Functional abnormalities and changes in gene expression in fibroblasts and macrophages from the bone marrow of patients with acute myeloid leukemia

In bone marrow malignancies, little is known about the fate of stromal cells after replacement of normal cells by neoplastic hematopoietic ones. In this study, fibroblasts from patients with acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndromes exhibited a significantly lower ability to support hematopoiesis originating from co-cultured allogeneic CD34-positive cells than did fibroblasts from healthy marrow. Conversely, macrophages from acute myeloid leukemia marrow significantly enhanced the production of blood cells compared with control macrophages. Aberrant function was associated with consistent changes in the expression of genes involved in hematopoietic stem cell control, such as cytokines and regulators of the Wnt signaling pathway.