Short and long-term safety of the 2009 AS03-adjuvanted pandemic vaccine

Background

This study assessed the short and the long term safety of the 2009 AS03 adjuvanted monovalent pandemic vaccine through an active web-based electronic surveillance. We compared its safety profile to that of the seasonal trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) for 2010–2011.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Health care workers (HCW) vaccinated in 2009 with the pandemic vaccine (Arepanrix ® from GSK) or HCW vaccinated in 2010 with the 2010–2011 TIV were invited to participate in a web-based active surveillance of vaccine safety. They completed two surveys the day-8 survey covered the first 7 days post-vaccination and the day-29 survey covered events occurring 8 to 28 days after vaccination. Those who reported a problem were called by a nurse to obtain details. The main outcome was the occurrence of a new health problem or the worsening of an existing health condition that resulted in a medical consultation or work absenteeism. For the pandemic vaccine, a six-month follow-up for the occurrence of serious adverse events (SAE) was conducted. Among the 6242 HCW who received the pandemic vaccine, 440 (7%) reported 468 events compared to 328 of the 7645 HCW (4.3%) who reported 339 events after the seasonal vaccine. The 2009 pandemic vaccine was associated with significantly more local reactions than the 2010–2011 seasonal vaccine (1% vs. 0.03%, p<0.001). Paresthesia was reported by 7 HCW (0.1%) after the pandemic vaccine but by none after the seasonal vaccine. For the pandemic vaccine, no clustering of SAE was found in the 6 month follow-up.

Conclusion

The 2009 pandemic vaccine seems to have a good safety profile, similar to the 2010–2011 TIV, with the exception of local reactions. This surveillance was adequately powered to identify AE associated with an excess risk ≥1 per 1000 vaccinations but is insufficient to detect rare AE.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov {"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT01289418","term_id":"NCT01289418"}}NCT01289418, {"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT01318876","term_id":"NCT01318876"}}NCT01318876     

Distribution and radiosensitizing effect of cholesterol-coupled Dbait molecule in rat model of glioblastoma

Background

Glioma is the most aggressive tumor of the brain and the most efficient treatments are based on radiotherapy. However, tumors are often resistant to radiotherapy due to an enhanced DNA repair activity. Short and stabilized DNA molecules (Dbait) have recently been proposed as an efficient strategy to inhibit DNA repair in tumor.

Methodology/Principal Findings

The distribution of three formulations of Dbait, (i) Dbait alone, (ii) Dbait associated with polyethylenimine, and (iii) Dbait linked with cholesterol (coDbait), was evaluated one day after intratumoral delivery in an RG2 rat glioma model. Dbait molecule distribution was assessed in the whole organ with 2D-FRI and in brain sections. CoDbait was chosen for further studies given its good retention in the brain, cellular localization, and efficacy in inducing the activation of DNA repair effectors. The radiosensitizing effect of coDbait was studied in four groups of rats bearing RG2-glioma: no treatment, radiotherapy only, coDbait alone, and CoDbait with radiotherapy. Treatment started 7 days after tumor inoculation and consisted of two series of treatment in two weeks: coDbait injection followed by a selective 6-Gy irradiation of the head. We evaluated the radiosensitizing effect using animal survival, tumor volume, cell proliferation, and vasculature characteristics with multiparametric MRI. CoDbait with radiotherapy improved the survival of rats bearing RG2-glioma by reducing tumor growth and cell proliferation without altering tumor vasculature.

Conclusion/Significance

coDbait is therefore a promising molecular therapy to sensitize glioma to radiotherapy.     

Influence of introduced arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and phosphorus sources on plant traits,soil properties,and rhizosphere microbial communities in organic legume-flax rotation

Plant and Soil - We identify P management strategies combining arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) inoculation with rock phosphate or composted manure for intensive organic grain-production...     

Enzyme diversity of the cellulolytic system produced by Clostridium cellulolyticum explored by two-dimensional analysis: identification of seven genes encoding new dockerin-containing proteins

The enzyme diversity of the cellulolytic system produced by Clostridium cellulolyticum grown on crystalline cellulose as a sole carbon and energy source was explored by two-dimensional electrophoresis. The cellulolytic system of C. cellulolyticum is composed of at least 30 dockerin-containing proteins (designated cellulosomal proteins) and 30 noncellulosomal components. Most of the known cellulosomal proteins, including CipC, Cel48F, Cel8C, Cel9G, Cel9E, Man5K, Cel9M, and Cel5A, were identified by using two-dimensional Western blot analysis with specific antibodies, whereas Cel5N, Cel9J, and Cel44O were identified by using N-terminal sequencing. Unknown enzymes having carboxymethyl cellulase or xylanase activities were detected by zymogram analysis of two-dimensional gels. Some of these enzymes were identified by N-terminal sequencing as homologs of proteins listed in the NCBI database. Using Trap-Dock PCR and DNA walking, seven genes encoding new dockerin-containing proteins were cloned and sequenced. Some of these genes are clustered. Enzymes encoded by these genes belong to glycoside hydrolase families GH2, GH9, GH10, GH26, GH27, and GH59. Except for members of family GH9, which contains only cellulases, the new modular glycoside hydrolases discovered in this work could be involved in the degradation of different hemicellulosic substrates, such as xylan or galactomannan.     

The Fanconi anemia protein FANCM can promote branch migration of Holliday junctions and replication forks

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a genetically heterogeneous cancer-prone disorder associated with chromosomal instability and cellular hypersensitivity to DNA crosslinking agents. The FA pathway is suspected to play a crucial role in the cellular response to DNA replication stress. At a molecular level, however, the function of most of the FA proteins is unknown. FANCM displays DNA-dependent ATPase activity and promotes the dissociation of DNA triplexes, but the physiological significance of this activity remains elusive. Here we show that purified FANCM binds to Holliday junctions and replication forks with high specificity and promotes migration of their junction point in an ATPase-dependent manner. Furthermore, we provide evidence that FANCM can dissociate large recombination intermediates, via branch migration of Holliday junctions through 2.6 kb of DNA. Our data suggest a direct role for FANCM in DNA processing, consistent with the current view that FA proteins coordinate DNA repair at stalled replication forks.     

Cellulolysis is severely affected in Clostridium cellulolyticum strain cipCMut1

Progress towards understanding the molecular basis of cellulolysis by Clostridium cellulolyticm was obtained through the study of the first cellulolysis defective mutant strain, namely cipCMut1. In this mutant, a 2 659 bp insertion element, disrupts the cipC gene at the sequence encoding the seventh cohesin of the scaffoldin CipC. cipC is the first gene in a large 'cel' gene cluster, encoding several enzymatic subunits of the cellulosomes, including the processive cellulase Cel48F, which is the major component. Physiological and biochemical studies showed that the mutant strain was affected in cellulosome synthesis and severely impaired in its ability to degrade crystalline cellulose. It produced small amounts of a truncated CipC protein (P120), which had functional cohesin domains and assembled complexes which did not contain any of the enzymes encoded by genes of the 'cel' cluster. The mutant cellulolytic system was mainly composed of three proteins designated P98, P105 and P125. Their N-termini did not match any of the known cellulase sequences from C. cellulolyticum. A large amount of entire CipC produced in the cipCMut1 strain by trans-complementation with plasmid pSOScipC did not restore the cellulolytic phenotype, in spite of the assembly of a larger amount of complexes. The complexes produced in the mutant and complemented strains contained at least 12 different dockerin-containing proteins encoded by genes located outside of the 'cel' cluster. The disturbances observed in the mutant and trans-complemented strains were the result of a strong polar effect resulting from the cipC gene disruption. In conclusion, this study provided genetic evidence that the cellulases encoded by the genes located in the 'cel' cluster are essential for the building of cellulosomes efficient in crystalline cellulose degradation.     

Abnormal B-cell responses to chemokines, disturbed plasma cell localization, and distorted immune tissue architecture in Rgs1-/- mice

Normal lymphoid tissue development and function depend upon chemokine-directed cell migration. Since chemokines signal through heterotrimeric G-protein-coupled receptors, RGS proteins, which act as GTPase-activating proteins for Galpha subunits, likely fine tune the cellular responses to chemokines. Here we show that Rgs1(-/-) mice possess B cells that respond excessively and desensitize improperly to the chemokines CXCL12 and CXCL13. Many of the B-cell follicles in the spleens of Rgs1(-/-) mice have germinal centers even in the absence of immune stimulation. Furthermore, immunization of these mice leads to exaggerated germinal center formation; partial disruption of the normal architecture of the spleen and Peyer's patches; and abnormal trafficking of immunoglobulin-secreting cells. These results reveal the importance of a regulatory mechanism that limits and desensitizes chemokine receptor signaling.