Changes in metalloproteinases in healthy normotensive patients with high-normal blood pressure

INTRODUCTION: High-normal blood pressure (HNBP) seems to be related to increased cardiovascular risk in healthy, normotensive subjects, while essential hypertension is associated with an increase in extracellular matrix content, especially fibrillar collagen type I. The aim of our study was to investigate whether collagen degradation is altered in healthy normotensives with HNBP, and whether this alteration could be related to disturbances in the matrix metalloproteinases plasma concentration, and to compare the findings to those of healthy normotensives with normal blood pressure (NBP) levels, matched for age, sex and BMI. METHODS: Twenty six (14 males, 12 females) healthy, normotensive patients with HNBP, mean age 52 +/- 5 yrs, and BMI 23 +/- 1.5 kg/m(2) (group A), and 24, healthy normotensive patients (13 males, 11 females) with NBP, mean age 53 +/- 6 yrs, and BMI 23.2 +/- 1.4 kg/m(2) (group B), were studied. The two groups were matched for age, sex and BMI. Plasma levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and tissue inhibitors (TIMP-1) and (TIMP-4) were determined by relevant ELISA in the study population. RESULTS: Plasma MMP-9 levels were significantly higher, while TIMP-1 and TIMP-4 levels were significantly lower in group A compared to group B, (MMP-9 579 +/- 147 versus 294 +/- 111 ng/mL, TIMP-1 178 +/- 45 versus 237 +/- 35 ng/mL p < 0.01, and TIMP-4 2.2 +/- 1.4 versus 4.4 +/- 2.1 p < 0.04 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that healthy normotensives with high-normal blood pressure have significantly increased MMP-9 and decreased TIMP-1 and TIMP-4 plasma levels compared to healthy normotensives with normal blood pressure. These findings need further investigation.     

Molecular adhesion development in a neural cell monolayer forming in an ultrasound trap

A 2-dimensional aggregate of C6 neural cells was formed rapidly (within 30 s) in suspension in a recently developed 1.5 MHz ultrasound standing wave trap. A typical 1 mm diameter aggregate contained about 3,500 cells. Spreading of membrane occurred between the aggregated cells. The rate of spreading of the tangentially developing intercellular contact area was 0.19 microm/min. The form of the suspended aggregate changed from one of a hexagonal arrangement of cells to one of a cell-monolayer-like continuous sheet of mostly quadrilateral and pentagonal cells as in a cell monolayer on a solid substratum. A range of fluorescent indicators showed that the >99% viability of the cells did not change during 1 h exposures; therefore cell viability was not compromised during the monolayer development. The average integral intensities from stained actin filaments at the spreading cell-cell interfaces after 1, 8 and 30 min were 14, 25 and 46 microm(2) respectively. The cells in this work progressed from physical aggregation, through molecular adhesion, to displaying the intracellular consequences of receptor interactions. The ability to form mechanically strong confluent monolayer structures that can be monitored in situ or harvested from the trap provides a technique with general potential for monitoring the synchronous development of cell responses to receptor-triggered adhesion.     

The predictive role of serum and bronchoalveolar lavage cytokines and adhesion molecules for acute respiratory distress syndrome development and outcome

Chorioamnionitis is frequently associated with preterm deliveries before 30 weeks gestation. Chorioamnionitis correlates both with an increased risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia and with a decreased risk of respiratory distress syndrome. Both interleukin-1α and endotoxin can induce inflammation in the fetal lungs and lung maturation after preterm birth when given by intra-amniotic injection. Inflammation can also result in an arrest of alveolarization, and this lung developmental abnormality is prominent in the lungs of preterm infants that die of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. The mechanisms by which infection/inflammation can have both beneficial and injurious effects on the preterm lung remain to be characterized.     

Elicitation of Expert Prior Opinion: Application to the MYPAN Trial in Childhood Polyarteritis Nodosa

Objectives

Definitive sample sizes for clinical trials in rare diseases are usually infeasible. Bayesian methodology can be used to maximise what is learnt from clinical trials in these circumstances. We elicited expert prior opinion for a future Bayesian randomised controlled trial for a rare inflammatory paediatric disease, polyarteritis nodosa (MYPAN, Mycophenolate mofetil for polyarteritis nodosa).

Methods

A Bayesian prior elicitation meeting was convened. Opinion was sought on the probability that a patient in the MYPAN trial treated with cyclophosphamide would achieve disease remission within 6-months, and on the relative efficacies of mycophenolate mofetil and cyclophosphamide. Expert opinion was combined with previously unseen data from a recently completed randomised controlled trial in ANCA associated vasculitis.

Results

A pan-European group of fifteen experts participated in the elicitation meeting. Consensus expert prior opinion was that the most likely rates of disease remission within 6 months on cyclophosphamide or mycophenolate mofetil were 74% and 71%, respectively. This prior opinion will now be taken forward and will be modified to formulate a Bayesian posterior opinion once the MYPAN trial data from 40 patients randomised 1:1 to either CYC or MMF become available.

Conclusions

We suggest that the methodological template we propose could be applied to trial design for other rare diseases.     

Resurgence of the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera in northern Greece associated with insecticide resistance

Helicoverpa armigera has been controlled effectively with chemical insecticides in the major cotton crop production areas of northern Greece for many years. However, a resurgence of the pest was observed in 2010, which significantly affected crop production. During a 4‐year survey (2007 – 2010), we examined the insecticide resistance status of H. armigera populations from two major and representative cotton production areas in northern Greece against seven insecticides (chlorpyrifos, diazinon, methomyl, alpha‐cypermethrin, cypermethrin, gamma‐cyhalothrin and endosulfan). Full dose‐response bioassays on third instar larvae were performed by topical application. Lethal doses at 50% were estimated by probit analysis and resistance factors (RF) were calculated, compared to a susceptible laboratory reference strain. Resistance levels were relatively moderate until 2009, with resistance ratios below 10‐fold for organophosphates and carbamates and up to 16‐fold for the pyrethroid alpha‐cypermethrin. However, resistance rose to 46‐ and 81‐fold for chlorpyrifos and alpha‐cypermethrin, respectively in 2010, when the resurgence of the pest was observed. None of the known pyrethroid resistance mutations were found in the pyrethroid‐resistant insects. The possible association between resistance and H. armigera resurgence in Greece is discussed.     

Folic acid modified gelatine coated quantum dots as potential reagents for in vitro cancer diagnostics

Background

Highly hydrophobic surfaces can have very low surface energy and such low surface energy biological interfaces can be obtained using fluorinated coatings on surfaces. Deposition of biocompatible organic films on solid-state surfaces is attained with techniques like plasma polymerization, biomineralization and chemical vapor deposition. All these require special equipment or harsh chemicals. This paper presents a simple vapor-phase approach to directly coat solid-state surfaces with biocompatible films without any harsh chemical or plasma treatment. Hydrophilic and hydrophobic monomers were used for reaction and deposition of nanolayer films. The monomers were characterized and showed a very consistent coating of 3D micropore structures.

Results

The coating showed nano-textured surface morphology which can aid cell growth and provide rich molecular functionalization. The surface properties of the obtained film were regulated by varying monomer concentrations, reaction time and the vacuum pressure in a simple reaction chamber. Films were characterized by contact angle analysis for surface energy and with profilometer to measure the thickness. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis revealed the chemical composition of the coated films. Variations in the FTIR results with respect to different concentrations of monomers showed the chemical composition of the resulting films.

Conclusion

The presented approach of vapor-phase coating of solid-state structures is important and applicable in many areas of bio-nano interface development. The exposure of coatings to the solutions of different pH showed the stability of the coatings in chemical surroundings. The organic nanocoating of films can be used in bio-implants and many medical devices.     

The anti-sigma factor TcdC modulates hypervirulence in an epidemic BI/NAP1/027 clinical isolate of Clostridium difficile

Nosocomial infections are increasingly being recognised as a major patient safety issue. The modern hospital environment and associated health care practices have provided a niche for the rapid evolution of microbial pathogens that are well adapted to surviving and proliferating in this setting, after which they can infect susceptible patients. This is clearly the case for bacterial pathogens such as Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus (VRE) species, both of which have acquired resistance to antimicrobial agents as well as enhanced survival and virulence properties that present serious therapeutic dilemmas for treating physicians. It has recently become apparent that the spore-forming bacterium Clostridium difficile also falls within this category. Since 2000, there has been a striking increase in C. difficile nosocomial infections worldwide, predominantly due to the emergence of epidemic or hypervirulent isolates that appear to possess extended antibiotic resistance and virulence properties. Various hypotheses have been proposed for the emergence of these strains, and for their persistence and increased virulence, but supportive experimental data are lacking. Here we describe a genetic approach using isogenic strains to identify a factor linked to the development of hypervirulence in C. difficile. This study provides evidence that a naturally occurring mutation in a negative regulator of toxin production, the anti-sigma factor TcdC, is an important factor in the development of hypervirulence in epidemic C. difficile isolates, presumably because the mutation leads to significantly increased toxin production, a contentious hypothesis until now. These results have important implications for C. difficile pathogenesis and virulence since they suggest that strains carrying a similar mutation have the inherent potential to develop a hypervirulent phenotype.     

Zinc deficiency leads to lipofuscin accumulation in the retinal pigment epithelium of pigmented rats

Background

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is associated with lipofuscin accumulation whereas the content of melanosomes decreases. Melanosomes are the main storage of zinc in the pigmented tissues. Since the elderly population, as the most affected group for AMD, is prone to zinc deficit, we investigated the chemical and ultrastructural effects of zinc deficiency in pigmented rat eyes after a six-month zinc penury diet.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Adult Long Evans (LE) rats were investigated. The control animals were fed with a normal alimentation whereas the zinc-deficiency rats (ZD-LE) were fed with a zinc deficient diet for six months. Quantitative Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalysis yielded the zinc mole fractions of melanosomes in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The lateral resolution of the analysis was 100 nm. The zinc mole fractions of melanosomes were significantly smaller in the RPE of ZD-LE rats as compared to the LE control rats. Light, fluorescence and electron microscopy, as well as immunohistochemistry were performed. The numbers of lipofuscin granules in the RPE and of infiltrated cells (Ø>3 µm) found in the choroid were quantified. The number of lipofuscin granules significantly increased in ZD-LE as compared to control rats. Infiltrated cells bigger than 3 µm were only detected in the choroid of ZD-LE animals. Moreover, the thickness of the Bruch''s membrane of ZD-LE rats varied between 0.4–3 µm and thin, rangy ED1 positive macrophages were found attached at these sites of Bruch''s membrane or even inside it.

Conclusions/Significance

In pigmented rats, zinc deficiency yielded an accumulation of lipofuscin in the RPE and of large pigmented macrophages in the choroids as well as the appearance of thin, rangy macrophages at Bruch''s membrane. Moreover, we showed that a zinc diet reduced the zinc mole fraction of melanosomes in the RPE and modulated the thickness of the Bruch''s membrane.     

Glycosylation of BRI2 on asparagine 170 is involved in its trafficking to the cell surface but not in its processing by furin or ADAM10

Two different mutated forms of BRI2 protein are linked with familial British and Danish dementias, which present neuropathological similarities with Alzheimer's disease. BRI2 is a type II transmembrane protein that is trafficked through the secretory pathway to the cell surface and is processed by furin and ADAM10 (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain 10) to release secreted fragments of unknown function. Its apparent molecular mass (42-44 kDa) is significantly higher than that predicted by the number and composition of amino acids (30 kDa) suggesting that BRI2 is glycosylated. In support, bioinformatics analysis indicated that BRI2 bears the consensus sequence Asn-Thr-Ser (residues 170-173) and could be N-glycosylated at Asn170. Given that N-glycosylation is considered essential for protein folding, processing and trafficking, we examined whether BRI2 is N-glycosylated. Treatment of HEK293 (human embryonic kidney) cells expressing BRI2 with the N-glycosylation inhibitor tunicamycin or mutation of Asn170 to alanine reduced its molecular mass by ~2 kDa. These data indicate that BRI2 is N-glycosylated at Asn170. To examine the effect of N-glycosylation on BRI2 trafficking at the cell surface, we performed biotinylation and (35)S methionine pulse-chase experiments. These experiments showed that mutation of Asn170 to alanine reduced BRI2 trafficking at the cell surface and its steady state levels at the plasma membrane. Furthermore, we obtained data indicating that this mutation did not affect cleavage of BRI2 by furin or ADAM10. Our results confirm the theoretical predictions that BRI2 is N-glycosylated at Asn170 and show that this post-translational modification is essential for its expression at the cell surface but not for its proteolytic processing.