GM-CSF Increases Mucosal and Systemic Immunogenicity of an H1N1 Influenza DNA Vaccine Administered into the Epidermis of Non-Human Primates

Background

The recent H5N1 avian and H1N1 swine-origin influenza virus outbreaks reaffirm that the threat of a world-wide influenza pandemic is both real and ever-present. Vaccination is still considered the best strategy for protection against influenza virus infection but a significant challenge is to identify new vaccine approaches that offer accelerated production, broader protection against drifted and shifted strains, and the capacity to elicit anti-viral immune responses in the respiratory tract at the site of viral entry. As a safe alternative to live attenuated vaccines, the mucosal and systemic immunogenicity of an H1N1 influenza (A/New Caledonia/20/99) HA DNA vaccine administered by particle-mediated epidermal delivery (PMED or gene gun) was analyzed in rhesus macaques.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Macaques were immunized at weeks 0, 8, and 16 using a disposable single-shot particle-mediated delivery device designed for clinical use that delivers plasmid DNA directly into cells of the epidermis. Significant levels of hemagglutination inhibiting (HI) antibodies and cytokine-secreting HA-specific T cells were observed in the periphery of macaques following 1–3 doses of the PMED HA DNA vaccine. In addition, HA DNA vaccination induced detectable levels of HA-specific mucosal antibodies and T cells in the lung and gut-associated lymphoid tissues of vaccinated macaques. Importantly, co-delivery of a DNA encoding the rhesus macaque GM-CSF gene was found to significantly enhance both the systemic and mucosal immunogenicity of the HA DNA vaccine.

Conclusions/Significance

These results provide strong support for the development of a particle-mediated epidermal DNA vaccine for protection against respiratory pathogens such as influenza and demonstrate, for the first time, the ability of skin-delivered GM-CSF to serve as an effective mucosal adjuvant for vaccine induction of immune responses in the gut and respiratory tract.     

Nontimber forest product extraction, utilization and valuation: A case study from the Nilgiri Biosphere reserve, southern India

We evaluated the diversity, social, and economic aspects of nontimber forest product (NTFP) collection in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR), in southern India. The NBR is a region known for its floral andfaunal diversity, as well as an area with increasing human pressure. Fifty to 75% of the households (HH) in rural areas gather a diversity of forest products. Dominant NTFPs contributed 25–60% of the average annual per capita household income from NTFPs. The mean annual per capita household income from NTFPs ranges between Rs. 134 and Rs. 4955. The mean annual income per hectare ranges from Rs. 93 in the montane zone to Rs. 3780 in the moist deciduous. NTFPs contribute 15–50% of the annual per capita income of rural households. Ethnicity plays an important role in the collection of NTFPs and ethnic tribes derive a large proportion of their annual per capita income from NTFPs.     

Comparative hydrolysis and plasma protein binding of cis-platin and carboplatin in human plasma in vitro

Platinum-based anti-cancer drugs are widely used to treat cancer in patients, but they also exhibit severe toxic side-effects. Considering that cis-platin and carboplatin are intravenously administered, their biotransformations in the bloodstream are likely to be directly involved in determining their toxic side-effects, but they are poorly understood. We added pharmacologically relevant doses of cis-platin or carboplatin to human plasma from healthy male or female volunteers in vitro at 37 °C and determined the platinum-distribution in plasma after 5 min, 3 h and 24 h using size exclusion chromatography-inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (SEC-ICP-AES). The results revealed a negligible inter-individual variation of the platinum-distribution between males and females and faster hydrolysis of cis-platin than carboplatin. Related to this, 95% of platinum was protein-bound 24 h after the addition of cis-platin to plasma, whereas 40% of platinum was protein-bound in the case of carboplatin. Interestingly, cis-platin and carboplatin-derived platinum species appeared to bind to the same 3 plasma proteins at the 3 h time point and thereafter. The analysis of cis-platin and carboplatin-spiked phosphate buffered saline (PBS) revealed a common platinum-containing hydrolysis product that was also detected in plasma. Since cis-platin is associated with more toxic side-effects in patients than carboplatin (even though it is administered at lower doses), our in vitro data suggest that the toxic side-effects of the investigated platinum-drugs may be predominantly determined by the indiscriminate translocation of the parent drugs to malignant and healthy cells. This information may help to mitigate the toxic side-effects of platinum-containing drugs by devising strategies to delay the influx of the parent drugs into non-target tissues.     

Molecular basis for regulation of Src by the docking protein p130Cas

The docking protein p130Cas (Cas) becomes tyrosine-phosphorylated in its central substrate domain in response to extracellular stimuli such as integrin-mediated cell adhesion, and transmits signals through interactions with various intracellular signaling molecules such as the adaptor protein Crk. Src-family kinases (SFKs) bind a specific site in the carboxyl-terminal region of Cas and subsequently SFKs phosphorylate progressively the substrate domain in Cas. In this study crystallography, mutagenesis and binding assays were used to understand the molecular basis for Cas interactions with SFKs. Tyrosine phosphorylation regulates binding of Cas to SFKs, and the primary site for this phosphorylation, Y762, has been proposed. A phosphorylated peptide corresponding to Cas residues 759MEDpYDYVHL767 containing the key phosphotyrosine was crystallized in complex with the SH3-SH2 domain of the SFK Lck. The results provide the first structural data for this protein-protein interaction. The motif in Cas 762pYDYV binds to the SH2 domain in a mode that mimics high-affinity ligands, involving dual contacts of Y762 and V765 with conserved residues in SFK SH2 domains. In addition, Y764 is in position to make an electrostatic contact after phosphorylation with a conserved SFK arginine that mediates interactions with other high-affinity SH2 binders. These new molecular data suggest that Cas may regulate activity of Src as a competing ligand to displace intramolecular interactions that occur in SFKs (between the C-terminal tail and the SH2 domain) and restrain and down-regulate the kinase in an inactive form.     

Multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitors in preclinical studies for pediatric CNS AT/RT: Evidence for synergy with Topoisomerase-I inhibition

Background

Secondary therapy-related acute lymphoblastic leukemia might emerge following chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy for primary malignancies. Therefore, other alternatives should be pursued to treat leukemia.

Results

It is shown that vitamin K3- or vitamin C- induced apoptosis in leukemia cells by oxidative stress mechanism involving superoxide anion radical and hydrogen peroxide generation, activation of NF-κB, p53, c-Jun, protease caspase-3 activation and mitochondria depolarization leading to nuclei fragmentation. Cell death was more prominent when Jurkat and K562 cells are exposed to VC and VK3 in a ratio 1000:1 (10 mM: 10 μM) or 100:1 (300 μM: 3 μM), respectively.

Conclusion

We provide for the first time in vitro evidence supporting a causative role for oxidative stress in VK3- and VC-induced apoptosis in Jurkat and K562 cells in a domino-like mechanism. Altogether these data suggest that VK3 and VC should be useful in the treatment of leukemia.     

Crystal structure of the coat protein from the GA bacteriophage: model of the unassembled dimer.

There are four groups of RNA bacteriophages with distinct antigenic and physicochemical properties due to differences in surface residues of the viral coat proteins. Coat proteins also play a role as translational repressor during the viral life cycle, binding an RNA hairpin within the genome. In this study, the first crystal structure of the coat protein from a Group II phage GA is reported and compared to the Group I MS2 coat protein. The structure of the GA dimer was determined at 2.8 A resolution (R-factor = 0.20). The overall folding pattern of the coat protein is similar to the Group I MS2 coat protein in the intact virus (Golmohammadi R, Valegård K, Fridborg K, Liljas L. 1993, J Mol Biol 234:620-639) or as an unassembled dimer (Ni Cz, Syed R, Kodandapani R. Wickersham J, Peabody DS, Ely KR, 1995, Structure 3:255-263). The structures differ in the FG loops and in the first turn of the alpha A helix. GA and MS2 coat proteins differ in sequence at 49 of 129 amino acid residues. Sequence differences that contribute to distinct immunological and physical properties of the proteins are found at the surface of the intact virus in the AB and FG loops. There are six differences in potential RNA contact residues within the RNA-binding site located in an antiparallel beta-sheet across the dimer interface. Three differences involve residues in the center of this concave site: Lys/Arg 83, Ser/Asn 87, and Asp/Glu 89. Residue 87 was shown by molecular genetics to define RNA-binding specificity by GA or MS2 coat protein (Lim F. Spingola M, Peabody DS, 1994, J Biol Chem 269:9006-9010). This sequence difference reflects recognition of the nucleotide at position -5 in the unpaired loop of the translational operators bound by these coat proteins. In GA, the nucleotide at this position is a purine whereas in MS2, it is a pyrimidine.     

Positron-labeled dopamine agonists for probing the high affinity states of dopamine subtype 2 receptors

It is well documented that guanidine nucleotide-coupled dopamine subtype 2 receptors (D2) are configured in high and low affinity states for the dopamine agonist in vitro. However, it is still unclear whether these functional states exist in vivo. We hypothesized that positron-labeled D2 agonist and Positron Emission Tomography can be used to probe these functional states noninvasively. Recently, we demonstrated in nonhuman primates that N-[11C]propyl-norapomorphine (NPA), a full D2 agonist, is a suitable tracer for imaging the high affinity states of D2 receptors in vivo. We also developed kinetic modeling method to derive receptor parameters, such as binding potential (BP) and specific uptake ratios (V3'). When coupled with a dopamine releasing drug, amphetamine, NPA was found to be more sensitive than antagonist tracers, such as [11C]raclopride (RAC), to endogenous dopamine concentration changes (by about 42%). This finding suggests that NPA is a superior tracer for reporting endogenous DA concentration. In addition, the difference of the BP or V3' of NPA and RAC under control and amphetamine challenge conditions could be used to estimate the functional states of D2 receptors in vivo. On the basis of our findings and the assumptions that NPA binds only to the high affinity states and RAC binds equally to both affinity states, we proposed that about 70% of the D2 receptors are configured in the high affinity states in vivo.     

Therapeutic DNA vaccine induces broad T cell responses in the gut and sustained protection from viral rebound and AIDS in SIV-infected rhesus macaques

Immunotherapies that induce durable immune control of chronic HIV infection may eliminate the need for life-long dependence on drugs. We investigated a DNA vaccine formulated with a novel genetic adjuvant that stimulates immune responses in the blood and gut for the ability to improve therapy in rhesus macaques chronically infected with SIV. Using the SIV-macaque model for AIDS, we show that epidermal co-delivery of plasmids expressing SIV Gag, RT, Nef and Env, and the mucosal adjuvant, heat-labile E. coli enterotoxin (LT), during antiretroviral therapy (ART) induced a substantial 2-4-log fold reduction in mean virus burden in both the gut and blood when compared to unvaccinated controls and provided durable protection from viral rebound and disease progression after the drug was discontinued. This effect was associated with significant increases in IFN-γ T cell responses in both the blood and gut and SIV-specific CD8+ T cells with dual TNF-α and cytolytic effector functions in the blood. Importantly, a broader specificity in the T cell response seen in the gut, but not the blood, significantly correlated with a reduction in virus production in mucosal tissues and a lower virus burden in plasma. We conclude that immunizing with vaccines that induce immune responses in mucosal gut tissue could reduce residual viral reservoirs during drug therapy and improve long-term treatment of HIV infection in humans.