Origins of T-cell leukaemia virus
Article Abstract:
The human T-lymphotrophic virus type I (HTLV-I) is associated with adult T-cell leukemia and a chronic neurologic disease known as HTLV-I-associated myelopathy, or tropical paraparesis. HTLV-I-associated myelopathy is a chronic neurologic condition in which the myelin which surrounds the nerves degenerates. HTLV-I is endemic in Japan, parts of South America, and certain islands of the West Indies. HTLV-I may have infected humans thousands of years ago, but people did not live long enough to develop disease, which has a long latency period. It is not certain where the carriers of the virus originated from and how they reached South America. One theory, that HTLV-I originated in Africa and reached Japan and the Americas by the slave trade, is widely disputed. The Ainu people of northern Japan, who are descendants of people who lived more than 2,500 years ago, have a high carrier rate. There is also a high frequency of carriers among the aborigines of Papua New Guinea and several Melanesian islands, which suggests a route between Asia and South America. However, blacks of African origin constitute the main population that is infected with the virus in Colombia, which supports an African origin. Individuals with tropical paraparesis who are positive for HTLV-I are found in Chileans of mixed white and araucano descent, in the Paez South American Indians of the Colombian Andes, and in individuals from the Peruvian Andes. Therefore, it is concluded that it is more likely that the migration to South America was from Asia rather than Africa. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1990
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Leukaemia inhibitory factor is necessary for maintenance of haematopoietic stem cells and thymocyte stimulation
Article Abstract:
Experiments conducted on mice show that leukaemic inhibitory factor (LIF) is required for the survival of the nomral pool of stem cells, but not for their terminal differentiation though LIF-stem cells remain pluripotent. The stem cells interact differently with the splenic and meduallary microenvironment. Defects in stem cell number can be compensated for by exogenous LIF as LIF has a dosage effect.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1993
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Dynamics of chronic myeloid leukaemia
Article Abstract:
The comparison between model and data provides quantitative insights in vivo kinetics of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). Numerical estimates for the turnover rate of leukaemic progenitors and differentiated are obtained.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 2005
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