The estimate of the frequency of suppressor T lymphocytes in unfractionated cell populations remains challenging, mainly because these regulatory cells do not display specific immunophenotypic markers. In this paper, we describe a novel theoretical approach for quantifying the frequency of suppressor cells. This method is based on limiting dilution data modeling, and allows the simultaneous est...

Limiting dilution transplantation assay (LDTA) is considered as the gold standard method to assess hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) content. Traditionally, HSC frequency estimates are based on the single-hit Poisson model (SHPM), which posits that one donor HSC is sufficient to generate a progeny of detectable differentiated cells above a threshold value in hosts. However, there is no clear suppor...

BACKGROUND The malignant brain tumour glioblastoma is a devastating disease that remains a therapeutic challenge. MATERIALS AND METHODS Effects of combinations of the US Food and Drug Administation (FDA) approved proteasome inhibitor bortezomib and the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors vorinostat, valproic acid and sodium phenylbutyrate were studied on primary glioblastoma stem cell lines...

Using a syngeneic p53-null mouse mammary gland tumor model that closely mimics human breast cancer, we have identified, by limiting dilution transplantation and in vitro mammosphere assay, a Lin CD29CD24 subpopulation of tumor-initiating cells. Upon subsequent transplantation, this subpopulation generated heterogeneous tumors that displayed properties similar to the primary tumor. Analysis of b...

Numerous studies have suggested that Cancer Initiating Cells (CIC) can be identified/enriched in cell populations obtained from solid tumors based on the expression of cell surface marker proteins. We used early passage primary cervix cancer xenografts to sort cells based on the expression of the intrinsic hypoxia marker Carbonic Anhydrase 9 (CA9) and tested their cancer initiation potential by...

Using a syngeneic p53-null mouse mammary gland tumor model that closely mimics human breast cancer, we have identified, by limiting dilution transplantation and in vitro mammosphere assay, a Lin(-)CD29(H)CD24(H) subpopulation of tumor-initiating cells. Upon subsequent transplantation, this subpopulation generated heterogeneous tumors that displayed properties similar to the primary tumor. Analy...

Pentavalent antimonial (Sb) is the first treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). Other drugs present similar side effects and higher cost. Oral miltefosine is effective to treat kala-azar. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of glucamine (SbV) plus topical miltefosine with glucamine in the treatment of CL. Eighty isogenic C57BL/6 mice were inoculated with Leishmania (Le...

In this report, we describe a modification of the assay for long-term culture-initiating cells (LTC-IC) that allows a subset of murine LTC-IC (designated as LTC-ICML) to express both their myeloid (M) and lymphoid (L) differentiative potentials in vitro. The modified assay involves culturing test cells at limiting dilutions on irradiated mouse marrow feeder layers for an initial 4 weeks under c...