T-lymphocyte subpopulations and B7-H1/PD-1 expression in nasal polyposis

T-lymphocyte subpopulations and B7-H1/programmed death-1 (PD-1) positive lymphocytes infiltrating nasal polyps were evaluated in 17 patients with chronic sinusitis with nasal polyposis. Peripheral blood samples were also obtained from the patients and from 11 healthy controls. The CD4(+), CD8(+), CD3(+), CD19(+), B7-H1(+) and PD-1(+) lymphocyte populations were measured using flow cytometry. Lymphocytes from nasal polyps had significantly fewer CD4(+) but significantly more CD8(+) T-cells compared with lymphocytes from the peripheral blood of patients and controls. The percentages of CD19(+)/B7-H1(+) B-cells and of CD3(+)/PD-1(+) T-cells were significantly higher in the nasal polyp samples than in those from peripheral blood of patients and controls. Changes in the T-lymphocyte subpopulations and in the up-regulation of B7-H1 and PD-1 in lymphocytes infiltrating nasal polyps may be involved in the development of the chronic inflammation associated with nasal polyposis.

The anomalous deuterium isotope effect on the chemical shift of the bridge hydrogen in the enol tautomer of 2,4-pentanedione

The nature of the intramolecular hydrogen bond in the enol tautomer of 2,4-pentanedione has been investigated by high resolution proton and deuteron magnetic resonance spectroscopy. An unusually large deuterium isotope effect on the chemical shift of the bridge hydrogen has been observed. This unexpected result, together with the observation of a pronounced temperature dependence for both the proton and deuteron resonances, suggests that two states with different chemical shifts for the bridge hydrogen are involved in rapid equilibrium and that the anomalous deuterium isotope effect has its origin in the effect of deuterium substitution on the energy separation between these states. It is proposed that these states correspond to the symmetrical and asymmetrical structures of the intramolecular hydrogen bond.

Preparation and characterisation of ink formulations for jet printing on nylon carpet

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to prepare and characterise various ink formulations for inkjet printing on nylon 66 carpet.

Design/methodology/approach

Various ink formulations were prepared using CI Acid Red 57, synthetic thickeners (BYK425 and BYK420), ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, isopropanol with auxiliaries. The inks were characterised for their rheological, wetting and storage stability properties. The inks were jetted using a Printos P16 drop‐on‐demand jet print‐head onto nylon 66 carpet materials. The printed images were characterised using an ImageXpert system.

Findings

It is found that the inks containing the synthetic thickeners at the optimum ratio give good printing and image properties, such as optical density, drop size, and depth of penetration into the substrate at pH 4‐5. The optimised ink formulation is found to have good storage stability.

Research limitations/implications

The study focuses on ink formulations based on CI Acid Red 57. Ink formulations based on other colorants could also be studied in order to assess the applicability of the ink formulation system found for other colorants.

Practical implications

The ink formulations developed could find use in industrial scale printing.

Originality/value

Low cost ink formulations for printing of nylon carpets are novel.

Planar focusing elements using spatially varying near-resonant aperture arrays

Resonances in subwavelength apertures are accompanied by wavelength-dependent phase shifts in the transmitted fields offering a potential for manipulation of wavefields. Here, we present Finite Element Method simulations and experiments investigating light passing through arrays of nanometric spatially varying near-resonant slits perforated in a silver film. We demonstrate that a one-dimensional focusing element can be obtained by tailoring the phase across the device through varying slit sizes around the resonant dimensions for a particular design wavelength.

Identification of messenger RNA substrates for mouse T-STAR

Using the method of isolation of specific nucleic acids associated with proteins (SNAAP), we have identified 10 candidate target mRNA substrates bound by mT-STAR (mouse T-STAR protein) from testis extract. Among them, our study focused on Fabp9, a gene that is essential for male gametogenesis, and showed that mT-STAR could directly bind to Fabp9 mRNAs. The binding sites are in a short sequence of the coding region and 3' untranslated region of Fabp9 mRNA. These suggest that mT-STAR can regulate the metabolism and expression of Fabp9. In conclusion, identification of mT-STAR-bound mRNA substrates might help to illustrate the potential spectrum of the process and provide valuable insight into the biological function of this RNA-binding protein in spermatogenesis.

Reduced cortical folding in mental retardation

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

MR is a developmental disorder associated with impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in adaptive behavior. With a 2D region of interest-based GI, a preliminary study reported significantly reduced gyrification in the prefrontal lobe in MR. The purpose of this study was to further investigate the abnormalities of cortical gyrification in MR and to explore the possible causes of these abnormalities.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Thirteen patients with MR and 26 demographically matched healthy controls were included in this study. A 3D surface-based lGI was calculated as a measure to quantify gyrification. Then vertex-by-vertex contrasts of lGI were performed between patients with MR and healthy controls.

RESULTS

Statistical analysis showed that patients with MR had significantly reduced lGI in multiple brain regions compared with healthy controls. These regions include the lateral and medial prefrontal cortices, the right superior temporal gyrus, the left superior parietal lobe, the bilateral insular and adjacent cortices, and the visual and motor cortices.

CONCLUSIONS

The observed abnormal pattern of cortical gyrification revealed by significant reduction of lGI in multiple brain regions might reflect the developmental disturbance in intracortical organization and cortical connectivities in MR.

68 EFFECT OF XENOPUS EGG EXTRACT TREATMENT OF DONOR CELLS ON PORCINE SOMATIC CELL NUCLEAR TRANSFER

Pretreatment of somatic cells to promote subsequent reprogramming during somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) may significantly improve efficiency of the technique. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Xenopus laevis egg extract pretreatment of porcine fetal fibroblast cells using different permeabilization agents prior to SCNT. Fibroblasts were permeabilized using streptolysin O (SLO; 300 ng mL-1, 30 min, 37°C) or digitonin (7 μg mL-1, 2 min, 4°C), and exposed to egg extract for 1 h or 0.5 h, respectively. Cell membranes were resealed in DMEM supplemented with 2 mM CaCl2 for 2 h. After culture for 1, 3, and 5 days (for SLO) or 3 and 5 days (for digitonin), the SLO extract-treated cells (SETC) and digitonin extract-treated cells (DETC) were used as donor karyoplasts for handmade cloning. Controls were SCNT with nontreated cells. Embryos were evaluated for cleavage rate (Day 2), blastocyst rate (Day 6), and total cell numbers of blastocysts. Statistical differences were analyzed by ANOVA. Results are summarized in Table 1. When SETC were used as donors, blastocyst rates were significantly lower compared with the controls, except when the donor cells were cultured for 3 days after treatment. Blastocysts of the latter group also had higher total cell number. With DETC as donors, blastocyst rates and total cell number of embryos at Day 6 reconstructed with cells cultured for 5 days were higher than those in other groups. Results indicate that extract treatment of the donor cells after SLO-permeabilization can give higher number of cells in cloned blastocysts but not improve overall embryo development. However, digitonin treatment for donor cell permeabilization improved both embryo development and cell number of blastocyst. The latter effect was detected only 5 days after the treatment. In conclusion, qualitative efficiency of porcine SCNT could be improved with a combined donor cell permeabilization and extract treatment. Table 1.Effect of different permeabilization agents prior to SCNT

301. LEUKEMIA INHIBITORY FACTOR IS A CRITICAL REGULATOR OF DECIDUALIZATION OF ENDOMETRIAL STROMAL CELLS IN HUMANS AND MICE

Decidualization is the differentiation of endometrial stromal cells into decidual cells. It is a critical process in embryo implantation, placentation and the establishment of pregnancy. Inadequate decidualization can lead to infertility, abnormal placentation and recurrent miscarriage. Endometrial leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is indispensible in blastocyst implantation in mice and dysregulated in infertile women. LIF is produced by 1st trimester decidual cells but its role in decidualization is not known. This study aimed to examine the role of LIF in human and mouse decidualization. Primary human endometrial stomal cells (HESC) were isolated and decidualized (D) by treatment with estradiol (E) +medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) for 14 days. HESC were also treated with E+MPA+/–LIF (0.5, 5, 50, 100 and 200 ng/mL) for 14 days. Prolactin secretion was used to assess the extent of decidualization (n = 6). D and non-D HESC were also treated with LIF (0.5, 5, 50, 100 and 200 ng/mL +/– LIF inhibitor) for 15min and the phosphorylation (p) of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)3/STAT3 abundance was detected by Western blot (n = 4). RNA was isolated for analysis of LIF and LIF receptor (R) mRNA expression during decidualization (n = 4). HESC treated with E+MPA+LIF (50, 100 and 200 ng/mL) secreted more prolactin compared to cells treated with E+MPA alone (P < 0.05). LIF increased pSTAT3/STAT3 abundance in D and non-D cells while LIF+LIF inhibitor abolished pSTAT3/STAT3. LIF mRNA was downregulated while LIF-R mRNA increased during decidualization. In vivo, mated mice (n = 5) were injected intraperitoneally with a unique long acting LIF inhibitor post-implantation at day 4.5 of pregnancy and resulted in reduced decidualization compared to control. This is the first study to demonstrate that LIF promoted decidualization of HESC possibly via pSTAT3. It further suggested that LIF regulated decidualization in mice demonstrating a newly identified critical role for LIF in the establishment of pregnancy.

78 ESTABLISHMENT OF PREGNANCIES IN LARGE WHITE SOW RECIPIENTS AFTER TRANSFER OF CLONED EMBRYOS OF DIFFERENT PIG BREEDS

Production of cloned piglets, using normal or transgenic donor cells, has been of limited efficiency. One reason could be breed differences between recipient and embryos. The aim of this study was to compare pregnancies after transfer to Large White (LW) sow recipients of cloned LW embryos or cloned, transgenic minipig embryos. Large White donor cells were from LYxD, and minipig cells were transgenic with 1 of 5 genes related to different human diseases and from either Göttingen or Yucatan. The cells were used on Day 0 for handmade cloning (Du et al. 2005 Cloning Stem Cells 7, 199-205). The reconstructed embryos were cultured in vitro until transfer on Day 5 to 6. As recipients, 70 LW sows were weaned and anesthetized 4 days after natural heat. Through an abdominal incision the ovaries were controlled (CL formation, absence of cysts) and the embryos slowly introduced into the uterus via a catheter inserted 5 to 6 cm into the tip of the upper horn. To each of 33 recipients, 40 to 60 LW embryos were transferred, and 37 recipients each received 50 to 100 transgenic minipig embryos. Pregnancies were examined by ultrasound scanning every second week. Abortions were defined as absence of earlier confirmed scanning or delivery of aborted fetuses. Caesarean sections were performed on Day 114 (minipig) or Day 116 (LW) 24 h after injection of a prostaglandin analogue. At delivery, placental gross morphology was recorded with samples taken for later histology. The piglets were fed every 3 h with colostrum for the first 24 h and then by the recipient LW sow. Data were analyzed by Fisher’s Exact test with a significance level of P < 0.05. The overall pregnancy rate was 49% (34/70) with an abortion rate of 29% (8 aborted + 2 resorbed/34) from Day 30 to 45 giving 24/70 deliveries (34% of the transfers). There was no significant difference between minipig (54%, 20/37) and LW pregnancy results (42%, 14/33), although there tended to be more abortions with minipig pregnancies (8/20 v. 2/14; P = 0.14) resulting in 12 minipig and 12 LW litters of which 4 and 9, respectively, have grown up to adulthood. In almost every recipient the placenta and fetal membranes showed abnormal thick and edematous morphology. The total litter sizes ranged from 1 to 10 piglets (mean 4.4 ± 0.6), and in 13 of 24 litters there were 1 to 5 stillborn piglets. Except for one litter of 9 transgenic Yucatan piglets that all died within their first 2 weeks, the postnatal mortality of both LW- and mini-piglets seemed similar to that of farm piglets of the same age, and the piglets appeared normal with respect to weight gain, gross morphology, and behavior. These results demonstrate that, in spite of a rather high abortion rate and some fetal mortality, an acceptable birth rate can be achieved after transfer to LW recipients of cloned LW embryos (36%) as well as cloned, transgenic minipig embryos (32%). Therefore, a breed difference between the embryos and their recipient seems not to influence the pregnancy results. The authors thank B. Synnestvedt, H. Kristiansen, S. Starsig, A. Pedersen, J. Adamsen, R. Kristiansen, and K. Villemoes for invaluable technical assistance.