Hydrogen peroxide as a mediator of programmed cell death in the blastocyst

Previous work identified in blastocele fluid a soluble activity which killed embryonal carcinoma cells with trophectodermal potential but not those with embryonic potential [35]. From use of a malignant caricature of the late blastocyst, this toxic activity was postulated to be H2O2 [8]. The purpose of this paper was to determine if blastocele fluid also contained amounts of H2O2 capable of mediating the preferential killing of malignant pretrophectodermal cells (ECa 247). We not only observed that blastocele fluid is not toxic for these cells in the presence of catalase, but that malignant cells with embryonic potential (P19) that normally survive exposure to blastocele fluid become sensitive to it if their intracellular glutathione levels are lowered. Thus, it is concluded that the blastocyst contains amounts of H2O2 toxic to malignant pretrophectodermal cells and that glutathione-dependent mechanisms protect malignant inner cell mass cells with embryonic potential. Apparently, H2O2 production and glutathione-dependent protection mechanisms are developmentally regulated in the inner cell mass. These results are discussed with regards to apoptosis and the regulation of tissue mass.     

Syndromic Surveillance Using Veterinary Laboratory Data: Algorithm Combination and Customization of Alerts

Background

Syndromic surveillance research has focused on two main themes: the search for data sources that can provide early disease detection; and the development of efficient algorithms that can detect potential outbreak signals.

Methods

This work combines three algorithms that have demonstrated solid performance in detecting simulated outbreak signals of varying shapes in time series of laboratory submissions counts. These are: the Shewhart control charts designed to detect sudden spikes in counts; the EWMA control charts developed to detect slow increasing outbreaks; and the Holt-Winters exponential smoothing, which can explicitly account for temporal effects in the data stream monitored. A scoring system to detect and report alarms using these algorithms in a complementary way is proposed.

Results

The use of multiple algorithms in parallel resulted in increased system sensitivity. Specificity was decreased in simulated data, but the number of false alarms per year when the approach was applied to real data was considered manageable (between 1 and 3 per year for each of ten syndromic groups monitored). The automated implementation of this approach, including a method for on-line filtering of potential outbreak signals is described.

Conclusion

The developed system provides high sensitivity for detection of potential outbreak signals while also providing robustness and flexibility in establishing what signals constitute an alarm. This flexibility allows an analyst to customize the system for different syndromes.     

Orchestrating stem cell fate: Novel tools for regenerative medicine

Mesenchymal stem cells are undifferentiated cells able to acquire different phenotypes under specific stimuli. In vitro manipulation of these cells is focused on understanding stem cell behavior, proliferation and pluripotency. Latest advances in the field of stem cells concern epigenetics and its role in maintaining self-renewal and differentiation capabilities. Chemical and physical stimuli can modulate cell commitment, acting on gene expression of Oct-4, Sox-2 and Nanog,the main stemness markers, and tissue-lineage specific genes. This activation or repression is related to the activity of chromatin-remodeling factors and epigenetic regulators, new targets of many cell therapies. The aim of this review is to afford a view of the current state of in vitro and in vivo stem cell applications,highlighting the strategies used to influence stem cell commitment for current and future cell therapies. Identifying the molecular mechanisms controlling stem cell fate could open up novel strategies for tissue repairing processes and other clinical applications.     

First Baseline of Circulating Genotypic Lineages of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Patients from the Brazilian Borders with Argentina and Paraguay

Background

At the triple border Brazil/Paraguay/Argentina there is easy mobility from one city to another for economic and tourism activities. This constant and fast population mobility is mainly to visit Iguazu Falls, in the Iguazu River, on the border of the Brazilian state of Paraná and the Argentina. As the incidence of tuberculosis is high in this setting, our study aimed to establish a first baseline of circulating genotypic lineages of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Methodology/Principal Findings

This study included 120 patients from 10 cities in southwestern Paraná, Brazil with pulmonary symptoms, from July 2009 to July 2011. Information about sex, age, clinical features and address was collected by reviewing the national tuberculosis notification database. Of these, 96 (80%) isolates were identified as M. tuberculosis and 22 (22.9%) were drug resistant (20, 20.8% INH mono-resistant and 2, 2.1% multidrug-resistant). All isolates were subjected to genotyping by Spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTR typing. The distribution of the isolates analyzed by spoligotyping revealed 30 distinct patterns. The four mainly detected clades were Latin American and Mediterranean (LAM), ill-defined T, Haarlem (H) and S. The MIRU-VNTR showed 85 distinct patterns. Spoligotyping combined to MIRU-VNTR allowed 90 distinct patterns.

Conclusions/Significance

Our study demonstrated that there is significant molecular diversity in circulating M. tuberculosis, with predominance of the LAM and T clades in cities of southwestern Paraná, Brazil, bordering Argentina and Paraguay.     

Modulation of microglial superoxide production by α-tocopherol in vitro: attenuation of p67phox translocation by a protein phosphatase-dependent pathway

As in other phagocytic cells, the NADPH-oxidase system in microglia is thought to be primarily responsible for the production of superoxide anion radicals (O2(-.), a potentially cytotoxic reactive oxygen species. The assembly of a functional NADPH-oxidase complex at the plasma membrane depends on the phosphorylation and subsequent translocation of several cytosolic subunits. Immunocytochemical and subcellular fractionation experiments performed during the present study revealed that the NADPH-oxidase subunit p67(phox) translocates from the cytosol to the plasma membrane upon stimulation. Pre-incubation of microglia in alpha-tocopherol (alphaTocH) containing medium decreased O2(-.) production in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, findings attributed to attenuated p67(phox) translocation to the plasma membrane. Moreover, alphaTocH-supplementation of the culture medium resulted in decreased microglial protein kinase C (PKC) activities, an effect that could be partially or completely reversed by the addition of protein phosphatase inhibitors (okadaic acid and calyculin A). The addition of the PKC-inhibitor staurosporine inhibited the microglial respiratory burst in a manner comparable to alphaTocH. The addition of okadaic acid or calyculin A completely restored O2(-.) production in alphaTocH-supplemented cells. The present findings suggest that alphaTocH inactivates PKC via a PP1 or PP2A-mediated pathway and, as a consequence, blocks the phosphorylation-dependent translocation of p67(phox) to the plasma membrane. As a result, O2(-.) production by the microglial NADPH-oxidase system is substantially inhibited.     

Molecular characterization of Lactobacillus curvatus and Lact. sake isolated from sauerkraut and their application in sausage fermentations

Lactobacillus curvatus and Lact. sake are best adapted to meat fermentations and dominate the flora during the whole process. In fermenting sauerkraut, Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides is the major organism only during the early phase. In this environment Lact. curvatus and Lact. sake provide up to 50% of the microbial flora especially of the later phase, depending on the process conditions. Strains of Lact. curvatus and Lact. sake isolated from fermenting sauerkraut were identified by hybridization with species specific 23S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes and further characterized. In 59 of 72 strains, plasmid DNA was detected. Small cryptic plasmids of 20 strains were found to be homologous with pLc2, a 2·6 kb plasmid from Lact. curvatus LTH683, which was originally isolated from meat. The ability to compete was investigated in fermenting sausages of two strains each of Lact. curvatus and Lact. sake isolated from sauerkraut. One strain each of Lact. curvatus and Lact sake was found to outnumber the meat-borne flora and govern the process.     

Bradykinin Stimulates Arachidonic Acid Release Through the Sequential Actions of an sn-1 Diacylglycerol Lipase and a Monoacylglycerol Lipase

In cultured dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons prelabeled with [3H]arachidonic acid [( 3H]AA), bradykinin (BK) stimulation resulted in increased levels of radioactive diacylglycerol, monoacylglycerol, and free AA. The transient increases in content of radioactive diacylglycerol and monoacylglycerol preceded the increase in level of free AA, suggesting the contribution of a diacylglycerol lipase pathway to AA release. An analysis of the molecular species of diacylglycerols in unstimulated cultures revealed the presence of two primary [3H]AA-containing species, 1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonoyl and 1-stearoyl-2-arachidonoyl diacylglycerol. BK stimulation resulted in a preferential increase in content of 1-stearoyl-2-arachidonoyl diacylglycerol. When DRG cultures were labeled with [3H]stearic acid, treatment with BK increased the amount of label in diacylglycerol and free stearic acid, but not in monoacylglycerol. This result suggested that AA release occurred through the successive actions of an sn-1 diacylglycerol lipase and monoacylglycerol lipase. Other data supporting a diacylglycerol lipase pathway was the significant inhibition of [3H]AA release and consequent accumulation of diacylglycerol by RG 80267, which preferentially inhibits diacylglycerol lipase. Analysis of the molecular species profiles of individual phospholipids in DRG neurons indicated that phosphoinositide hydrolysis may account for a significant portion of the rapid increase in content of 1-stearoyl-2-arachidonoyl diacylglycerol. We were unable to obtain evidence that the phospholipase A2 pathway makes a significant contribution to BK-stimulated AA release in DRG cultures. Under our assay conditions there were no BK-stimulated increases in levels of radioactive lysophosphatidylinositol, lysophosphatidylcholine, or lysophosphatidylethanolamine in cultures prelabeled with [3H]inositol, [3H]choline, or [3H]-ethanolamine, respectively.