Τα μυελοδυσπλαστικά σύνδρομα αποτελούν ετερογενή ομάδα νοσημάτων, με δυσμενή πρόγνωση και δυσκολία θεραπευτικής προσέγγισης. Η κατανόηση των παθογενετικών μηχανισμών που διέπουν την παθολογική αιμοποίηση που παρατηρείται στα σύνδρομα αυτά in vitro και in vivo, μπορεί να βοηθήσει στην αποτελεσματικότερη αντιμετώπισή τους. Σκοπός αυτής της διατριβής ήταν η μελέτη της αιμοποίησης των ΜΔΣ με τη μέθοδο των καλλιεργειών αιμοποιητικών κυττάρων μακράς διάρκειας και η επίδραση διαφόρων παραγόντων στην in vitro αιμοποίηση, με στόχο την αναγωγή των ευρημάτων και στην in vivo διαδικασία. Οι καλλιέργειες βραχείας διάρκειας ανέδειξαν την αδυναμία των προγονικών κυττάρων των ασθενών να δημιουργήσουν φυσιολογικές αποικίες. Η προσθήκη μίγματος αυξητικών παραγόντων στο καλλιεργητικό υλικό είχε θετική επίδραση στην πλειοψηφία των περιπτώσεων. Με μακράς διάρκειας καλλιέργειες συγκρίθηκαν τα αποτελέσματα των ΜΔΣ με αυτά φυσιολογικών μαρτύρων και των υποκατηγοριών ΜΔΣ μεταξύ τους. Αξιολογήθηκαν η έκταση του στρώματος, η διάρκεια ζωής, η εβδομαδιαία και η συνολική κυτταρική απόδοση. Σε όλες τις περιπτώσεις η ανάπτυξη υπολειπόταν ποιοτικά και ποσοτικά στους ασθενείς, σε σχέση με τους μάρτυρες. Η προσθήκη παραγόντων στο καλλιεργητικό υλικό αποσκοπούσε στη βελτίωση των παραμέτρων που προαναφέρθηκαν. Η IFN-α, η βιταμίνη D3, η Ara-c και ο συνδυασμός της με IFN-α δεν βελτίωσαν τα αποτελέσματα. Η προσθήκη IL-3 είχε ευοδωτική επίδραση κυρίως στις κυτταρικές αποδόσεις. Η IL-6 είχε επίσης ευοδωτική δράση, κυρίως στον σχηματισμό στρώματος. Ο συνδυασμός IL-3+IL-6 απέβη ο πιο σημαντικός τροποποιητής της συμπεριφοράς των καλλιεργειών των ασθενών με ΜΔΣ ευοδώνοντας όλες τις παραμέτρους και προκάλεσε διαφορές πολύ σημαντικές σε σχέση με την control καλλιέργεια. Αναδείχθησαν λοιπόν ευρήματα συνέργειας των δύο ιντερλευκινών, σε όλες τις άλλες παραμέτρους αξιολόγησης των καλλιεργειών μακράς διάρκειας. Με βάση τον τρόπο ανάπτυξης και την συμπεριφορά των κυττάρων των ασθενών με ΜΔΣ στην προσθήκη των κυτταροκινών, διακρίθηκαν δύο μοντέλα in vitro ανάπτυξης της καλλιεργειών: Το δυσπλαστικό και το λευχαιμικό. Συμπερασματικά οι μακράς διάρκειας καλλιέργειες στους ασθενείς με ΜΔΣ αποτελούν χρήσιμη προγνωστική μέθοδο και μπορούν να διακρίνουν τους ασθενείς που θα εξελιχθούν ταχέως, από εκείνους που θα έχουν χρονιότερη και ηπιότερη πορεία. Συνδυασμός κυτταροκινών και άλλων παραγόντων μπορεί να βελτιώσει την προβληματική-παθολογική in vitro αιμοποίηση των προγονικών κυττάρων των ασθενών με ΜΔΣ. / Myelodysplastic syndromes comprise a heterogeneous group of hematopoietic stem-cell disorders, with dismal prognosis and difficulty in their therapeutic approach. The revealing of the underlying pathogenetic mechanisms, implicated in the impaired hematopoiesis of these syndromes, is crucial for the development a more comprehensive and effective treatment approaches. The aim of this thesis was the study of hematopoiesis of MDS, by using long term cultures of hemopoietic cells and the investigation of the influence of various exogenous modulating factors-drugs in vitro, in an effort to obtain results, which could direct their use in vivo. Short term cultures revealed the disability of the progenitor cells of patients to form normal colonies. The addition of a mixture of growth factors in the conditioned medium had a positive influence in the majority of cases. By using long term cultures we compared the results obtained from patients with MDS, with those from normal controls, and between the different MDS subgroups For this comparison we used: the extent of the area of the stroma-layer formed, the longevity of the culture, the weekly cell production and the total cell yield of each culture. In all cases the development of cultures derived from patients was inferior to those of controls. The addition of modulating factors to the culture medium was aimed to improve the above parameters. IFN-α, vitamin D3, Ara-c and the combination of IFN-α and Ara-c did not improve any of the culture’s parameter. The addition of IL-3 had a clearly favorable effect mainly to the weekly and the total cell yield. Interleukin-6 had similarly a favourable effect, particularly promi-nent in the stroma-cell formation. The combination of IL-3 plus IL-6 was proved as the most important favourable modulator of the MDS cultures. It improved all culture parameters and produced statistically significant differences in comparison to the control cultures. According to the developmental model obtained by the long-term culture the dysplastic and the leukemic pattern of in vitro growth could be distinguished. In conclusion, long term cultures of hematopoietic cells of MDS patients represent a useful prognostic tool and can distinguish patients who will more rapidly evolve to leukemia from those who will have a more prolonged and stable clinical course. The use of a combination of cytokines and might have a favourable effect on in vitro hematopoiesis of the progenitor cells of MDS patients.

Oxidative stress is an important factor in carcinogenesis of oncohematological diseases. However its role in the pathogenesis of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) remains unclear. In this study, we have determined the oxidative status and evaluated proteomic changes in plasma of MDS patients as a consequence of oxidative dysbalance (oxidative modifications, protein-protein interaction and complex forming). We measured the levels of total cysteine, homocysteine, cysteinyglycine, glutathione, nitrites and nitrates in the plasma from 61 MDS patients and 23 healthy donors using high performance liquid chromatography. Glutathione and nitrites levels reduced significantly while other aminothiols levels increased significantly in plasma of MDS patients. This association with oxidative stress did not correlate with iron overload. We also found enhanced levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine in serums of middle aged patients with MDS that correlate to posttranslational modifications of proteins arginyl residues. Furthermore, carbonylated proteins level was significantly elevated in MDS patients compared to healthy donors. Using mass spectrometry, 5 S-nitrosylated blood platelets proteins were identified in plasma and blood platelets of MDS patients and set of 16 plasma proteins with high probability of...

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) represent a group of clonal stem cell disorders characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis, peripheral cytopenia, morphological dysplasia and the risk of transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). MDS belongs to one of the most common hematological diseases in patients over 60 years old. MDS incidence is still increasing. Appropriate therapy of MDS remains challenging. There is no curative approach besides peripheral stem cells transplantation, which is regretfully appropriate only for a small group of patients due to a higher median age of the MDS population. This is why the search for therapeutic alternatives remains paramount. MDS treatment was rather frustrating until the recent introduction of two new therapeutic approaches: immunomodulation therapy with lenalidomide and epigenetic or demethylating therapy with 5-azacytidine. Both new drugs have significantly higher effect than standard therapy. However, the precise mechanism of this effect remains unknown. As a result, we decided to initiate several research projects while introducing this promising treatment to our patients. Our aim is to investigate the mechanism of both agents in relation to disease pathogenesis by examining changes of certain occurrences and factors prior to and during the course of...

Orientador: Sara Teresinha Olalla Saad / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-18T22:22:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Baratti_MarianaOzello_D.pdf: 9890862 bytes, checksum: f7eb8503519cc264f616a79dc48baf4f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: As síndromes mielodisplásicas (SMDs) constituem um grupo heterogêneo de desordens hematopoéticas, caracterizadas por exibirem hematopoese ineficaz com evidências de displasia da medula óssea resultando em citopenias no sangue periférico. Tecnologia de microarranjo tem permitido o refinado mapeamento da atividade transcricional do genoma humano. RNAs não codificadores (ncRNAs) transcritos de regiões intrônicas de genes conhecidos estão envolvidos em vários processos relacionados com controle transcricional e pós-transcricional da expressão gênica, interações com cromatinas, modificação de histonas e também estão se tornando evidentes em vários tipos de cânceres. Caracterização de ncRNAs em células progenitoras e células estromais de pacientes com SMD representa uma estratégia aparentemente importante para o entendimento da regulação gênica nesta doença. Neste estudo, o perfil de expressão gênica de células CD34+ e estromais de pacientes com SMD do subgrupo anemia refratária com sideroblastos em anel (ARSA) foi comparado com o de indivíduos saudáveis, usando oligoarranjos de 44 kilobases contendo íntrons e éxons, o qual incluiu sequências para genes codificadores, RNAs sense e antisense totalmente e parcialmente intrônicos. Em células CD34+ de pacientes com SMD-ARSA, 216 genes foram diferencialmente expressos (q-value ? 0,01) em comparação com indivíduos saudáveis, dos quais 65 (30%) eram transcritos não codificadores. O gene DMT1, um transportador de ferro, foi encontrado hiperexpresso em células CD34+ de SMD-ARSA. Em medula óssea total de 34 pacientes, a expressão foi mais evidente no subgrupo de pacientes com SMD de baixo risco/INT-1. Ensaios de imuno-histoquímica corroboram os dados encontrados na análise de expressão gênica e demonstram que DMT1 se encontra mais expresso nas células eritroblásticas. A hiperexpressão de DMT1 pode estar relacionada com o homeostase do ferro anormal nas SMDs. Em células estromais de SMD-ARSA, 12 genes foram diferencialmente expressos (q-value ? 0,05) em comparação com indivíduos saudáveis, dos quais 3 (25%) eram transcritos não codificadores. O gene SEMA3A, um membro secretado da família das semaforinas, foi encontrado hiperexpresso em células estromais de SMD-ARSA e na medula óssea total de 34 pacientes; sua hiperexpressão foi mais evidente em pacientes com SMD de alto risco/INT-2 e em pacientes com leucemia mieloide aguda (n=19). Ensaios funcionais demonstraram que SEMA3A está envolvido com aumento da adesão, diminuição da diferenciação e apoptose de células leucêmicas cocultivadas com células estromais HS27 hiperexpressando SEMA3A e age de maneira parácrina sobre as células precursoras. Pela primeira vez, o perfil diferencial de ncRNA em células CD34+ e células estromais entre SMD-ARSA e indivíduos saudáveis foi demonstrado, sugerindo que ncRNA pode ter um importante papel durante o desenvolvimento das síndromes mielodisplásicas / Abstract: Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group heterogeneous of hematological disorders characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis with morphological evidence of marrow cell dysplasia resulting in peripheral blood cytopenia. Microarray technology has permitted a refined high-throughput mapping of the transcriptional activity in the human genome. Noncoding-RNAs (ncRNAs) transcribed from intronic regions of genes are involved in a number of processes related to post-transcriptional control of gene expression, and chromatins interaction, and histone modification and they are becoming evident in several cancers. Characterization of ncRNAs in progenitor cells and stromal cells of MDS patients could be strategic for understanding gene expression regulation in this disease. In this study, gene expression profiles of CD34+ and stromal cells of MDS patients with refractory anemia with ringed sideroblasts (RARS) subgroup were compared those of healthy individuals, using 44 kilobases combined introns and exons oligoarrays, which included probes for protein-coding genes, for sense and antisense strands of totally and partially intronic noncoding RNAs. In CD34+ cells of MDS-RARS patients, 216 genes were significantly differentially expressed (q-value ? 0.01) in comparison to healthy individuals, of which 65 (30%) were noncoding transcripts. The DMT1 gene, an iron-transporter, was found up-regulated in CD34+ cells of MDS-RARS. In the total bone marrow of 34 patients, the expression of DMT1 was more evident in the subgroup of low risk/INT-1 MDS patients. The immunohistochemistry assay confirms the data obtained in the gene expression assay and show that DMT1 is more expressed in erythroid cells. The higher expression of DMT1 can be related with abnormal iron homeostasis in MDS. In stromal cells of MDS-RARS, 12 genes were significantly differentially expressed (q-value ? 0.05) in comparison to healthy individuals, of which 3 (25%) were noncoding transcripts. The SEMA3A gene, a secreted member of the semaphorins family, was found up-regulated in stromal cells of MDS-RARS and in the total bone marrow of 34 patients; further, the higher expression was more evident in high risk/ INT-2 subgroup of MDS patients and acute myeloid leukemia patients (n = 19). Functional assays demonstrated that SEMA3A is related to adhesion increase, differentiation decrease, and apoptosis of leukemia cells cocultivated with HS27 stromal cells higher expressing SEMA3A, also acting in a paracrine fashion in the precursors cells. These results demonstrated, for the first time, in CD34+ cells and stromal cells the differential ncRNA expression profile between MDSRARS and healthy individuals, suggesting that ncRNAs may play an important role during the development of myelodysplastic syndromes / Doutorado / Medicina Experimental / Doutor em Fisiopatologia Medica

Orientador: Carmen Sílvia Bertuzzo / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T12:57:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Goncalves_ClaudiaEstela_D.pdf: 2258187 bytes, checksum: 7cac2852cc031e31eba1a31c62d9dda2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: A Anemia de Fanconi (AF) é uma alteração genética caracterizada por múltiplas anomalias congênitas, anormalidades hematológicas e predisposição a uma variedade de tumores. A incidência mundial da AF em todo o mundo é de aproximadamente três por milhão e a frequência de heterozigotos é estimada em um para 300 na Europa e Estados Unidos. É uma doença causada por mutações em genes relacionados ao sistema de reparo. Até o momento foram descritos 16 genes que podem estar multados. São eles: FANCA, FANCB, FANCC, FNCD1, FANCD2, FANCE, FANCF, FANCG, FANCI, FANCJ, FANCL, FANCM, FANCN, FANCO, FANCP E PANCQ. Os grupos mais frequentes são o FANCA e FANCC. De qualquer modo devido a essa heterogeneidade gênica, o diagnóstico molecular dessa alteração é complexo. Com o intuito de testar uma estratégia diagnóstica, o presente trabalho se propôs a identificar as mutações mais frequentes no gene FANC por PCR e digestão enzimática e investigar mutações no gene FANCA, por meio da Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase seguida de digestão enzimática da mutação Brasileira e posterior sequenciamento dos 43 éxons em 60 pacientes portadores de Anemia de Fanconi DEB positivos. Foram detectados 19 pacientes (27,94%), como sendo do grupo C e 16 pacientes como grupo A (23,53%). A mutação ?3788-3790 do gene FANCA teve uma frequência alélica de 15,4%. Foram encontradas 3 mutações intrônicas, 1 mutação sinônima e 1 mutação de sentido trocado no gene FANCA. Não foram encontradas correlações com as manifestações hematológicas, renais, baixo peso, malformações congênitas de membros, machas e pigmentação de pele, sexo e idade / Abstract: The Fanconi Anemia (FA) is a genetic disorder characterized by multiple congenital and hematological abnormalities and predisposition to a variety of tumors. The worldwide incidence of AF is approximately three per million and the frequency of heterozygotes is estimated at one in 300 in Europe and the United States. It is a disease caused by mutations in genes involved in the repair system. So far have been described 16 genes that may be mutated. They are: FANCA , FANCB , FANCC , FNCD1 , FANCD2 , FANCE , FANCF , FANCG , FANCI , FANCJ , FANCL , FANCM , FANCN , FANCO , FANCP And PANCQ . The most common groups are the FANCA and FANCC. However due to this genetic heterogeneity, molecular diagnosis of this change is complex. In order to test a diagnostic strategy, the present study aimed to identify the most frequent mutations in the FANC gene by PCR and restriction enzyme digestion and investigate mutations in the FANCA gene, using the polymerase chain reaction followed by enzymatic digestion of the mutation Brazilian and subsequent sequencing of the 43 exons in 60 patients with Fanconi Anemia positive DEB. 19 patients (27.94%) were detected as group C and 16 patients as group A (23.53%). The ?3788 - 3790 mutation in the FANCA gene had an allelic frequency of 15.4%. Three intronic mutations, one synonymous mutation and one mutation changed direction in FANCA gene were found. No correlation with hematologic, renal, low weight manifestations of congenital malformations members, butches and skin pigmentation, age and sex were found / Doutorado / Clinica Medica / Doutora em Clínica Médica

Malignant transformation of cell is characterized by genomic instability that involves unbalanced changes besides other things. We analyzed genomic aberrations, promoter methylation and mutations of several clinically relevant genes using I-FISH, mFISH, mBAND, CGH array, SNP array, MLPA, MS-MLPA and MS-PCR methods. We focused on two groups of patients well known for frequent appearance of unbalanced changes - patients with malignant brain tumors (gliomas) and patients with myelodyspastic syndromes (MDS). In patients with low grade glioma (WHO grade I - II), the codeletion of 1p/19q (82,6% oligodendrogliomas and oligoastrocytomas), mutation of IDH1/IDH2 genes (87% WHO grade I-II gliomas), copy neutral loss of heterozygozyty of 17p (72,2% astrocytomas) and higher presence of unbalanced aberration in astrocytomas belongs to the most frequent findings. We described yet unpublished methylation of MLH3 gene promoter in 60,9% oligodendrogliomas and in 27,3% astrocytomas. We also observed clonal evolution in patients with recurrent tumors. We studied secondary rearrangements of deleted chromosome 5 in patients with MDS and complex karyotype and we described its most recurrent translocation partners and breakpoints. We observed chromothripsis in 49% of these patients and it was frequently associated with...

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) represent a group of clonal stem cell disorders characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis, peripheral cytopenia, morphological dysplasia and the risk of transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). MDS belongs to one of the most common hematological diseases in patients over 60 years old. MDS incidence is still increasing. Appropriate therapy of MDS remains challenging. There is no curative approach besides peripheral stem cells transplantation, which is regretfully appropriate only for a small group of patients due to a higher median age of the MDS population. This is why the search for therapeutic alternatives remains paramount. MDS treatment was rather frustrating until the recent introduction of two new therapeutic approaches: immunomodulation therapy with lenalidomide and epigenetic or demethylating therapy with 5-azacytidine. Both new drugs have significantly higher effect than standard therapy. However, the precise mechanism of this effect remains unknown. As a result, we decided to initiate several research projects while introducing this promising treatment to our patients. Our aim is to investigate the mechanism of both agents in relation to disease pathogenesis by examining changes of certain occurrences and factors prior to and during the course of...

Clonal evolution is a multistep process characterized by progression of the disease, adverse prognosis and shortening of overall survival. The aim of the dissertation was a detailed characterization of identified changes in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and clonal evolution and evaluation of their prognostic impact. We performed detail cytogenomic analyses in 36/469 (8%) patients with confirmed linear clonal evolution. We described 57 primary abnormalities (32% MDS-specific) at the time of diagnosis, the most frequent was deletion of long arm of chromosome 5. We proved 156 secondary aberrations (21% MDS-specific) during the course of the clonal evolution, the most frequent were trisomies/tetrasomies of chromosome 8. We identified acquired uniparental disomies (aUPD) in 19% of patients. In MDS-specific aUPDs 4q, 11q and 17p, we proved homozygous mutations of TET2, c-CBL and TP53 genes. We found a statistically significant difference in overall survival between the groups of patients divided according to their diagnostic cytogenomic findings. In patients with clonal evolution before treatment 54% of aberrations were gains of whole chromosomes, by contrast 44% of abnormalities identified in patients with clonal evolution after treatment were monosomies or deletions. The study of clonal...

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) comprise a heterogeneous group of hematologic malignancies characterized by clonal hematopoiesis, one or more cytopenias such as anemia, neutropenia, or thrombocytopenia, abnormal cellular maturation, and a high risk of progression to acute myeloid leukemia. The bone marrow microenvironment (BMME) in general and mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in particular contribute to both the initiation and progression of MDS. However, little is known about the role of MSC-derived extracellularmatrix (ECM) in this context. Therefore, we performed a comparative analysis of in vitro deposited MSC-derived ECM of different MDS subtypes and healthy controls. Atomic force microscopy analyses demonstrated that MDS ECM was significantly thicker and more compliant than those from healthy MSCs. Scanning electron microscopy showed a dense meshwork of fibrillar bundles connected by numerous smaller structures that span the distance between fibers in MDS ECM. Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) structures were detectable at high abundance in MDS ECM as white, sponge-like arrays on top of the fibrillar network. Quantification by Blyscan assay confirmed these observations, with higher concentrations of sulfated GAGs in MDS ECM. Fluorescent lectin staining with wheat germ agglutinin and peanut agglutinin demonstrated increased deposition of N-acetyl-glucosamine GAGs (hyaluronan (HA) and heparan sulfate) in low risk (LR) MDS ECM. Differential expression of Nacetyl- galactosamine GAGs (chondroitin sulfate, dermatan sulfate) was observed between LR- and high risk (HR)-MDS. Moreover, increased amounts of HA in the matrix of MSCs from LR-MDS patients were found to correlate with enhanced HA synthase 1 mRNA expression in these cells. Stimulation of mononuclear cells from healthy donors with low molecular weight HA resulted in an increased expression of various pro-inflammatory cytokines suggesting a contribution of the ECM to the inflammatory BMME typical of LR-MDS. CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) displayed an impaired differentiation potential after cultivation on MDS ECM and modified morphology accompanied by decreased integrin expression which mediate cell-matrix interaction. In summary, we provide evidence for structural alterations of the MSC-derived ECM in both LR- and HR-MDS. GAGs may play an important role in this remodeling processes during the malignant transformation which leads to the observed disturbance in the support of normal hematopoiesis.

Em nosso trabalho anterior mostramos que dentre as citocinas analisadas, os níveis do mRNA de LIF nas células estromais pediátricas, de SMD e de SMD-LMA foram maiores quando comparados às células estromais de crianças saudáveis. No presente estudo, observamos um aumento tempo dependente nos níveis da proteína LIF após adição de SFB em todas as células analisadas (células estromais de crianças saudáveis, de SMD e de SMD-LMA). O envolvimento de p38, ERK e JNK na expressão LIF nestas células foi determinado pelo uso de inibidores dos membros das proteínas quinase ativadas por mitógenos: ERK (PD98059), p38 (SB302580) e JNK (SP600125) os quais inibiram a produção de LIF nas células estromais de crianças saudáveis, após estas serem estimuladas por SFB. No entanto, os níveis da expressão de LIF-induzido por soro nas células estromais de SMD e de SMD-LMA tratadas com SB302580 (p38) foram significativamente diminuídos, em comparação com a inibição observada no tratamento com PD98059 e SP600125 (p <0001, teste ANOVA). Em adição analisamos as formas fosforiladas de p38 e ERK, após 48hs na ausência ou na presença de soro por diferentes tempos. Níveis de atividade de ERK e do p38 foram inicialmente elevados na ausência de soro. A atividade de p38 foi sustentada após tratamento com SFB, entretanto, ERK apresentou uma variação de atividade durante o tratamento. Sugerimos que a sinalização das MAPKs (p38, ERK e JNK), em resposta a fatores de crescimento presentes no soro, parece desempenhar um papel importante na expressão da LIF em células estromais de crianças saudáveis, mas a sinalização do p38 parece ser funcionalmente mais importante nas mielodisplasias ou naquelas associadas à LMA / Our previous report showed that among the cytokines analysed, LIF mRNA levels in stromal cells from pediatric MDS and MDS-AML were higher as compared to those found in healthy stromal cells. In the present study, we have observed an increased protein LIF levels in a time dependent manner after FCS stimulation in all stromal cells analysed (MDS, MDS-AML and healthy children) and the involvement of p38, ERK and JNK pathways in the LIF expression in these cells was determined. In stromal cells from two healthy children, LIF production was equally inhibited in a dose dependent manner after FCS stimulation by mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPKs) members inhibitors: ERK (PD98059), p38 (SB302580) and JNK (SP600125). However, in MDS and MDS-AML stromal cells, the levels of LIF-induced by serum, were significantly decreased by SB302580, as compared with the inhibition observed by treatment with PD98059 and SP600125 (p <0,001, ANOVA test). In addition we have analysed the presence of p38 and ERK phosphorylated forms in stromal cells, after 48hs of serum starvation or in the presence of FCS for different times. Activated ERK and p38MAPK levels were initially elevated in the absence of serum. p38MAPK activation was sustained after treatment with FCS, whereas ERK presented a variation of the activated forms during treatment. We suggest that the signalling of the MAPKs (p38, ERK and JNK) in response to growth factors present in the serum, seems to play an important role in the LIF expression by stromal cells of healthy children, but p38 MAPK signalling appears to be functionally more important in MDS and MDS-AML