Vaccine-stimulated, adoptively transferred CD8+ T cells traffic indiscriminately and ubiquitously while mediating specific tumor destruction

It has been suggested that antitumor T cells specifically traffic to the tumor site, where they effect tumor destruction. To test whether tumor-reactive CD8(+) T cells specifically home to tumor, we assessed the trafficking of gp100-specific pmel-1 cells to large, vascularized tumors that express or do not express the target Ag. Activation of tumor-specific CD8(+) pmel-1 T cells with IL-2 and vaccination with an altered peptide ligand caused regression of gp100-positive tumors (B16), but not gp100-negative tumors (methylcholanthrene 205), implanted on opposing flanks of the same mouse. Surprisingly, we found approximately equal and very large numbers of pmel-1 T cells (>25% of all lymphocytes) infiltrating both Ag-positive and Ag-negative tumors. We also found evidence of massive infiltration and proliferation of activated antitumor pmel-1 cells in a variety of peripheral tissues, including lymph nodes, liver, spleen, and lungs, but not peripheral blood. Most importantly, evidence for T cell function, as measured by production of IFN-gamma, release of perforin, and activation of caspase-3 in target cells, was confined to Ag-expressing tumor. We thus conclude that CD8(+) T cell-mediated destruction of tumor is the result of specific T cell triggering at the tumor site. The ability to induce ubiquitous homing and specific tumor destruction may be important in the case of noninflammatory metastatic tumor foci.     

Natural variants of AtHKT1 enhance Na+ accumulation in two wild populations of Arabidopsis

Plants are sessile and therefore have developed mechanisms to adapt to their environment, including the soil mineral nutrient composition. Ionomics is a developing functional genomic strategy designed to rapidly identify the genes and gene networks involved in regulating how plants acquire and accumulate these mineral nutrients from the soil. Here, we report on the coupling of high-throughput elemental profiling of shoot tissue from various Arabidopsis accessions with DNA microarray-based bulk segregant analysis and reverse genetics, for the rapid identification of genes from wild populations of Arabidopsis that are involved in regulating how plants acquire and accumulate Na(+) from the soil. Elemental profiling of shoot tissue from 12 different Arabidopsis accessions revealed that two coastal populations of Arabidopsis collected from Tossa del Mar, Spain, and Tsu, Japan (Ts-1 and Tsu-1, respectively), accumulate higher shoot levels of Na(+) than do Col-0 and other accessions. We identify AtHKT1, known to encode a Na(+) transporter, as being the causal locus driving elevated shoot Na(+) in both Ts-1 and Tsu-1. Furthermore, we establish that a deletion in a tandem repeat sequence approximately 5 kb upstream of AtHKT1 is responsible for the reduced root expression of AtHKT1 observed in these accessions. Reciprocal grafting experiments establish that this loss of AtHKT1 expression in roots is responsible for elevated shoot Na(+). Interestingly, and in contrast to the hkt1-1 null mutant, under NaCl stress conditions, this novel AtHKT1 allele not only does not confer NaCl sensitivity but also cosegregates with elevated NaCl tolerance. We also present all our elemental profiling data in a new open access ionomics database, the Purdue Ionomics Information Management System (PiiMS; http://www.purdue.edu/dp/ionomics). Using DNA microarray-based genotyping has allowed us to rapidly identify AtHKT1 as the casual locus driving the natural variation in shoot Na(+) accumulation we observed in Ts-1 and Tsu-1. Such an approach overcomes the limitations imposed by a lack of established genetic markers in most Arabidopsis accessions and opens up a vast and tractable source of natural variation for the identification of gene function not only in ionomics but also in many other biological processes.     

Quantitative immunoproteomics analysis reveals novel MHC class I presented peptides in cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells

Platinum-based chemotherapy is widely used to treat various cancers including ovarian cancer. However, the mortality rate for patients with ovarian cancer is extremely high, largely due to chemo-resistant progression in patients who respond initially to platinum based chemotherapy. Immunotherapy strategies, including antigen specific vaccines, are being tested to treat drug resistant ovarian cancer with variable results. The identification of drug resistant specific tumor antigens would potentially provide significant improvement in effectiveness when combined with current and emerging therapies. In this study, using an immunoproteomics method based on iTRAQ technology and an LC-MS platform, we identified 952 MHC class I presented peptides. Quantitative analysis of the iTRAQ labeled MHC peptides revealed that cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells display increased levels of MHC peptides derived from proteins that are implicated in many important cancer pathways. In addition, selected differentially presented epitope specific CTL recognize cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells significantly better than the sensitive cells. These over-presented, drug resistance specific MHC class I associated peptide antigens could be potential targets for the development of immunotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of ovarian cancer including the drug resistant phenotype.     

Bronchioalveolar stem cells increase after mesenchymal stromal cell treatment in a mouse model of bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) remains a major complication of prematurity resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. The pathology of BPD is multifactorial and leads to alveolar simplification and distal lung injury. Previous studies have shown a beneficial effect of systemic treatment with bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) and MSC-conditioned media (MSC-CM) leading to amelioration of the lung parenchymal and vascular injury in vivo in the hyperoxia murine model of BPD. It is possible that the beneficial response from the MSCs is at least in part due to activation of endogenous lung epithelial stem cells. Bronchioalveolar stem cells (BASCs) are an adult lung stem cell population capable of self-renewal and differentiation in culture, and BASCs proliferate in response to bronchiolar and alveolar lung injury in vivo. Systemic treatment of neonatal hyperoxia-exposed mice with MSCs or MSC-CM led to a significant increase in BASCs compared with untreated controls. Treatment of BASCs with MSC-CM in culture showed an increase in growth efficiency, indicating a direct effect of MSCs on BASCs. Lineage tracing data in bleomycin-treated adult mice showed that Clara cell secretory protein-expressing cells including BASCs are capable of contributing to alveolar repair after lung injury. MSCs and MSC-derived factors may stimulate BASCs to play a role in the repair of alveolar lung injury found in BPD and in the restoration of distal lung cell epithelia. This work highlights the potential important role of endogenous lung stem cells in the repair of chronic lung diseases.     

NMR based metabonomics study of NPY Y5 receptor activation in BT-549, a human breast carcinoma cell line

Overexpression of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and its receptors has been found in various cancers. In our previous study, we demonstrated expression of NPY Y5 receptor (Y5R) in various breast cancer cell lines along with Y1 receptor. In Y5R expressing BT-549 cells, NPY induced cell proliferation that was blocked by Y5R-selective antagonist CGP1683A (CGP). Here, NMR-based metabonomics was used to monitor the metabolic profile of BT-549 cells in the presence of NPY and CGP to assess the effect of Y5R activation and inhibition during NPY-induced cell proliferation. To study changes in intra and extra cellular metabolites in response to various treatments, 1D ¹H-NMR spectra of both hydrophilic cell extracts and growth medium were recorded from BT-549 with three treatments: (1) NPY, (2) CGP, and (3) CGP followed by NPY (CGP/NPY). Principal component analysis and statistical significance analysis indicated changes in intracellular concentrations of seven metabolites in hydrophilic cell extracts with NPY treatment: decreases in lactate, succinate, myo-inositol, and creatine, and increases in acetate, glutamate, and aspartate. A significant increase in intracellular lactate level and attenuation of other metabolites to baseline was detected in CGP/NPY group. Also, significant decreases in lactate and increases in pyruvate were observed in growth medium from NPY treated cells. Based on the metabonomics analysis, Y5R activation induces cell proliferation by increasing the rate of glycolysis, glutaminolysis, and TCA cycle. Inhibition of Y5R by CGP counteracts NPY-induced changes in cellular metabolites. These changes may play a role in cell proliferation and migration by NPY through Y5R activation.     

Using a 3-O-sulfated heparin octasaccharide to inhibit the entry of herpes simplex virus type 1

Heparan sulfate (HS) is a highly sulfated polysaccharide and is present in large quantities on the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) utilizes a specialized cell surface HS, known as 3-O-sulfated HS, as an entry receptor to establish infection. Here, we exploit an approach to inhibiting HSV-1 infection by using a 3-O-sulfated octasaccharide, mimicking the active domain of the entry receptor. The 3-O-sulfated octasaccharide was synthesized by incubating a heparin octasaccharide (3-OH octasaccharide) with HS 3-O-sulfotransferase isoform 3. The resultant 3-O-sulfated octasaccharide has a structure of Delta UA2S-GlcNS6S-IdoUA2S-GlcNS6S-IdoUA2S-GlcNS3S6S-IdoUA2S-GlcNS6S (where Delta UA is 4-deoxy-alpha-L-threo-hex-4-enopyranosyluronic acid, GlcN is D-glucosamine, and IdoUA is L-iduronic acid). Results from cell-based assays revealed that the 3-O-sulfated octasaccharide has stronger activity in blocking HSV-1 infection than that of the 3-OH octasaccharide, suggesting that the inhibition of HSV-1 infection requires a unique sulfation moiety. Our results suggest the feasibility of inhibiting HSV-1 infection by blocking viral entry with a specific oligosaccharide.     

The use of monochloroacetic acid for improved ethanol production by immobilized Saccharomyces cerevisiae

World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology -     

Characterization of aPY-like peptides in anglerfish brain using a novel radioimmunoassay for aPY-Gly

Anglerfish peptide YG (aPY) was isolated from pancreatic islets of the anglerfish. Subsequent immunohistochemical and biochemical analyses demonstrated that anglerfish islet cells synthesize aPY. We have now developed and characterized a radioimmunoassay (RIA) for aPY and have examined extracts of anglerfish brain for aPY-like peptides. Brain extracts were subjected to gel filtration and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Fractions from HPLC eluates were analyzed in the aPY RIA and also in a neuropeptide Y (NPY) RIA. A single peak of aPY-like immunoreactivity eluted from HPLC columns. The elution position of this aPY-like peptide coincided exactly with the aPY-Gly marker under several gradient conditions. Results from the NPY RIA confirmed the presence of several molecular forms of NPY-like immunoreactive peptides in the anglerfish brain. These results demonstrate the utility of the newly developed aPY RIA for studies of anglerfish brain peptides and extend our previous immunohistochemical demonstration of aPY-like staining in the anglerfish brain.