Rockefeller University

About: Rockefeller University is a education organization based out in New York, New York, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Gene. The organization has 15867 authors who have published 32938 publications receiving 2940261 citations. The organization is also known as: Rockefeller University & Rockefeller Institute.

Hematopoietic reconstitution in a patient with fanconi's anemia by means of umbilical-cord blood from an hla-identical sibling

Abstract: The clinical manifestations of Fanconi’s anemia, an autosomal recessive disorder, include progressive pancytopenia, a predisposition to neoplasia, and nonhematopoietic developmental anomalies [1-3]. Hypersensitivity to the clastogenic effect of DNA-cross-linking agents such as diepoxybutane acts as a diagnostic indicator of the genotype of Fanconi’s anemia, both prenatally and postnatally [3-6]. Prenatal HLA typing has made it possible to ascertain whether a fetus is HLA-identical to an affected sibling [7]. We report here on hematopoietic reconstitution in a boy with severe Fanconi’s anemia who received cryo-preserved umbilical-cord blood from a sister shown by prenatal testing to be unaffected by the disorder, to have a normal karyotype, and to be HLA-identical to the patient. We used a pretransplantation conditioning procedure developed specifically for the treatment of such patients [8]; this technique makes use of the hypersensitivity of the abnormal cells to alkylating agents that cross-link DNA [9,10] and to irradiation [11] In this case, the availability of cord blood obviated the need for obtaining bone marrow from the infant sibling. This use of cord blood followed the suggestion of one of us that blood retrieved from umbilical cord at delivery, usually discarded, might restore hematopoiesis – a proposal supported by preparatory studies by some of us [12] and consistent with reports on the presence of hematopoietic stem and multipotential (CFU-GEMM), erythroid (BFU-E), and granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) progenitor cells in human umbilical-cord blood (see the references cited by Broxmeyer et al. [12]).

Identification of a novel cell type in peripheral lymphoid organs of mice. I. Morphology, quantitation, tissue distribution.

Abstract: A novel cell type has been identified in adherent cell populations prepared from mouse peripheral lymphoid organs (spleen, lymph node, Peyer's patch). Though present in small numbers (0.1–1.6% of the total nucleated cells) the cells have distinct morphological features. The nucleus is large, retractile, contorted in shape, and contains small nucleoli (usually two). The abundant cytoplasm is arranged in processes of varying length and width and contains many large spherical mitochondria. In the living state, the cells undergo characteristic movements, and unlike macrophages, do not appear to engage in active endocytosis. The term, dendritic cell, is proposed for this novel cell type.

Taking dendritic cells into medicine

Abstract: Dendritic cells (DCs) orchestrate a repertoire of immune responses that bring about resistance to infection and silencing or tolerance to self. In the settings of infection and cancer, microbes and tumours can exploit DCs to evade immunity, but DCs also can generate resistance, a capacity that is readily enhanced with DC-targeted vaccines. During allergy, autoimmunity and transplant rejection, DCs instigate unwanted responses that cause disease, but, again, DCs can be harnessed to silence these conditions with novel therapies. Here we present some medical implications of DC biology that account for illness and provide opportunities for prevention and therapy.

Stress and hippocampal plasticity.

Abstract: The hippocampus is a target of stress hormones, and it is an especially plastic and vulnerable region of the brain. It also responds to gonadal, thyroid, and adrenal hormones, which modulate changes in synapse formation and dendritic structure and regulate dentate gyrus volume during development and in adult life. Two forms of structural plasticity are affected by stress: Repeated stress causes atrophy of dendrites in the CA3 region, and both acute and chronic stress suppresses neurogenesis of dentate gyrus granule neurons. Besides glucocorticoids, excitatory amino acids and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are involved in these two forms of plasticity as well as in neuronal death that is caused in pyramidal neurons by seizures and by ischemia. The two forms of hippocampal structural plasticity are relevant to the human hippocampus, which undergoes a selective atrophy in a number of disorders, accompanied by deficits in declarative, episodic, spatial, and contextual memory performance. It is important, from a therapeutic standpoint, to distinguish between a permanent loss of cells and a reversible atrophy.