T-cell line for HIV drug screening using EGFP as a quantitative marker of HIV-1 replication

The rapid increase of viral strains that are resistant to the currently available antiretroviral drugs is a threat to the success of current human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) treatment and emphasizes the importance of developing novel anti-HIV-1 compounds. To improve the current abilities to screen for novel HIV-1 inhibitors, here we introduce a T-cell-based reporter cell line (JLTRG-RS) that expresses both HIV-1 coreceptors, CXCR4 and CCRS, and provides the convenience of using enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) as a direct and quantitative marker. Unlike previous EGFP-based reporter cell lines, JLTRG-RS cells have an unusually high dynamic signal range, sufficient for plate reader detection using a 384-well format. In this format, JLTRG-R5 cell-based infectivity assays have a Z'-factor of 0.78, which defines the assay as extremely robust and clearly amenable to high-throughput screening. The functional similarity of the JLTRG-R5 cell line and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was demonstrated through the identity of the inhibitory concentrations, 50% (IC50s) for four antiretroviral compounds or neutralizing antibodies. Because EGFP can be directly and continuously quantified in cell culture, the reporter cell line requires no manipulation during assay preparation or analysis. In addition, the EGFP marker allows for data acquisition at an optimal time point by prescreening selected positive control wells using fluorescent microscopy. These characteristics make the system extremely flexible, rapid, and inexpensive. Due to its intrinsic flexibility, the JLTRG-R5 cell-based reporter system provides a powerful tool to greatly facilitate future screening for HIV-1 inhibitors.     

Small-world connectivity, motif composition, and complexity of fractal neuronal connections

Connection patterns of the cerebral cortex consist of pathways linking neuronal populations across multiple levels of scale, from whole brain regions to local minicolumns. This nested interconnectivity suggests the hypothesis that cortical connections are arranged in fractal or self-similar patterns. We describe a simple procedure to generate fractal connection patterns that aim at capturing the potential self-similarity and hierarchical ordering of neuronal connections. We examine these connection patterns by calculating a broad range of structural measures, including small-world attributes and motif composition, as well as some global measures of functional connectivity, including complexity. As we vary fractal patterns by changing a critical control parameter, we find strongly correlated changes in several structural and functional measures, suggesting that they emerge together and are mutually linked. Measures obtained from some modeled fractal patterns closely resemble those of real neuroanatomical data sets, supporting the original hypothesis.     

Neonatal sympathectomy reduces NADPH oxidase activity and vascular resistance in spontaneously hypertensive rat kidneys

Neonatal sympathectomy reduces arterial pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). In SHR transplanted with a kidney from sympathectomized SHR, arterial pressure was lower and less Na+ sensitive than in SHR transplanted with a kidney from hydralazine-treated SHR. This study was performed to identify underlying renal mechanisms. Tests for differential renal mRNA expression of nine a priori selected genes revealed robust differences for renal medullary expression of the NADPH oxidase subunit p47phox. Therefore, we investigated the effects of neonatal sympathectomy on renal mRNA expression of NADPH oxidase subunits, NADPH oxidase activity, and renal function. In 10-wk-old sympathectomized SHR fed a 0.6% NaCl diet, medullary p47phox and gp91phox expression was 40% less than in hydralazine-treated SHR. Also, after a 1.8% NaCl diet, medullary p47phox mRNA expression was lower in sympathectomized than in hydralazine-treated SHR. We found lower cortical (-30%, P<0.01) and medullary (-30%, P<0.05) NADPH oxidase activities in sympathectomized than in hydralazine-treated or untreated SHR. Glomerular filtration rate, renal blood flow, medullary blood flow, and fractional Na+ excretion in kidney grafts from sympathectomized and hydralazine-treated donors (n=8 per group) were similar at baseline and in response to a 20-mmHg rise in renal perfusion pressure. Renal vascular resistance was lower in kidneys from sympathectomized than hydralazine-treated donors (25+/-2 vs. 32+/-4 mmHg.min.ml-1, P<0.05). The results indicate that the sympathetic nervous system contributes to the level of renal NADPH oxidase activity and to perinatal programming of alterations in renal vascular function that lead to elevated renal vascular resistance in SHR.     

Localization of nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 (NTPDase1) and NTPDase2 in pancreas and salivary gland.

Ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolases (NTPDases) are membrane-bound ectoenzymes that hydrolyze extracellular nucleotides. We investigated the distribution of NTPDase1 and NTPDase2 in murine salivary gland and pancreas. Histochemistry and immunostaining (by both light and electron microscopy), combined with functional assays, were used to describe the localization patterns and enzyme activities in the organs of wild-type and NTPDase1/cd39-null mice. Pancreatic acinar cells and salivary gland acinar/myoepithelial cells were positive for NTPDase1 and NTPDase2. Ecto-ATPase activity was slightly higher in salivary glands. Ductal epithelial cells expressed ecto-ATPase activity but NTPDase1 and NTPDase2 expression were weak at best. ATPase activity was found in blood vessels of both tissues and its localization pattern overlapped with NTPDase1 staining. In these structures, NTPDase2 antibodies stained the basolateral aspect of endothelial cells and the supporting cells. Biochemical assays and histochemical staining showed relatively high levels of ATPase activity in both glands of cd39(-/-) mice. Our data therefore support a physiological role for NTPDase2 and other ectonucleotidases in the pancreas and salivary glands. Because NTPDase1 is expressed in non-vascular cell types, this finding suggests that NTPDase1 may have functions in the gastrointestinal tract that differ from those demonstrated in the vascular system.     

Combination of an antiviral drug and immunomodulation against hepadnaviral infection in the woodchuck model

The essential role of multispecific immune responses for the control of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection implies the need of multimodal therapeutic strategies for chronic HBV infection, including antiviral chemotherapy and immunomodulation. This hypothesis was tested in the woodchuck model by a combination of lamivudine pretreatment and subsequent immunizations of woodchucks chronically infected with woodchuck hepatitis virus. The immunizations were performed with DNA vaccines or antigen-antibody immune complexes (IC)/DNA vaccines. Immunizations with IC/DNA vaccines led to an anti-woodchuck hepatitis virus surface antibody response and significant reductions of viral load and antigenemia, suggesting that such a strategy may be effective against chronic HBV infection.     

Endogenous Gas6 and Ca2+ -channel activation modulate phagocytosis by retinal pigment epithelium

Mutation or loss of MerTK as well as deficiency of vβ5-integrins, gives rise to retinal-degeneration due to inefficient phagocytosis of photoreceptor outer-segment fragments by the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). This study shows that Gas6 expressed endogenously by human RPE promotes phagocytosis. The RPE expresses Gas6 more highly in vivo and in serum-reduced conditions in vitro than in high-serum conditions, suggesting a negative-feedback control. An antibody-blockage approach revealed that Gas6-expressing RPE phagocytizes photoreceptor outer-segment fragments due to stimulation of MerTK by endogenous Gas6 in vitro. MerTK- and Gas6-antibodies reduced phagocytosis. Blocking L-type Ca²⁺-channels with nifedipine inhibited MerTK dependent phagocytosis in vitro. Application of integrin inhibitory, soluble, RGD-containing peptides or soluble vitronectin reduced L-type Ca²⁺-channel currents in RPE. Herbimycin A, which reduces phosphorylation of integrin receptor-associated proteins and decreases L-type Ca²⁺-channel currents in RPE, eliminates the inhibiting vitronectin effect and abolishes phagocytosis. Thus, Gas6-promoted phagocytosis was inhibited by L-type Ca²⁺-channel blockage, which in turn may be activated by integrin receptor stimulation. These results suggest that L-type Ca²⁺-channels could be regulated downstream of both MerTK and vβ5-integrin, indicating that the binding and uptake mechanisms of phagocytosis are part of a converging pathway.     

BslA, a pXO1-encoded adhesin of Bacillus anthracis

The Gram-positive pathogen Bacillus anthracis causes anthrax, a fulminant and lethal infection of mammals. Two large virulence plasmids, pXO1 and pXO2, harbour genes required for anthrax pathogenesis and encode secreted toxins or provide for the poly γ- d -glutamic acid capsule. In addition to capsule, B. anthracis harbours additional cell wall envelope structures, including the surface layer (S-layer), which is composed of crystalline protein arrays. We sought to identify the B. anthracis envelope factor that mediates adherence of vegetative forms to human cells and isolated BslA ( B . anthracis S - l ayer protein A ). Its structural gene, bslA , is located on the pXO1 pathogenicity island (pXO1-90) and bslA expression is both necessary and sufficient for adherence of vegetative forms to host cells. BslA assembly into S-layers and surface exposure is presumably mediated by three N-terminal SLH domains. Twenty-three B. anthracis genes, whose products harbour similar SLH domains, may provide additional surface molecules that allow bacilli to engage cells or tissues of specific hosts during anthrax pathogenesis.     

Correlation between genetic and geographic structure in Europe

Understanding the genetic structure of the European population is important, not only from a historical perspective, but also for the appropriate design and interpretation of genetic epidemiological studies. Previous population genetic analyses with autosomal markers in Europe either had a wide geographic but narrow genomic coverage [1] and [2], or vice versa [3], [4], [5] and [6]. We therefore investigated Affymetrix GeneChip 500K genotype data from 2,514 individuals belonging to 23 different subpopulations, widely spread over Europe. Although we found only a low level of genetic differentiation between subpopulations, the existing differences were characterized by a strong continent-wide correlation between geographic and genetic distance. Furthermore, mean heterozygosity was larger, and mean linkage disequilibrium smaller, in southern as compared to northern Europe. Both parameters clearly showed a clinal distribution that provided evidence for a spatial continuity of genetic diversity in Europe. Our comprehensive genetic data are thus compatible with expectations based upon European population history, including the hypotheses of a south-north expansion and/or a larger effective population size in southern than in northern Europe. By including the widely used CEPH from Utah (CEU) samples into our analysis, we could show that these individuals represent northern and western Europeans reasonably well, thereby confirming their assumed regional ancestry.     

Prostacyclin analogs stimulate VEGF production from human lung fibroblasts in culture

Prostacyclin is a short-lived metabolite of arachidonic acid that is produced by several cells in the lung and prominently by endothelial cells. It increases intracellular cAMP levels activating downstream signaling thus regulating vascular mesenchymal cell functions. The alveolar wall contains a rich capillary network as well as a population of mesenchymal cells, i.e., fibroblasts. The current study evaluated the hypothesis that prostacyclin may mediate signaling between endothelial and mesenchymal cells in the alveolar wall by assessing the ability of prostacyclin analogs to modulate fibroblast release of VEGF. To accomplish this study, human lung fibroblasts were cultured in routine culture on plastic support and in three-dimensional collagen gels with or without three prostacyclin analogs, carbaprostacyclin, iloprost, and beraprost, and the production of VEGF was evaluated by ELISA and quantitative real-time PCR. Iloprost and beraprost significantly stimulated VEGF mRNA levels and protein release in a concentration-dependent manner. These effects were blocked by the adenylate cyclase inhibitor SQ-22536 and by the protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor KT-5720 and were reproduced by a direct PKA activator but not by an activator of exchange protein directly activated by cAMP (Epac), indicating that cAMP-activated PKA signaling mediated the effect. Since VEGF serves to maintain the pulmonary microvasculature, the current study suggests that prostacyclin is part of a bidirectional signaling network between the mesenchymal and vascular cells of the alveolar wall. Prostacyclin analogs, therefore, have the potential to modulate the maintenance of the pulmonary microcirculation by driving the production of VEGF from lung fibroblasts.     

Connexin45 is expressed in the juxtaglomerular apparatus and is involved in the regulation of renin secretion and blood pressure

Connexin (Cx) proteins are known to play a role in cell-to-cell communication via intercellular gap junction channels or transiently open hemichannels. Previous studies have identified several connexin isoforms in the juxtaglomerular apparatus (JGA), but the vascular connexin isoform Cx45 has not yet been studied in this region. The present work aimed to identify in detail the localization of Cx45 in the JGA and to suggest a functional role for Cx45 in the kidney using conditions where Cx45 expression or function was altered. Using mice that express lacZ coding DNA under the control of the Cx45 promoter, we observed beta-galactosidase staining in cortical vasculature and glomeruli, with specific localization to the JGA region. Renal vascular localization of Cx45 was further confirmed with the use of conditional Cx45-deficient (Cx45fl/fl:Nestin-Cre) mice, which express enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) instead of Cx45 only in cells that, during development, expressed the intermediate filament nestin. EGFP fluorescence was found in the afferent and efferent arteriole smooth muscle cells, in the renin-producing juxtaglomerular cells, and in the extra- and intraglomerular mesangium. Cx45fl/fl:Nestin-Cre mice exhibited increased renin expression and activity, as well as higher systemic blood pressure. The propagation of mechanically induced calcium waves was slower in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) from Cx45fl/fl:Nestin-Cre mice and in control VSMC treated with a Cx45 gap mimetic peptide that inhibits Cx45 gap junctional communication. VSMCs allowed the cell-to-cell passage of the gap junction permeable dye Lucifer yellow, and calcium wave propagation was not altered by addition of the ATP receptor blocker suramin, suggesting that Cx45 regulates calcium wave propagation via direct gap junction coupling. In conclusion, the localization of Cx45 to the JGA and functional data from Cx45fl/fl:Nestin-Cre mice suggest that Cx45 is involved in the propagation of JGA vascular signals and in the regulation of renin release and blood pressure.