Citation Details

Journal Article

Adhesins, Bacterial; Animals; Antigens, CD46; Bacteremia; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; Bacterial Proteins; Bacterial Translocation; Bioware; Blood-Brain Barrier; Central Nervous System; Disease Progression; Female; Luminescent Measurements; Luminescent Proteins; Male; Meningitis, Meningococcal; Meningococcal Infections; Mice; Mice, Transgenic; Nasal Cavity; pXen-13; Recombinant Fusion Proteins; Respiratory System; Sepsis; Thyroid Gland

Neisseria meningitidis is a human pathogen that causes septicemia and meningitis with high mortality. The disease progression is rapid and much remains unknown about the disease process. The understanding of disease development is crucial for development of novel therapeutic strategies and vaccines against meningococcal disease. The use of bioluminescent imaging combined with a mouse disease model allowed us to investigate the progression of meningococcal sepsis over time. Injection of bacteria in blood demonstrated waves of bacterial clearance and growth, which selected for Opa-expressing bacteria, indicating the importance of this bacterial protein. Further, N. meningitidis accumulated in the thyroid gland, while thyroid hormone T4 levels decreased. Bacteria reached the mucosal surfaces of the upper respiratory tract, which required expression of the meningococcal PilC1 adhesin. Surprisingly, PilC1 was dispensable for meningococcal growth in blood and for crossing of the blood-brain barrier, indicating that the major role of PilC1 is to interact with mucosal surfaces. This in vivo study reveals disease dynamics and organ targeting during meningococcal disease and presents a potent tool for further investigations of meningococcal pathogenesis and vaccines in vivo. This might lead to development of new strategies to improve the outcome of meningococcal disease in human patients.

Journal Article

Biomedical and Life Sciences; Bioware; Xen36

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Journal Article

Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Immunity, Innate; Klebsiella pneumoniae; Macrophages, Alveolar; Mice; Mice, Transgenic; Protein Precursors; Protein Structure, Tertiary; Proteolipids; Saposins; Staphylococcus aureus; Tissue Distribution; Xen5

Surfactant protein B (SP-B) proprotein contains three saposin-like protein (SAPLIP) domains: a SAPLIP domain corresponding to the mature SP-B peptide is essential for lung function and postnatal survival; the function of SAPLIP domains in the N-terminal (SP-BN) and C-terminal regions of the proprotein is not known. In the current study, SP-BN was detected in the supernatant of mouse bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and in nonciliated bronchiolar cells, alveolar type II epithelial cells, and alveolar macrophages. rSP-BN indirectly promoted the uptake of bacteria by macrophage cell lines and directly killed bacteria at acidic pH, consistent with a lysosomal, antimicrobial function. Native SP-BN isolated from BALF also killed bacteria but only at acidic pH; the bactericidal activity of BALF at acidic pH was completely blocked by SP-BN Ab. Transgenic mice overexpressing SP-BN and mature SP-B peptide had significantly decreased bacterial burden and increased survival following intranasal inoculation with bacteria. These findings support the hypothesis that SP-BN contributes to innate host defense of the lung by supplementing the nonoxidant antimicrobial defenses of alveolar macrophages.

Journal Article

In vivo imaging; MMPSense

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract:

Formation of unstable atherosclerotic plaque in the internal carotid artery carries a high risk for emboli and subsequent cerebral ischemic events. The fibrous cap of such a plaque may become thin and rupture as a result of the depletion of matrix components through the activation of proteolytic enzymes such as matrix-degrading proteinases. Enhanced matrix breakdown has been attributed primarily to a family of matrix-degrading metalloproteinases (MMPs) that are highly concentrated in atherosclerotic plaques by inflammatory cells (eg, macrophages, foam cells), smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells.

Elevated serum MMP-9 concentration is associated with carotid plaque instability and the presence of infiltrated macrophages. Furthermore, analysis of the presence of MMP-9 protein by ELISA within excised carotid plaques revealed high MMP-9 protein mass in calcified segments at or near the carotid bifurcation and in segments with intraplaque hemorrhage. Gelatin zymography showed an increased gelatinase activity of MMP-9 in these segments. These data favor the important role of MMP-9 in the pathogenesis of plaque instability. We analyzed the topographic distribution of MMPs within an excised human carotid plaque by applying multispectral near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging (IVIS Spectrum, Caliper Life Sciences, Hopkinton, Mass).

A surgical endarterectomy was performed on a 74-year-old women with a left-sided, symptomatic, >70% carotid stenosis. Immediately after endarterectomy, the plaque was placed in PBS and transported to the NIRF system. The plaque was then stretched out and fixed on a silicon plate with 25G needles. A PBS NIRF image was generated from both the intraluminal and extraluminal side of the . . .

Journal Article

brain tumor; glioma; human neural stem cells; TSP-1; endothelial cells; angiogenesis; in vivo imaging

Novel therapeutic agents combined with innovative modes of delivery and non-invasive imaging of drug delivery, pharmacokinetics and efficacy are crucial in developing effective clinical anticancer therapies. In this study, we have created and characterized multiple novel variants of anti-angiogenic protein thrombospondin (aaTSP-1) that comprises unique regions of three type-I-repeats of TSP-1 and used engineered human neural stem cells (hNSC) to provide sustained on-site delivery of secretable aaTSP-1 to tumor-vasculature. We show that hNSC-aaTSP-1 has anti-angiogenic effect on human brain and dermal microvascular endothelial cells co-cultured with established glioma cells and CD133+ glioma-initiating cells. Using human glioma cells and hNSC engineered with different combinations of fluorescent and bioluminescent marker proteins and employing multi-modality imaging techniques, we show that aaTSP-1 targets the vascular-component of gliomas and a single administration of hNSC-aaTSP-1 markedly reduces tumor vessel-density that results in inhibition of tumor-progression and increased survival in mice bearing highly malignant human gliomas. We also show that therapeutic hNSC do not proliferate and remain in an un-differentiated state in the brains of glioma-bearing mice. This study provides a platform for accelerated development of future cell-based therapies for cancer.