Dirk Willem van Bekkum: a pioneer in haematology, transplantation and radiobiology (1925–2015)
Dirk Willem van Bekkum: a pioneer in haematology, transplantation and radiobiology (1925–2015)
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Dirk Willem van Bekkum：血液学、移植和放射生物学领域的先驱（1925-2015）
DOI：
10.1038/leu.2015.224
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发表时间：
2015
期刊：
影响因子：
11.4
通讯作者：
B. Löwenberg
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
R. Gale;B. Löwenberg
It is difficult for any haematologist, transplant expert or radiobiologist over age 50 years to imagine a world without Dirk van Bekkum. Dirk was more than an expert’s expert, he was a force majeure. He described the biology of bone marrow engraftment when it was thought (hard to believe today) post-transplant bone marrow recovery after radiation exposure was endogenous and caused by the transfer of humoral factors (hormones) in the bone marrow graft. He also solved the riddle of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) by studies in mice and subhuman primates showing it was caused by genetically disparate donor cells attacking the host (hence chimeras after the mythological, firebreathing Greek beast part lion, part goat, part snake). At that time the biology of this post-transplant-related phenomenon was also a mystery and it was termed secondary disease.(Graft-failure/rejection was termed primary disease.) Several attempts to perform an allogeneic bone marrow transplant in humans had failed until the team of van Bekkum, van Rood, Leo Jan Dooren and Jaak Vossen used a sibling donor and a graft depleted of lymphocytes on a density gradient to decrease the likelihood of GvHD to cure an infant with severe combined immune deficiency disease (SCID). This child, now more than 50 years old and a grandmother, is alive today. At the same time, two other groups in the US were also successful in performing transplants on babies with SCID and Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome. Dirk and his colleagues also worked on identifying and purifying normal haematopoietic stem cells, developing animal models of experimental therapies in acute myeloid leukaemia and many other topics. If you are allowed only one book in your transplant library, make it The Radiation Chimeras by Dirk van Bekkum and Marco de Vries first published in 1967. 1 (Interestingly Radiation Chimeras was published by Logos Press. Logos has two definitions:(1) the rational principle that governs and develops the universe; and (2) the divine word or reason incarnate in Jesus Christ (John 1: 1-14). We are unsure which better defines this book.) Radiation Chimeras is The Bible. It describes the fundamentals of bone marrow transplantation, the concept of haematopoietic chimerism and the biology of GvHD. In Chapter VI,‘Clinical applications of bone marrow transplantation and related experiments’, the authors presciently outline possible clinical applications:(1) treatment of haematopoietic failure following irradiation;(2) autologous bone marrow after chemotherapy;(3) whole-body irradiation and transplantation of haematopoietic cells in the experimental treatment of leukaemia;(4) attempts to control the graft versus tumour reaction;(5) complications of the treatment other than secondary disease (GvHD);(6) clinical application of bone marrow transplantation in the treatment of leukaemia;(7) treatment of other blood diseases with bone marrow; and (8) production of chimeras as a preparation for organ transplantation. That covers the bases describing nicely where we are today almost 50 years later! To quote Ecclesiastes (1: 4-11).
