Direct display of hematopoietic tyrosine kinase receptor expression profiles in KG1 cells by PCR using degenerate primers. 870 51

Expression profiles were generated for the haemopoietic tyrosine kinase receptors (HGF-TKRs or class III TKRs) by PCR on cDNA samples (RT-PCR) using a degenerate primer set. Each profile consisted of primary and secondary, i.e. enriched for less-expressed sequences, fingerprints. This method was applied on FACS-purified haemopoietic CD34+ cells, both from bone marrow (BM) and umbilical cord blood (UCB), and on mature cells from peripheral blood. CD34+ BM cells showed expression of c-fms. flt3, whereas CD34+ UCB cells expressed c-fms and, to a lesser extent, c-kit and flt3. In mature blood cells, only c-fms was observed in monocytes and a weaker flt3 expression in monocytes and T lymphocytes, whereas no known class III TKRs were detected in B lymphocytes and polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs). In all fractions a novel band could be observed, which appeared to be RET. Expression of RET was confirmed by RT-PCR and showed the highest levels in monocytes, followed by PMNs and CD34+ cells. B lymphocytes revealed low levels of expression. RET is known to be essential in neural development. Our results suggest a possible role for this receptor in haemopoiesis.
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PMID:Haemopoietic growth factor tyrosine kinase receptor expression profiles in normal haemopoiesis. 875 81

Peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPCs) obtained from cytapheresis products (CPs) of tumor patients undergoing mobilizing chemotherapy for PBPC support and dose-intensified anticancer chemotherapy initiate multilineage human hematopoiesis after intraperitoneal (i.p.) transplantation into young severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. The engraftment process was significantly accelerated by subcutaneous cotransplants of a rat fibroblast cell line stably transfected with a retroviral vector carrying the human interleukin-3 (hIL-3) gene and producing sustained in vivo levels of circulating human IL-3 over a prolonged period of time. These cotransplants were found to provide a suitable microenvironment for i.p. transplanted CD34-positive cells separated from PBPC preparations using immunomagnetic beads. Flow cytometry analysis and immunocytology revealed that selected PB CD34- cells, more than 90% pure, were capable of initiating and sustaining a productive multilineage hematopoiesis preferentially within the hIL-3-secreting cotransplants followed by release of mature human cells into the circulation, spleen and thymus. The percentages of human cells found in hIL-3 cotransplants 8 weeks post-transplantation (p.t.) were generally higher than those measured after transplantation of complete CP mononuclear cells containing comparable doses of CD34-positive cells. When selected PB CD34+ cells that were expanded ex vivo with combinations of human hematopoietic growth factors including the c-kit ligand (KL), interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-3, IL-6, erythropoietin (EPO) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) for 14 days were grafted to cotransplant-carrying SCID mice, a considerable loss of their proliferative potential was observed regardless of the HGF combination used. When experiments with grafts of selected PBPC were compared to those performed with selected/expanded PBPC on a per CD34+ cell basis the results revealed that over a dose range of 0.3 to 1.0 x 10(6) cells/graft the in vivo proliferative capacity of expanded cells was reduced by a factor of 2 to 3.
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PMID:Fibroblasts retrovirally transfected with the human IL-3 gene initiate and sustain multilineage human hematopoiesis in SCID mice: comparison of CD34-enriched vs CD34-enriched and in vitro expanded grafts. 887 11

Human lung tumors express different types of growth-factor receptors and corresponding ligands that might modulate several biological functions such as proliferation, differentiation, adhesion, and chemotaxis. In the present study, we have investigated the expression of different growth-factor receptors and their ligands in 5 established human lung-cancer cell lines. Using RT-PCR, we found that IGF-II/mannose-6-phosphate (M6P), c-met, EGF and c-kit receptors are expressed in 5/5 human lung-cancer cell lines. In order to investigate the biological function of these receptors, we performed Boyden-chamber assays using various growth factors as chemo-attractants. Human non-small-cell-lung-cancer cells (non-SCLC) migrated to recombinant human (rh)IGF I and IGF II at concentrations ranging from 1 to 1000 ng/ml, to HGF at 10 to 100 ng/ml, to EGF at 1 to 100 ng/ml and SCF at 1 to 50 ng/ml. In addition, we performed Boyden-chamber assays using U-1810-, U-1752- and Wart-derived serum-free conditioned medium as chemo-attractants. Serum-free conditioned medium stimulated migration of producer cells in a dose-dependent manner. The autocrine motility stimulating effect of U-1810-derived serum-free conditioned medium could be inhibited by 50% in the presence of neutralizing ahIGF-II antibodies in the assay, suggesting a possible autocrine motility loop in vitro.
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PMID:Growth-factor-dependent migration of human lung-cancer cells. 1039 50

In vitro, normal human melanocytes require synergistic mitogens, in addition to the common growth factors present in serum, in order to proliferate. The peptide growth factors that confer stimulation are fibroblast growth factors (such as bFGF/FGF2), hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF), mast/stem cell factor (M/SCF), endothelins (such as ET-1) and melanotropin (MSH). The proper function of these factors and their cognate receptors is likely to be important in vivo, as all five ligands are produced in the skin, and disruption of their normal function, by elimination due to deletions or mutations, or overproduction due to ectopic expression, disrupts the normal distribution of melanocytes. The synergistic growth factors activate intracellular signal transduction cascades and maintain the intermediate effectors at optimal levels and duration required for nuclear translocation and modification of transcription factors. The consequent induction of immediate-early response genes, such as cyclins, and subsequent activation of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK4, CDK6 and CDK2) inactivates the retinoblastoma family of proteins (pRb, p107 and p130, together termed pocket proteins), and releases their suppressive association with E2F transcription factors. Molecular events that disrupt this tight control of pocket proteins and cause their inactivation, increase E2F transcriptional activity and confer autonomous growth on melanocytes.
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PMID:The regulation of normal melanocyte proliferation. 1076 90

Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) is a transcription factor with a basic-helix-loop-helix-leucine zipper (bHLHZip) structure. Mutations of the MITF gene cause a variety of phenotypes, most notably in pigmented cells, in several species. In humans, haploinsufficiency of MITF causes Waardenburg syndrome type 2, while a dominant-negative mutation causes Tietz syndrome. Four isoforms have been cloned so far: MITF-M is the most abundant and is expressed in neural-crest-derived melanocytes; MITF-A is expressed in various cultured cells including retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and enriched in RPE of embryonal and developing eyes; MITF-H are expressed in many types of cultured cells and in the heart tissue; MITF-C is expressed in many types of cultured cells, but not in melanocytes. Many growth factor signaling pathways have been implicated for regulation of MITF at both protein and promoter levels. Most notably, Steel factor/c-Kit signaling pathway was linked to phosphorylation of MITF at Ser73 and Ser409 through activation of MAP kinase and RSK-1, respectively. Phosphorylation of MITF is also conducted at Ser298 through GSK3beta, although the signaling pathway for this event still remains to be elucidated. IGF-1 and HGF/SF pathways may merge with the c-Kit signaling pathway. WNT and MSH signaling pathways regulate MITF positively at the promoter level. Endothelins may regulate MITF at the protein and promoter levels. MITF is involved in the differentiation, growth and survival of pigment cells, employing a number of signaling pathways.
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PMID:MITF: a stream flowing for pigment cells. 1095 90

Previously, we found that hepatocyte growth factor receptor (c-Met)-and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-expressing cells were present in adult rat bone marrow, and that these cells also expressed hematopoietic stem cell markers, such as CD34, Thy-1, and c-Kit. When bone marrow cells were cultured in a hepatocyte growth medium (HGM) with HGF and EGF, colonies composed of polygonal cells resembling mature hepatocytes appeared by 2 weeks and grew very slowly because of overgrowth of stromal cells. At days 34-41, 2-mm2 sheets of hepatocyte-like cells were cut out of their colonies by scratching with an injection needle under observation with a phase contrast microscope, transferred into wells of 24-well plates, and cultured in the HGM medium in the presence or absence of HGF and EGF. When cells reached confluence, cells were detached with trypsin and EDTA and transferred step by step into bigger culture vessels. Thus, hepatocyte-like cells were expanded 1000-fold during less than 4 months. These cells were immunocytochemically stained for albumin and also for AFP and the hematopoietic stem cell markers described above, showing characteristics of oval cells. By RT-PCR, we detected mRNAs of tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase and tyrosine aminotransferase, markers of hepatocytes at a terminal differentiation stage. The present culture system may be useful for supply of hepatocyte resources for cell transplantation therapy.
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PMID:Propagation of adult rat bone marrow-derived hepatocyte-like cells by serial passages in vitro. 1546 80

Recent studies have documented the presence of stem cells within the myocardium and their role in the repair of ischaemic injury. Nevertheless, the pathogenic role of stem cells in non-ischaemic myocardial diseases, as well as the factors potentially responsible for their activation, is still under debate. The present study demonstrates the presence of an increased number of c-kit positive, MDR-positive, and Sca-1-positive stem cells within the myocardium of hereditary delta-SG null hamsters, a spontaneously occurring model of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. When hamsters are 80 days old, ie at the 'hypertrophic' stage of the disease, but without haemodynamic overload, these cells associate with a multitude of cells co-expressing c-kit, cMet, GATA4, or MEF-2, and proliferating myocytes co-expressing myosin heavy chain, telomerase, ki67 and cyclin B. Furthermore, at the same animal age, the number of myocardial cells co-expressing c-kit and Flk-1, and the number of capillary vessels, is also amplified. In order to identify factors potentially responsible for stem cell activation, the myocardial expression of HGF and cMet and HGF plasma levels were evaluated, demonstrating their increase in 80-day-old delta-SG null hamsters. To demonstrate the possible ability of HGF to induce stem cell differentiation, bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells were challenged with HGF at the same plasma concentration observed in vivo. HGF induced cMet phosphorylation, and caused loss of stem cell features and overexpression of MEF-2, TEF1, and MHC. Our results demonstrate that stem cell activation occurs within the cardiomyopathic myocardium, very likely to maintain an efficient cardiac architecture. In this context, elevated levels of HGF might play a role in induction of stem cell commitment to the cardiomyocyte lineage and in cardioprotection through its anti-apoptotic action. Consistently, when cytokine levels declined to physiological concentrations, as in 150-day-old cardiomyopathic animals, myocardial apoptosis prevailed, prejudicing cardiac function.
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PMID:Stem cell activation sustains hereditary hypertrophy in hamster cardiomyopathy. 1568 36

When will embryonic stem cells reach the clinic? The answer is simple -- not soon! To produce large quantities of homogeneous tissue for transplantation, without feeder layers, and with the appropriate recipient's immunological phenotype, is a significant scientific hindrance, although adult stem (ADS) cells provide an alternative, more ethically acceptable, source. The annual global 100 million human birth rate proposes umbilical cord blood (UCB) as the largest untouched stem cell source, with advantages of naive immune status and relatively unshortened telomere length. Here, we report the world's first reproducible production of cells expressing embryonic stem cell markers, - cord-blood-derived embryonic-like stem cells (CBEs). UCB, after elective birth by Caesarean section, has been separated by sequential immunomagnetic removal of nucleate granulocytes, erythrocytes and haemopoietic myeloid/lymphoid progenitors. After 7 days of high density culture in microflasks, (10(5) cells/ml, IMDM, FCS 10%, thrombopoietin 10 ng/ml, flt3-ligand 50 ng/ml, c-kit ligand 20 ng/ml). CBE colonies formed adherent to the substrata; these were maintained for 6 weeks, then were subcultured and continued for a minimum 13 weeks. CBEs were positive for TRA-1-60, TRA-1-81, SSEA-4, SSEA-3 and Oct-4, but not SSEA-1, indicative of restriction in the human stem cell compartment. The CBEs were also microgravity--bioreactor cultured with hepatocyte growth medium (IMDM, FCS 10%, HGF 20 ng/ml, bFGF 10 ng/ml, EGF 10 ng/ml, c-kit ligand 10 ng/ml). After 4 weeks the cells were found to express characteristic hepatic markers, cytokeratin-18, alpha-foetoprotein and albumin. Thus, such CBEs are a viable human alternative from embryonic stem cells for stem cell research, without ethical constraint and with potential for clinical applications.
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PMID:Production of stem cells with embryonic characteristics from human umbilical cord blood. 1609 83


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