Citation Details

Journal Article

IntegriSense, Animals; Flow Cytometry; Fluorescent Dyes/*diagnostic use; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Nanoparticles/*diagnostic use; Neoplasms/*diagnosis; Positron-Emission Tomography/*methods; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/*methods

Fusion imaging of radionuclide-based molecular (PET) and structural data [x-ray computed tomography (CT)] has been firmly established. Here we show that optical measurements [fluorescence-mediated tomography (FMT)] show exquisite congruence to radionuclide measurements and that information can be seamlessly integrated and visualized. Using biocompatible nanoparticles as a generic platform (containing a (18)F isotope and a far red fluorochrome), we show good correlations between FMT and PET in probe concentration (r(2) > 0.99) and spatial signal distribution (r(2) > 0.85). Using a mouse model of cancer and different imaging probes to measure tumoral proteases, macrophage content and integrin expression simultaneously, we demonstrate the distinct tumoral locations of probes in multiple channels in vivo. The findings also suggest that FMT can serve as a surrogate modality for the screening and development of radionuclide-based imaging agents.

Journal Article

Xen10, Xen 10, Streptococcus pneumoniae Xen10, IVIS, Animals; Bacterial Adhesion; Bacterial Processes; Bacterial Proteins/*physiology; *Carrier State; Colony Count, Microbial; Female; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Lung/microbiology; Meningitis, Pneumococcal/microbiology; Mice; Models, Animal; Mutation; Nasopharynx/*microbiology; Pneumonia, Pneumococcal/complications; Sepsis/*microbiology; Streptococcus pneumoniae/*pathogenicity; Virulence Factors/physiology

Summary The pneumococcal cell surface protein PavA is a virulence factor associated with adherence and invasion in vitro. In this study we show in vivo that PavA is necessary for Streptococcus pneumoniae D39 colonization of the murine upper respiratory tract in a long-term carriage model, with PavA-deficient pneumococci being quickly cleared from nasopharyngeal tissue. In a pneumonia model, pavA mutants were not cleared from the lungs of infected mice and persisted to cause chronic infection, whereas wild-type pneumococci caused systemic infection. Hence, under the experimental conditions, PavA-deficient pneumococci appeared to be unable to seed from lung tissue into blood, although they survived in blood when administered intravenously. In a meningitis model of infection, levels of PavA-deficient pneumococci in blood and brain following intercisternal injection were significantly lower than wild type. Taken collectively these results suggest that PavA is involved in successful colonization of mucosal surfaces and in translocation of pneumococci across host barriers. Pneumococcal sepsis is a major cause of mortality worldwide so identification of factors such as PavA that are necessary for carriage and for translocation from tissue to blood is of clinical and therapeutic importance.

Journal Article

FMT; bone; OsteoSense; FRFP; in vivo imaging

Bisphosphonate use has expanded beyond traditional applications to include treatment of a variety of low-bone-mass conditions. Complications associated with long-term bisphosphonate treatment have been noted, generating a critical need for information describing the local bisphosphonate-cell interactions responsible for these observations. This study demonstrates that a fluorescent bisphosphonate analogue, far-red fluorescent pamidronate (FRFP), is an accurate biomarker of bisphosphonate deposition and retention in vivo and can be used to monitor site-specific local drug concentration. In vitro, FRFP is competitively inhibited from the surface of homogenized rat cortical bone by traditional bisphosphonates. In vivo, FRFP delivery to the skeleton is rapid, with fluorescence linearly correlated with bone surface area. Limb fluorescence increases linearly with injected dose of FRFP; injected FRFP does not interfere with binding of standard bisphosphonates at the doses used in this study. Long-term FRFP retention studies demonstrated that FRFP fluorescence decreases in conditions of normal bone turnover, whereas fluorescence was retained in conditions of reduced bone turnover, demonstrating preservation of local FRFP concentration. In the mandible, FRFP localized to the alveolar bone and bone surrounding the periodontal ligament and molar roots, consistent with findings of osteonecrosis of the jaw. These findings support a role for FRFP as an effective in vivo marker for bisphosphonate site-specific deposition, turnover, and long-term retention in the skeleton.

Journal Article

Xen14, Xen 14, E. coli Xen14, IVIS, Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides/chemical synthesis/*pharmacology; Bacterial Infections/*metabolism/microbiology/prevention & control; Cell Line; Cells, Cultured; Chemokine CCL2/metabolism; Chemokine CCL7/metabolism; Chemokine CXCL1/metabolism; Chemokines/*metabolism; Female; Humans; Interleukin-8/metabolism; Leukocytes/cytology/*metabolism; Leukocytes, Mononuclear/cytology/drug effects/metabolism; Macrophages/cytology/drug effects/metabolism; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Molecular Sequence Data; NF-kappa B/metabolism; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism; Phosphorylation/drug effects; Staphylococcal Infections/microbiology/prevention & control; Staphylococcus aureus/drug effects; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism

With the rapid rise in the incidence of multidrug resistant infections, there is substantial interest in host defense peptides as templates for production of new antimicrobial therapeutics. Natural peptides are multifunctional mediators of the innate immune response, with some direct antimicrobial activity and diverse immunomodulatory properties. We have previously developed an innate defense regulator (IDR) 1, with protective activity against bacterial infection mediated entirely through its effects on the immunity of the host, as a novel approach to anti-infective therapy. In this study, an immunomodulatory peptide IDR-1002 was selected from a library of bactenecin derivatives based on its substantially more potent ability to induce chemokines in human PBMCs. The enhanced chemokine induction activity of the peptide in vitro correlated with stronger protective activity in vivo in the Staphylococcus aureus-invasive infection model, with a >5-fold reduction in the protective dose in direct comparison with IDR-1. IDR-1002 also afforded protection against the Gram-negative bacterial pathogen Escherichia coli. Chemokine induction by IDR-1002 was found to be mediated through a Gi-coupled receptor and the PI3K, NF-kappaB, and MAPK signaling pathways. The protective activity of the peptide was associated with in vivo augmentation of chemokine production and recruitment of neutrophils and monocytes to the site of infection. These results highlight the importance of the chemokine induction activity of host defense peptides and demonstrate that the optimization of the ex vivo chemokine-induction properties of peptides is a promising method for the rational development of immunomodulatory IDR peptides with enhanced anti-infective activity.

Journal Article

Xen26, Xen 26, Salmonella typhumurium, Animals; Blotting, Western; Cell Line, Tumor; Diagnostic Imaging/methods; Gene Therapy/*methods; Genetic Engineering/*methods; Genetic Vectors/*therapeutic use; Humans; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Neoplasms/*therapy; Perforin/*genetics/therapeutic use; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Salmonella typhimurium/*genetics; bcl-Associated Death Protein/genetics

Tumor-targeting bacteria have been studied in terms of their ability to visualize the infection pathway (through imaging probes) or to carry therapeutic molecules to tumors. To integrate these monitoring and therapeutic functions, we engineered attenuated Salmonella typhimurium defective in guanosine 5'-diphosphate-3'-diphosphate synthesis to carry cytotoxic proteins (cytolysin A) and express reporter genes. We successfully visualized the therapeutic process with these engineered bacteria in mice and found that they often mediated complete tumor (CT-26) eradication on cytotoxic gene induction. Furthermore, treatment with the engineered bacteria markedly suppressed metastatic tumor growth.