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Blood, 15 July 2004, Vol. 104, No. 2, pp. 572-578. Prepublished online as a Blood First Edition Paper on March 25, 2004; DOI 10.1182/blood-2003-12-4226.
TRANSPLANTATION Bone marrow transplantation restores immune system function and prevents lymphoma in Atm-deficient miceFrom the Transplantation Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School; and Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) is a human autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM). A-T is characterized by progressive cerebellar degeneration, variable immunodeficiency, and a high incidence of leukemia and lymphoma. Recurrent sino-pulmonary infections secondary to immunodeficiency and hematopoietic malignancies are major causes of morbidity and mortality in A-T patients. In mice, an introduced mutation in Atm leads to a phenotype that recapitulates many of the symptoms of A-T, including immune system abnormalities and susceptibility to malignancy. Here we show that the replacement of the bone marrow compartment in Atm knockout mice (Atm-/-) using a clinically relevant, nonmyeloablative host-conditioning regimen can be used to overcome the immune deficiencies and prevent the malignancies observed in these mice. Therefore, bone marrow transplantation may prove to be of therapeutic benefit in A-T patients. (Blood. 2004;104:572-578)
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