Citation Details

Journal Article

IVIS, B16-F10-luc-G5, B16F10-luc-G5, B16-F10-luc, B16F10-luc, Animals; Cell Membrane/*pathology; Electrodes; Luminescence; Lung Neoplasms/*secondary; Melanoma/*secondary; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; N-Acetylneuraminic Acid/*metabolism; Potentiometry/methods

N/A

Journal Article

Animals; Antibiotics, Antitubercular; Biofilms; Bioware; Colony Count, Microbial; Diagnostic Imaging; DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases; Luminescent Measurements; Mice; Rifampin; Staphylococcal Infections; Staphylococcus aureus; Xen29

Eradication of Staphylococcus aureus biofilms after rifampin treatment was tested in a mouse model of device-related infection by using biophotonic imaging. Following treatment, the bioluminescent signals decreased to undetectable levels, irrespective of the age of the biofilm. After the final treatment, the signals rebounded in a time-dependent manner and reached those for the untreated mice. Readministration of rifampin was unsuccessful in eradicating reestablished infections, with the rifampin MICs for such bacteria being increased and with the bacteria having point mutations in the rpoB gene.

Journal Article

Xen14, Xen 14, E. coli Xen14, IVIS, Animals; Cell Line, Tumor; Female; Histocompatibility Antigens Class I/genetics/*immunology; Humans; Klebsiella Infections/*immunology/prevention & control; Klebsiella pneumoniae/*immunology; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout

As opposed to the well established role of MHC-linked, polymorphic, class I (MHC-I) genes in adaptive immunity, a universal role for non-conventional MHC-I is unknown, thus requiring a case-by-case study. The MHC unlinked, monomorphic, but beta(2)microglobulin (beta(2)m)-associated “MHC class I related” MR1 molecule interacts with a semi-invariant TCR. The pathophysiology of this interaction or more importantly of this peculiar MHC-I remains mostly unknown. Recently it was shown that beta(2)m deficient mice were more susceptible to infection by Klebsiella pneumoniae, a widely spread Gram-negative bacteria that causes diverse and often severe ailments in man. Here we demonstrate, using both an in vivo imaging system and survival tests, the increased susceptibility to K. pneumoniae (but not to several other Gram negative bacteria) of MR1 deficient mice. This is accompanied by a consequent change in body temperature and systemic cytokine profile. Hence MR1 controls K. pneumoniae infection in vivo.

Journal Article

MMPSense, IVIS, Atherosclerosis/complications/*diagnosis; Carotid Stenosis/*diagnosis/etiology; Diagnostic Imaging/*methods; Humans; Reproducibility of Results

BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that plaque vulnerability, rather than the degree of stenosis, is important in predicting the occurrence of subsequent cerebral ischemic events in patients with carotid artery stenosis. The many imaging modalities currently available have different properties with regard to the visualization of the extent of vulnerability in carotid plaque formation. METHODS: Original published studies were identified using the MEDLINE database (January 1966 to March 2008). Manual cross-referencing was also performed. RESULTS: There is no single imaging modality that can produce definitive information about the state of vulnerability of an atherosclerotic plaque. Each has its own specific drawbacks, which may be the use of ionizing radiation or nephrotoxic contrast agents, an invasive character, low patient tolerability, or simply the paucity of information obtained on plaque vulnerability. Functional molecular imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission-computed tomography (SPECT) and near infra-red spectroscopy (NIRS) do seem able accurately to visualize and even quantify features of plaque vulnerability and its pathophysiologic processes. Promising new techniques like near infra-red fluorescence imaging are being developed and may be beneficial in this field. CONCLUSION: There is a promising role for functional molecular imaging modalities like PET, SPECT, or NIRS related to improvement of selection criteria for carotid intervention, especially when combined with CT or MRI to add further anatomical details to molecular information. Further information will be needed to define whether and where this functional molecular imaging will fit into a clinical strategy.

Journal Article

Animals, Anti-Bacterial Agents/ pharmacology, Bacterial Infections/drug therapy/microbiology, Biofilms/ drug effects/growth & development, Bioware; Catheterization/adverse effects, Chemiluminescent Measurements, Ciprofloxacin/pharmacology, Colony Count, Microbial, Disease Models, Animal, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Drug Monitoring/methods, Mice, Rifampin/pharmacology, Staphylococcus aureus/drug effects/genetics/growth & development, Tobramycin/pharmacology IVIS, Xenogen; Xen29

We have developed a rapid, continuous method for monitoring the effectiveness of several antibacterial agents in real time, noninvasively, by using a recently described mouse model of chronic biofilm infection (J. L. Kadurugamuwa et al., Infect. Immun. 71:882-890, 2003), which relies on biophotonic imaging of bioluminescent bacteria. To facilitate real-time monitoring of infection, we used a Staphylococcus aureus isolate that was made bioluminescent by inserting a modified lux operon into the bacterial chromosome. This bioluminescent reporter bacterium was used to study the antimicrobial effects of several antibiotics belonging to different molecular families. Treatment with rifampin, tobramycin, and ciprofloxacin was started 7 days after subcutaneous implantation of catheters precolonized with 10(4) CFU of S. aureus. Three different doses of antibiotics were administered twice a day for 4 consecutive days. The number of metabolically active bacteria in untreated mice and the tobramycin- and ciprofloxacin-treated groups remained relatively unchanged over the 4-week observation period, indicating poor efficacies for tobramycin and ciprofloxacin. A rapid dose-dependent decline in metabolic activity in rifampin-treated groups was observed, with almost a 90% reduction after two doses and nearly undetectable levels after three doses. The disappearance of light emission correlated with colony counts. After the final treatment, cell numbers rebounded as a function of concentration in a time-dependent manner. The staphylococci isolated from the catheters of mice treated with rifampin were uniformly resistant to rifampin but retained their in vitro susceptibilities to tobramycin and ciprofloxacin. Since the metabolic activities of viable cells and a postantibiotic effect could be detected directly on the support matrix nondestructively and noninvasively, the methodology is specifically appealing for investigating the effects of antibiotics on biofilms in vivo. Moreover, our study points to the possible use of biophotonic imaging for the detection of the development of resistance to therapeutic agents during treatment of chronic infections in vivo.