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Cytokine networks and their impact on the immune profile of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients
Ptáček, Antonín ; Musil, Jan (advisor) ; Fišer, Karel (referee)
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a malignant hematological disorder characterized by aberrant expansion of blasts in the bone marrow and peripheral blood. The immune system protects the body from leukemia by eliminating transformed cells. However, in AML, the abilities of immune cells are affected both by direct contact between leukemic cells and effector cells, as well as by cytokines, metabolites and other soluble proteins that, together with the cells, form the specific AML microenvironment. The effects of cytokines and other soluble molecules in the AML microenvironment are not sufficiently described yet. This thesis aimed to optimize and implement a multiparametric flow cytometry panel for the measurement of cell populations and to implement multiparametric assays for the analysis of cytokine levels, chemokines and other soluble proteins in plasma. The following goal was to use these methods to characterize the frequency and functional phenotype of cell populations and the levels of the soluble proteins and to describe their influence on disease severity and overall survival of the patients. We also tried to find novel biomarkers of the immune escape of leukemic cells. In patients, we observed a suppressive microenvironment with aberrant levels of soluble receptors and other proteins. This...
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