Introduction To Leukaemia And Malignant Haematology Flashcards
Aetiology of haematological malignancy?
Speak a little about each.
Combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Genetic Eg) Downs Syndrome
What is a haemopoietic malaignancy?
A clonal disease that is derived from a single cell in the bone marrow or lymphoid tissue which has undergone genetic alteration.
Environmental factors involved in haematological malignancy?
Chemicals eg) benzene –> AML
Drugs, especially previus chemotherapy –> AML
Radiation eg) atom bomb survivors in Japan
Infections
Can you name some infectious agents associated with haematological milignancies?
Viral: EBV and Burkitts lymphoma HHV8 and Kaposi's Sarcoma Bacterial: H. Pylori and gastric MALT lymphoma
What are haematological growth factors?
Soluble glycoprotein hormones.
Site of action of haematological growth factors?
May act locally at a site where produced or circulate in plasma.
What kinds of cells produce haemopoietic growth factors?
Many kinds of cells Eg) T lymphocytes, endothelial cells
Mainly stromal cells of the bone marrow Eg) adipocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, macrophages/monocytes
What are stromal cells and what do they do?
Connective tissue cells of any organ. They support the function of the parenchymal cells of that organ.
What do haemopoietic growth factors do?
They interact at many different levels in the bone marrow, from stem cell to mature blood cell, to regulate proliferation and differentiation of haemopoietic progenitors.
How do haemopoietic growth factors exert their effect?
Exert their effect by binding to high affinity receptors on the cell surface.
Which haemopoietic growth factor stimulates erythropoiesis?
Where is it produced?
Erythropoietin.
Mainly in kidney but also in liver(early development)
Which haemopoietic growth factor is involved in platelet production? Where is it produced?
What does it do?
Thrombopoietin.
Produced by liver and kidney.
Stimulates the production of megakaryocytes.
What are megakaryocytes?
Bone marrow cells that bud off large numbers of platelets.
What is a cytokine? Examples?
Cytokines are a broad and loose category of small proteins that are important in cell signalling.
Cytokines include chemokines, interferons, interleukins, lymphokines and tumour necrosis factor.
What are interleukins?
What do they do?
Interleukins are a group of cytokines that were first seen to be expressed by WBC’s (leukocytes).
They promote the development and differentiation of T and B lymphocytes, and haematopoietic cells. (Includes NK cell)
For what is stem cell factor important?
Plays an important role in haematopoiesis, spermatogenesis and melanogenesis.
What are granulocytes/polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN)?
A category of WBC’s characterised by the presence of granules in their cytoplasm.
Types: neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils and mast cells
Growth factors associated with: -RBC's -Platelets -Monocytes -Neutrophils -Eosinophils -
RBC's - erythropoietin Platelets - thrombopoietin Monocytes - M-CSF Neutrophils - G-CSF Eosinophils - IL-5
What aspects of cell development do haematopoietic growth factors promote?
Proliferation Differentiation Maturation Suppression of apoptosis Functional activation
Mechanism of action of haemopoietic growth factors?
1) GF binds to corresponding receptor (dimerisation)
2) binding activates whatever pathway is involved
3) activation of pathway –> transcription of particular genes
Ist three secondary pathways that may be activated by a haemopoietic growth factor.
JAK/STAT pathway
MPK pathway
Phosphatidyl-inositol-3-kinase (PI3K) pathway
Which transcription factor is needed for cell transition from G1 to S phase?
E2F