Issue Archive

It is barely more than a decade since Toll-like receptors (TLRs) were linked to the innate immune response.¹  Yet substantial data are now emerging that indicate that TLR agonists may have a significant role in the therapy of mycosis fungoides and Sezary syndrome.^2,3 

The use of gene transfer techniques to introduce TCR α/β genes that confer specificity for a target antigen offers the opportunity to produce large numbers of cancer-specific T cells for adoptive therapy.¹  In this issue of Blood, Nagai and colleagues examine the feasibility of adoptive therapy using lymphocytes genetically engineered to express the T-cell receptor (TCR) for the leukemia-associated antigen Aurora kinase A (AURKA).² 

In this issue of Blood, Frisch and colleagues identify an unexpected effect of leukemia cells: alterations in bone homeostasis within the bone marrow hematopoietic microenvironment.¹ 

In this issue of Blood, Milanov and colleagues demonstrate that a Factor IX (FIX) variant that does not require activated Factor VIII (FVIIIa) for activity induces coagulation in hemophilia A mice with FVIII inhibitors.¹  This protein might be developed as a bypass agent.

Segal and colleagues in this issue of Blood report their findings about an additional new function for the hormone relaxin: turning on bone marrow–derived endothelial progenitor cells to sites of neoangiogenesis.¹