Researchers Tackle CLL, Diabetes and Trauma-H...( Molecular Me...),Health

Molecular Medicine, a bimonthly, biomedical journal published by The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, strives to understand normal body functioning and disease pathogenesis at the molecular level which may allow researchers and physician-scientists to use that knowledge in the design of specific molecular tools for disease diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and prevention. Featured in the November/December issue: “Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Cells Recognize Conserved Epitopes Associated with Apoptosis and Oxidation”, “Angiogenesis and Diabetes: Different Responses to Pro-Angiogenic Factors in the Chorioallantoic Membrane Assay”, and “Estradiol’s Salutary Effects on Keratinocytes following Trauma-Hemorrhage Are Mediated by Estrogen Receptor (ER)- and ER-”.

(Vocus) November 14, 2008 -- Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) is a disease of the B lymphocytes of the immune system. Under normal conditions, B lymphocytes (or B cells) play an important role in battling infection. CLL is a disease manifested by uncontrolled growth of these B lymphocytes. In this month’s issue of Molecular Medicine, Rosa Catera and her colleagues found that CLL cells react with cells undergoing programmed cell death (apoptosis), and those with the worst outcomes have the most potent reactivity. CLL comes in several forms and has different outcomes for patients. Some can live for years or decades with few symptoms, while others progress quickly into advanced stages of disease and thus have a shorter life expectancy.

Catera and her colleagues have been trying to unravel a curious observation that many of the antibodies in CLL patients share a similar genetic sequence, no matter where in the world they live. The finding suggests that apoptosis generates substances that could stimulate CLL cell growth. In laboratory models, they have shown that this type of reactivity
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