Elevated expression of transmembrane IL-15 in immune cells correlates with the development of murine lupus: a potential target for immunotherapy against SLE

Presentation in trans by the Interleukin-15 receptor alpha chain (IL-15Ralpha) has been suggested as the main mechanism for IL-15 anchoring to the cell surface, but it is also evident that IL-15 can exist as a transmembrane protein. We herein demonstrate that replacement of the first 41 residues of human IL-15 (hIL-15) with Igkappa chain leader sequence resulted in secretion of most of the recombinant hIL-15 expressed in transfectant cells, thus identifying the transmembrane region of IL-15. A fusion protein (hIL-15Ralpha-Fc) between the extracellular domain of hIL-15Ralpha and the Fc fragment of IgG1 was prepared and shown to be able to bind with transmembrane IL-15 (tmIL-15). The level of tmIL-15 expression in macrophages, activated T cells and B cells from 6-month-old BXSB male mice, an animal model for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), was significantly increased compared with that from BXSB females or young males. In addition, hIL-15Ralpha-Fc was able to block the T cell stimulating and anti-apoptotic effect of the tmIL-15-positive BXSB macrophages in vitro. Intravenous administration of hIL-15Ralpha-Fc reduced the titre of autoantibodies against dsDNA and also proteinuria in aged BXSB males, implying that neutralization of IL-15 activity in vivo may be an effective way of treating SLE.

Development of a magnetic Single Cell Micro Array

Experiments using single cells are valuable for revealing individual cell behaviour, which is of interest to many biomedical researchers. In such experiments, various types of devices capable of aligning cells into organized arrays are often used. In this paper, we present a novel Single Cell Micro Array device that makes use of magnetic forces. Prototypes of this device have been fabricated, and successfully tested using Jurkat cells that have been labelled with nano-magnetic particles. Experimental results show that the prototypes are effective on capturing and placing the labelled cells in an array.

The role of X-linked FOXP3 in the autoimmune susceptibility of Turner Syndrome patients

Turner Syndrome patients have an absent second sex chromosome and a predisposition to autoimmune disease. We hypothesized that the autoimmune susceptibility in Turner Syndrome may be due to an alteration in the expression of the X-linked FOXP3 gene. FOXP3 is important in the development of regulatory T cells, and complete loss of FOXP3 expression has been shown to result in severe autoimmunity. To test this hypothesis, we characterized the regulatory T cells and performed immunophenotyping on the peripheral blood leukocytes of a cohort of Turner Syndrome patients. These patients retained regulatory T cell frequency and function despite an increased prevalence of autoimmunity. Immunophenotyping revealed a decrease in the ratio of CD4 to CD8 lymphocytes. These findings suggest that the autoimmune predisposition in Turner Syndrome is not due to alterations in regulatory T cells but may be associated with a change in the proportion of T cell subsets.

Development and feasibility study of a sensory-enhanced robot-aided motor training in stroke rehabilitation

Functional impairment of the upper limb is a major challenge faced by many stroke survivors. The present study aimed at developing a novel sensory-enhanced robot-aided motor training program and testing its feasibility in stroke rehabilitation. A specially designed robot handle was developed as an attachment to the Inmotion2 robotic system. This handle provided sensory stimulation through pins connected to small servo motors inside the handle. Vibration of the pins was activated during motor training once pressure on the handle reached a certain threshold indicating an active motion of the study subject. Nine chronic stroke survivors were randomly assigned to either a sensory-enhanced robot-aided motor training group (SERMT) or robot-aided motor training only group (RMT). All participants underwent a 6-week motor training program, performing target reaching movements with the specialized handle with or without vibration stimulation during training. Motor Status (MS) scores were measured for functional outcome prior to and after training. The results showed significant improvement in the total MS scores after training in both experimental groups. However, MS sub-scores for the shoulder/elbow and the wrist/hand increased significantly only in the SERMT group (p<0.05). Future studies are required to confirm these preliminary findings.

45 DEVELOPMENT OF BOVINE NUCLEAR TRANSFER EMBRYOS DERIVED FROM ADULT MARROW STROMAL CELLS AND FETAL MUSCLE CELLS

The use of less differentiated cells, such as marrow stromal cells (MSCs), as the nuclear donor may increase the efficiencies of somatic cell cloning in cattle. Healthy offspring was produced from bovine MSCs (Kato et al. 2004 Biol. Reprod. 70, 415–418); however, there is little information that directly compared the post-implantation survival among the clones originated from MSCs and other somatic cells. The objective of this study was to evaluate the developmental potential in vitro and in vivo of bovine NT embryos derived from adult MSCs and fetal muscle cells (FMCs). Primary cell populations of MSCs and FMCs were obtained from the femurs of 8- and 12-months-old Holstein cows (MSC1 and MSC2 groups, respectively) and a Holstein fetus at 8 months of gestation (FMC group), respectively. They were used as donor cells for the NT procedure (Murakami et al. 2005 Cloning Stem Cells 7, 77–81) at passages 1 to 3. Briefly, oocytes collected from cow ovaries were enucleated at 20 h post-in vitro maturation (IVM), and the donor cell was placed into the perivitelline space. The couplets were fused electrically, activated (10 μg mL–1 cycloheximide; 4 h), and cultured in CR1aa medium. Development in vitro of these embryos is summarized in Table 1. Data were analyzed by ANOVA. The fusion rates were higher in the MSC groups than in the FMC group. The rate of cleaved embryos was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in the MSC1 group than in the other groups. However, there were no significant differences among the groups in the rates of development into morulae/blastocysts on Day 6. A total of 8 and 3 fresh good quality Day 6 embryos in the MSC1 and FMC groups, respectively, were nonsurgically transferred to 6 naturally cycling Holstein females 6 days after estrus (3 recipients/group, 1–3 embryos/female). On Day 30 of gestation, none of the recipients were pregnant in the FMC group, while 2 recipients in the MSC1 group were diagnosed as pregnant via ultrasonography; they remained pregnant on Day 80 of gestation. In addition, a total of 4 Day 7 embryos cryopreserved in 1.8 m ethylene glycol plus 0.05 m trehalose were directly transferred to 4 synchronized recipients after thawing (1 embryo/female) in the MSC1 group. Of those, 2 females were pregnant on day 30 of gestation. These results indicate that the developmental potential in vitro of bovine NT embryos derived from adult MSCs was comparable to that of the embryos derived from fetal muscle cells, and that pregnancies were produced after transfer of the fresh and frozen–thawed NT embryos derived from the MSC, but the sample size was small. Further studies with more replicates are needed to evaluate viability in vivo of these cloned embryos for comparative purposes. Table 1.Development in vitro of bovine NT embryos derived from different cell types

A study for maternal thyroid hormone deficiency during the first half of pregnancy in China

BACKGROUND

Maternal thyroid hormone deficiency is the most common disorder of thyroid function during pregnancy and can influence the outcome for mother and foetus. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of thyroid hormone deficiency during the first half of pregnancy in iodine sufficient areas of China.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Four thousand eight hundred pregnant women from 10 hospitals during the first 20 weeks of gestation were enrolled in this study. All sera obtained from pregnant women were measured for thyrotropin, free thyroxine and thyroid peroxidase antibody. Screening for thyroid hormone deficiency was performed on pregnant women using gestational age-specific reference intervals or non-pregnant population reference intervals.

RESULTS

With gestational age-specific reference intervals as the criterion, the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism at 4, 8, 12,16 and 20 weeks of gestation was 4.59%, 6.15%, 4.68%, 4.53% and 5.96%, respectively, and the prevalence of hypothyroxinaemia was 3.69%, 1.11%, 2.92%, 1.29% and 2.29%, respectively. Different prevalence was obtained when non-pregnant population reference intervals was used as the criterion. If non-pregnant population reference intervals were used, the percentage of potentially misclassified cases of subclinical hypothyroidism were 0.18%, 2.85%, 4.1%, 3.24%, and 3.21%, respectively, and 3.45%, 0.66%, 2.34%, 1.29%, and 1.83%, respectively, in potentially misclassified cases of hypothyroxinaemia.

CONCLUSIONS

The percentage of potentially misclassified cases of subclinical hypothyroidism and hypothyroxinaemia in pregnant women decreased by using the gestational age-specific reference intervals as a diagnostic criteria during the first half of pregnancy.

Multi-residue determination of pesticides in vegetables by gas chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry

To monitor possible contamination of edible vegetables by common pesticides, an analytical method using gas chromatography combined with ion trap spectrometry (GC-IT/MS) was developed to measure simultaneously up to 39 pesticide residues, belonging to organophosphors, organochlorines, pyrethroids or carbamates classes, left on four kinds of popular vegetables. The procedure entails addition of acetone, dichloromethane, and sodium chloride to a small amount of vegetable, then the mixture was shaken intensively and centrifuged for phase separation. An aliquot of the organic layer was cleanup using solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridges filled with graphitized carbon black (GCB) in combination with acidic aluminum oxide. Gas chromatography with ion trap mass spectrometer was then used for qualitative and quantitative determination of the pesticides. The GCB combination with acidic aluminum oxide was found more suitable than florisil, aluminum oxide and silicon dioxide for sample cleanup with recoveries above 70% for most pesticides in removing the majority of co-extracted matrices. Variation coefficients of the repeatability typically smaller than 20% have been achieved for a wide range of the investigated pesticides. A set of critical instrument parameters for the GC-IT/MS Varian system in the MS mode was established. Based on optimization work conducted in this study, the 39 pesticides were separated successively with the limits of detection between 0.02 and 0.1 mg/kg.

Research on the application of horseradish peroxidase and hydrogen peroxide to the oil removal of oily water

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) has the advantages of low cost, obtaining convenience, broad substrate specificity, etc, so it may be a suitable kind of enzyme to remove dilute emulsified oil and dissolved oil from water. The effect factors of the oil removal using HRP, such as pH, concentrations of HRP and H2O2, additives, Fe2+ ion, temperature and reaction time were researched. When the initial oil concentration was 120 mg/L, the remaining oil concentrations of the synthetic oily water and an actual oily wastewater reached 24.83 mg/L and 21.30 mg/L, respectively. The treatment of oily water using HRP and H2O2 is feasible. It has good application prospects.

Prevalence of, and factors associated with, gastroesophageal reflux disease: a population-based study in Shanghai, China

The prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in China is lower than that in the Western countries, but appears to be increasing. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the prevalence of GERD in Shanghai, China, and to explore which population characteristics where associated with GERD. A sample of 1200 adult inhabitants of Shanghai, selected using randomized, stratified, multi-stage sampling, completed Mandarin translations of the Reflux Disease Questionnaire and GERD Impact Scale. Potential risk factors for GERD were examined by nested case-control analysis, using Cochran-Armitage trend testing and logistic regression analysis. The response rate was 86.2%; 919 responses were suitable for analysis. The prevalence of GERD, defined as heartburn and/or regurgitation of any frequency during the previous week, was 6.2% in Shanghai. Obesity and urban dwelling were associated with GERD (odds ratio 3.4, 95% confidence interval 1.3-9.3; and odds ratio 3.6, 95% confidence interval 1.2-10.4, respectively). The prevalence of GERD in Shanghai agreed with previous Chinese studies. GERD in Shanghai was associated with obesity and residency in an urban environment.

Real-time 3D internal marker tracking during arc radiotherapy by the use of combined MV-kV imaging

To minimize the adverse dosimetric effect caused by tumor motion, it is desirable to have real-time knowledge of the tumor position throughout the beam delivery process. A promising technique to realize the real-time image guided scheme in external beam radiation therapy is through the combined use of MV and onboard kV beam imaging. The success of this MV-kV triangulation approach for fixed-gantry radiation therapy has been demonstrated. With the increasing acceptance of modern arc radiotherapy in the clinics, a timely and clinically important question is whether the image guidance strategy can be extended to arc therapy to provide the urgently needed real-time tumor motion information. While conceptually feasible, there are a number of theoretical and practical issues specific to the arc delivery that need to be resolved before clinical implementation. The purpose of this work is to establish a robust procedure of system calibration for combined MV and kV imaging for internal marker tracking during arc delivery and to demonstrate the feasibility and accuracy of the technique. A commercially available LINAC equipped with an onboard kV imager and electronic portal imaging device (EPID) was used for the study. A custom built phantom with multiple ball bearings was used to calibrate the stereoscopic MV-kV imaging system to provide the transformation parameters from imaging pixels to 3D world coordinates. The accuracy of the fiducial tracking system was examined using a 4D motion phantom capable of moving in accordance with a pre-programmed trajectory. Overall, spatial accuracy of MV-kV fiducial tracking during the arc delivery process for normal adult breathing amplitude and period was found to be better than 1 mm. For fast motion, the results depended on the imaging frame rates. The RMS error ranged from approximately 0.5 mm for the normal adult breathing pattern to approximately 1.5 mm for more extreme cases with a low imaging frame rate of 3.4 Hz. In general, highly accurate real-time tracking of implanted markers using hybrid MV-kV imaging is achievable and the technique should be useful to improve the beam targeting accuracy of arc therapy.

Brain tumour stem cells and neural stem cells: still explored by the same approach?

Brain tumour stem cells (BTSCs) are chiefly responsible for the in vivo long-term growth and recurrence of malignant gliomas and may be a potential treatment target. They resemble neural stem cells (NSCs), so their self-renewal and differentiation are currently investigated by the same methods used to study NSCs. There are, however, essential differences between these cell types: in many cases the marker expression pattern of BTSCs does not match the CD133(+)/NSE(-)/FAP(-) pattern of NSCs; BTSC tumourigenicity is independent of marker expression; and while attachment, serum-containing medium and withdrawal of mitogens (epidermal growth factor [EGF] and basic fibroblast growth factor [bFGF]) are essential to induce NSCs to differentiate, they do not affect BTSC tumourigenicity. Evidence implies that research on the renewal and differentiation of BTSCs should be orientated towards tumourigenicity and is essentially a pharmaceutical problem. Such an approach may contribute to the development of an accurate definition of BTSCs and to the search for selective differentiation-inducing drugs for BTSCs.

Cadmium stress alters gene expression of DNA mismatch repair related genes in Arabidopsis seedlings

Cadmium (Cd) is a non essential element, and is a widespread environmental pollutant. Exposure to Cd can result in a variety of adverse health effects in plant and humans. In the current study, Arabidopsis seedlings were used as a bio-indicator of Cd pollution. Seedlings were grown on MS media containing 0-6.0 mg L(-1) Cd for 18 days, and the gene expression patterns were used to link increased Cd exposure with progressive biological effects. Reduction of total soluble protein content in shoots of the Arabidopsis seedlings occurred with increase in Cd concentrations. For the gene expression patterns, seven genes known to be involved in cell division and DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system were investigated by semi-quantitative RT-PCR, and normalized using 18S rRNA gene expression. Expression of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen 2 (atPCNA 2), MutS 3 homolog (atMSH 3) and MutL1 homolog (atMLH1) genes in shoots of Arabidopsis was strongly induced by exposure to 0.75 mg L(-1) Cd, but were repressed by other Cd concentrations whereas exposure to 0.75-6 mg L(-1) of Cd resulted in a decreased expression of atPCNA1, atMSH 2, 6 and 7 genes independently of any observable biological effects, including survival, fresh weight and chlorophyll level of shoots. This work demonstrated that specific gene expression changes could serve as useful molecular biomarkers indicative of Cd exposure and related biological effects.

The effect of costimulatory and interleukin 2 receptor blockade on regulatory T cells in renal transplantation

Regulatory T cells (Treg) are critical regulators of immune tolerance. Both IL-2 and CD28-CD80/CD86 signaling are critical for CD4(+)CD25(+)FOXP3(+) Treg survival in mice. Yet, both belatacept (a second-generation CTLA-4Ig) and basiliximab (an anti-CD25 monoclonal antibody) are among the arsenal of current immunotherapies being used in kidney transplant patients. In this study, we explored the direct effect of basiliximab and belatacept on the Tregs in peripheral blood both in the short term and long term and in kidney biopsies of patients with acute rejection. We report that the combined belatacept/basiliximab therapy has no long-term effect on circulating Tregs when compared to a calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)-treated group. Moreover, belatacept-treated patients had a significantly greater number of FOXP3(+) T cells in graft biopsies during acute rejection as compared to CNI-treated patients. Finally, it appears that the basiliximab caused a transient loss of both FOXP3(+) and FOXP3(-) CD25(+) T cells in the circulation in both treatment groups raising important questions about the use of this therapy in tolerance promoting therapeutic protocols.