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PURPOSE: Radiation therapy for head and neck cancer frequently leads to salivary gland damage and subsequent xerostomia. The radiation response of the parotid glands of rats, mice, and patients critically depends on dose to parotid gland stem cells, mainly located in the gland's main ducts (stem cell rich [SCR] region). Therefore, this double-blind randomized controlled trial aimed to test the hypothesis that parotid gland stem cell sparing radiation therapy preserves parotid gland function better than currently used whole parotid gland sparing radiation therapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Patients with head and neck cancer (n = 102) treated with definitive radiation therapy were randomized between standard parotid-sparing and stem cell sparing (SCS) techniques. The primary endpoint was >75% reduction in parotid gland saliva production compared with pretreatment production (FLOW12M). Secondary endpoints were several aspects of xerostomia 12 months after treatment. RESULTS: Fifty-four patients were assigned to the standard arm and 48 to the SCS arm. Only dose to the SCR regions (contralateral 16 and 11 Gy [P = .004] and ipsilateral 26 and 16 Gy [P = .001] in the standard and SCS arm, respectively) and pretreatment patient-rated daytime xerostomia (35% and 13% [P = .01] in the standard and SCS arm, respectively) differed significantly between the arms. In the SCS arm, 1 patient (2.8%) experienced FLOW12M compared with 2 (4.9%) in the standard arm (P = 1.00). However, a trend toward better relative parotid gland salivary function in favor of SCS radiation therapy was shown. Moreover, multivariable analysis showed that mean contralateral SCR region dose was the strongest dosimetric predictor for moderate-to-severe patient-rated daytime xerostomia and grade ≥2 physician-rated xerostomia, the latter including reported alteration in diet. CONCLUSIONS: No significantly better parotid function was observed in SCS radiation therapy. However, additional multivariable analysis showed that dose to the SCR region was more predictive of the development of parotid gland function-related xerostomia endpoints than dose to the entire parotid gland.
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Neoplasias de Cabeça e Pescoço , Xerostomia , Humanos , Neoplasias de Cabeça e Pescoço/radioterapia , Glândula Parótida , Glândulas Salivares , Células-Tronco , Xerostomia/etiologiaRESUMO
Comparison studies using histopathology as standard of reference enable a validation of the diagnostic performance of imaging methods. This study analysed (1) the impact of different image-histopathology co-registration pathways, (2) the impact of the applied data analysis method and (3) intraindividually compared multiparametric magnet resonance tomography (mpMRI) and prostate specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography (PSMA-PET) by using the different approaches. Ten patients with primary PCa who underwent mpMRI and [18F]PSMA-1007 PET/CT followed by prostatectomy were prospectively enrolled. We demonstrate that the choice of the intermediate registration step [(1) via ex-vivo CT or (2) mpMRI] does not significantly affect the performance of the registration framework. Comparison of analysis methods revealed that methods using high spatial resolutions e.g. quadrant-based slice-by-slice analysis are beneficial for a differentiated analysis of performance, compared to methods with a lower resolution (segment-based analysis with 6 or 18 segments and lesions-based analysis). Furthermore, PSMA-PET outperformed mpMRI for intraprostatic PCa detection in terms of sensitivity (median %: 83-85 vs. 60-69, p < 0.04) with similar specificity (median %: 74-93.8 vs. 100) using both registration pathways. To conclude, the choice of an intermediate registration pathway does not significantly affect registration performance, analysis methods with high spatial resolution are preferable and PSMA-PET outperformed mpMRI in terms of sensitivity in our cohort.
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Processamento de Imagem Assistida por Computador , Imagem Multimodal , Neoplasias da Próstata/diagnóstico por imagem , Neoplasias da Próstata/patologia , Antígenos de Superfície , Glutamato Carboxipeptidase II , Humanos , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Masculino , Tomografia por Emissão de Pósitrons , Sensibilidade e EspecificidadeRESUMO
Accurate delineation of the intraprostatic gross tumor volume (GTV) is a prerequisite for treatment approaches in patients with primary prostate cancer (PCa). Prostate-specific membrane antigen PET (PSMA PET) may outperform MRI in GTV detection. However, visual GTV delineation underlies interobserver heterogeneity and is time consuming. The aim of this study was to develop a convolutional neural network (CNN) for automated segmentation of intraprostatic tumor (GTV-CNN) in PSMA PET. Methods: The CNN (3D U-Net) was trained on the 68Ga-PSMA PET images of 152 patients from 2 different institutions, and the training labels were generated manually using a validated technique. The CNN was tested on 2 independent internal (cohort 1: 68Ga-PSMA PET, n = 18 and cohort 2: 18F-PSMA PET, n = 19) and 1 external (cohort 3: 68Ga-PSMA PET, n = 20) test datasets. Accordance between manual contours and GTV-CNN was assessed with the Dice-Sørensen coefficient (DSC). Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for the 2 internal test datasets (cohort 1: n = 18, cohort 2: n = 11) using whole-mount histology. Results: The median DSCs for cohorts 1-3 were 0.84 (range: 0.32-0.95), 0.81 (range: 0.28-0.93), and 0.83 (range: 0.32-0.93), respectively. Sensitivities and specificities for the GTV-CNN were comparable with manual expert contours: 0.98 and 0.76 (cohort 1) and 1 and 0.57 (cohort 2), respectively. Computation time was around 6 s for a standard dataset. Conclusion: The application of a CNN for automated contouring of intraprostatic GTV in 68Ga-PSMA and 18F-PSMA PET images resulted in a high concordance with expert contours and in high sensitivities and specificities in comparison with histology as a reference. This robust, accurate and fast technique may be implemented for treatment concepts in primary prostate cancer. The trained model and the study's source code are available in an open source repository.
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Isótopos de Gálio , Radioisótopos de Gálio , Processamento de Imagem Assistida por Computador/métodos , Redes Neurais de Computação , Tomografia por Emissão de Pósitrons , Neoplasias da Próstata/diagnóstico por imagem , Estudos de Coortes , Humanos , Masculino , Neoplasias da Próstata/patologia , Carga TumoralRESUMO
INTRODUCTION: An accurate delineation of the intraprostatic gross tumor volume (GTV) is of importance for focal treatment in patients with primary prostate cancer (PCa). Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) is the standard of care for lesion detection but has been shown to underestimate GTV. This study investigated how far the GTV has to be expanded in MRI in order to reach concordance with the histopathological reference and whether this strategy is practicable in clinical routine. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-two patients with planned prostatectomy and preceded 3 Tesla mpMRI were prospectively examined. After surgery, PCa contours delineated on histopathological slides (GTV-Histo) were superimposed on MRI using ex-vivo imaging as support for co-registration. According to the PI-RADSv2 classification, GTV was manually delineated in MRI (GTV-MRI) by two experts in consensus. For volumetric analysis, we compared GTV-MRI and GTV-Histo. Subsequently, we isotropically enlarged GTV-MRI in 1 mm increments within the prostate and also compared those with GTV-Histo regarding the absolute volumes. For evaluating the spatial accuracy, we considered the coverage ratio of GTV-Histo, the Sørensen-Dice coefficient (DSC), as well as the contact with the urethra. RESULTS: In 19 of 22 patients MRI underestimated the intraprostatic tumor volume compared to histopathological reference: median GTV-Histo (4.7 cm3, IQR: 2.5-18.8) was significantly (p<0.001) lager than median GTV-MRI (2.6 cm3, IQR: 1.2-6.9). A median expansion of 1 mm (range: 0-4 mm) adjusted the initial GTV-MRI to at least the volume of GTV-Histo (GTVexp-MRI). Original GTV-MRI and expansion with 1, 2, 3, and 4 mm covered in median 39% (IQR: 2%-78%), 62% (10%-91%), 70% (15%-95%), 80% (21-100), 87% (25%-100%) of GTV-Histo, respectively. Best DSC (median: 0.54) between GTV-Histo and GTV-MRI was achieved by median expansion of 2 mm. The urethra was covered by initial GTVs-MRI in eight patients (36%). After applying an expansion with 2 mm the urethra was covered in one more patient by GTV-MRI. CONCLUSION: Using histopathology as reference, we demonstrated that MRI underestimates intraprostatic tumor volume. A 2 mm-expansion may improve accurate GTV-delineation while respecting the balance between histological tumor coverage and overtreatment.
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PURPOSE: Accurate contouring of intraprostatic gross tumor volume (GTV) is pivotal for successful delivery of focal therapies and for biopsy guidance in patients with primary prostate cancer (PCa). Contouring of GTVs, using 18-Fluor labeled tracer prostate specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography ([18F]PSMA-1007/PET) has not been examined yet. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ten Patients with primary PCa who underwent [18F]PSMA-1007 PET followed by radical prostatectomy were prospectively enrolled. Coregistered histopathological gross tumor volume (GTV-Histo) was used as standard of reference. PSMA-PET images were contoured on two ways: (1) manual contouring with PET scaling SUVmin-max: 0-10 was performed by three teams with different levels of experience. Team 1 repeated contouring at a different time point, resulting in n = 4 manual contours. (2) Semi-automatic contouring approaches using SUVmax thresholds of 20-50% were performed. Interobserver agreement was assessed for manual contouring by calculating the Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) and for all approaches sensitivity, specificity were calculated by dividing the prostate in each CT slice into four equal quadrants under consideration of histopathology as standard of reference. RESULTS: Manual contouring yielded an excellent interobserver agreement with a median DSC of 0.90 (range 0.87-0.94). Volumes derived from scaling SUVmin-max 0-10 showed no statistically significant difference from GTV-Histo and high sensitivities (median 87%, range 84-90%) and specificities (median 96%, range 96-100%). GTVs using semi-automatic segmentation applying a threshold of 20-40% of SUVmax showed no significant difference in absolute volumes to GTV-Histo, GTV-SUV50% was significantly smaller. Best performing semi-automatic contour (GTV-SUV20%) achieved high sensitivity (median 93%) and specificity (median 96%). There was no statistically significant difference to SUVmin-max 0-10. CONCLUSION: Manual contouring with PET scaling SUVmin-max 0-10 and semi-automatic contouring applying a threshold of 20% of SUVmax achieved high sensitivities and very high specificities and are recommended for [18F]PSMA-1007 PET based focal therapy approaches. Providing high specificities, semi-automatic approaches applying thresholds of 30-40% of SUVmax are recommend for biopsy guidance.
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The activity of nucleophilic organocatalysts for alcohol/phenol phosphorylation was enhanced through attaching oligoether appendages to a benzyl substituent on imidazole- or aminopyridine-based active units, presumably because of stabilizing n-cation interactions of the ethereal oxygens with the positively charged aza-heterocycle in the catalytic intermediates, and was substantially higher than that of known benchmark catalysts for a range of substrates. Density functional theory calculations and the study of analogues having a lower potential for such stabilizing interactions support our hypothesis.
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Aminopiridinas , Fenol , Catálise , Fenóis , FosforilaçãoRESUMO
One of the pathways of the unfolded protein response, initiated by PKR-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK), is key to neuronal homeostasis in neurodegenerative diseases. PERK pathway activation is usually accomplished by inhibiting eIF2α-P dephosphorylation, after its phosphorylation by PERK. Less tried is an approach involving direct PERK activation without compromising long-term recovery of eIF2α function by dephosphorylation. Here we show major improvement in cellular (STHdhQ111/111) and mouse (R6/2) Huntington's disease (HD) models using a potent small molecule PERK activator that we developed, MK-28. MK-28 showed PERK selectivity in vitro on a 391-kinase panel and rescued cells (but not PERK-/- cells) from ER stress-induced apoptosis. Cells were also rescued by the commercial PERK activator CCT020312 but MK-28 was significantly more potent. Computational docking suggested MK-28 interaction with the PERK activation loop. MK-28 exhibited remarkable pharmacokinetic properties and high BBB penetration in mice. Transient subcutaneous delivery of MK-28 significantly improved motor and executive functions and delayed death onset in R6/2 mice, showing no toxicity. Therefore, PERK activation can treat a most aggressive HD model, suggesting a possible approach for HD therapy and worth exploring for other neurodegenerative disorders.
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Ativadores de Enzimas/farmacologia , Doença de Huntington/enzimologia , eIF-2 Quinase/metabolismo , Animais , Apoptose/efeitos dos fármacos , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Estresse do Retículo Endoplasmático/efeitos dos fármacos , Ativadores de Enzimas/química , Fator de Iniciação 2 em Eucariotos/metabolismo , Proteína Huntingtina/metabolismo , Doença de Huntington/patologia , Doença de Huntington/fisiopatologia , Camundongos , Modelos Biológicos , Neostriado/patologia , Neurônios/efeitos dos fármacos , Neurônios/metabolismo , Neurônios/patologia , Fármacos Neuroprotetores/farmacologia , Fosforilação/efeitos dos fármacos , Transdução de Sinais/efeitos dos fármacos , Análise de SobrevidaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) are the most frequent hemato-oncological malignancies. Despite recent major advances in treatment, a substantial proportion of patients relapses highlighting the need for new therapeutic modalities. Promissory results obtained in pre-clinical studies are usually not translated when moving into clinical trials. Pre-clinical studies are mainly conducted in animals with high tumor burden; instead patients undergo chemotherapy as first line of treatment and most likely are under remission when immunotherapies are applied. Thus, an animal model that more closely resembles patients' conditions would be a valuable tool. METHODS: BALB/c mice were injected subcutaneously with A20 lymphoma cells and after tumor development different doses of chemotherapy were assessed to find optimal conditions for minimal residual disease (MRD) establishment. Tumor growth and survival, as well as drugs side effects, were all evaluated. Complete lymphoma remission was monitored in vivo using positron emission tomography (PET), and the results were correlated with histology. Immunological status was assessed by splenocytes proliferation assays in NHL-complete remission mice and by analyzing tumor cell infiltrates and chemokines/cytokines gene expression in the tumor microenvironment of animals with residual lymphoma. RESULTS: Two cycles of CHOP chemotherapy at days 25 and 35 post-tumor implantation induced complete remission for around 20 days. PET showed to be a suitable follow-up technique for MRD condition with 85.7 and 75% of sensibility and specificity respectively. Proliferative responses upon mitogen stimulation were similar in animals that received chemotherapy and wild type mice. Tumors from animals with residual lymphoma showed higher numbers of CD4+ and CD8+ and similar numbers of NK, neutrophils and Tregs infiltrating cells as compared with non-treated animals. Gene expression of several cytokines as well as an array of chemokines associated with migration of activated T cells to tumor sites was upregulated in the tumor microenvironment of animals that received chemotherapy treatment. CONCLUSIONS: We established a NHL-B pre-clinical model using standard chemotherapy to achieve MRD in immunocompetent animals. The MRD condition is maintained for approximately 20 days providing a therapeutic window of time where new immunotherapies can be tested in conditions closer to the clinics.
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Linfoma não Hodgkin/patologia , Animais , Antineoplásicos/efeitos adversos , Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Antineoplásicos/uso terapêutico , Protocolos de Quimioterapia Combinada Antineoplásica/efeitos adversos , Protocolos de Quimioterapia Combinada Antineoplásica/farmacologia , Protocolos de Quimioterapia Combinada Antineoplásica/uso terapêutico , Proliferação de Células , Quimiocinas/genética , Quimiocinas/metabolismo , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Feminino , Regulação Neoplásica da Expressão Gênica , Humanos , Linfoma não Hodgkin/tratamento farmacológico , Linfoma não Hodgkin/genética , Linfoma não Hodgkin/imunologia , Camundongos Endogâmicos BALB C , Neoplasia Residual/tratamento farmacológico , Neoplasia Residual/patologia , Tomografia por Emissão de Pósitrons combinada à Tomografia Computadorizada , Padrões de Referência , Indução de Remissão , Baço/patologia , Análise de Sobrevida , Resultado do TratamentoRESUMO
UNLABELLED: Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder related to hypo-functioning of glutamatergic neurotransmission. N-methyl-D-aspartate-receptor (NMDA-R) positive modulators were reported to reduce schizophrenia symptoms. However, their efficacy is low and inconsistent. We developed a novel antipsychotic possessing an olanzapine moiety linked to the positive modulator of glutamate NMDA-R sarcosine (PGW5) and characterized the pharmacodynamic properties of the novel molecule in-vivo using MK-801 and in-vitro using receptor binding analysis. We investigated the pharmacological activity of PGW5 (olanzapine linked to sarcosinyl moiety) in male mice (BALB/c or C57BL). In an open field test, up to 50mg/kg PGW5 did not affect motility while higher doses were sedative. PGW5 (25-50mg/kg po) antagonized MK-801 (0.15 mg/kg ip) and amphetamine-induced (5mg/kg ip) hyperactivity. PGW5 (25mg/kg po/d) treatment for 15 or 22 days exhibited antidepressant and anxiolytic activity in mice. Moreover, PGW5, but not olanzapine, attenuated phencyclidine (PCP)-induced deficits of social preference in mice and promoted the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus and the frontal cortex and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD67) in the hippocampus. Mice treated with PGW5 (25 and 50mg/kg/d) for 28 days did not show toxic effects in terms of weight gain and blood-chemistry analysis. CONCLUSIONS: PGW5 is a novel and safe antipsychotic, efficacious against schizophrenia-like positive and negative symptoms at nonsedative doses. The drug shows anxiolytic and antidepressant activity, and improves impaired social performance in phencyclidine (PCP) treated mice. The mechanism underlying its activity seems to involve potentiation of NMDA receptor as well as stimulation of brain BDNF and GAD67 expression.
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Alanina/análogos & derivados , Antipsicóticos/farmacologia , Benzodiazepinas/farmacologia , Esquizofrenia/tratamento farmacológico , Alanina/administração & dosagem , Alanina/efeitos adversos , Alanina/farmacologia , Anfetamina/farmacologia , Animais , Antipsicóticos/administração & dosagem , Antipsicóticos/efeitos adversos , Ansiedade/tratamento farmacológico , Benzodiazepinas/administração & dosagem , Benzodiazepinas/efeitos adversos , Encéfalo/efeitos dos fármacos , Encéfalo/metabolismo , Estimulantes do Sistema Nervoso Central/farmacologia , Depressão/tratamento farmacológico , Maleato de Dizocilpina/farmacologia , Relação Dose-Resposta a Droga , Avaliação Pré-Clínica de Medicamentos , Antagonistas de Aminoácidos Excitatórios/farmacologia , Comportamento Exploratório/efeitos dos fármacos , Masculino , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos BALB C , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BL , Atividade Motora/efeitos dos fármacos , Olanzapina , Fenciclidina/farmacologia , Agitação Psicomotora/tratamento farmacológico , Agitação Psicomotora/etiologia , Comportamento SocialRESUMO
PTS(Ntr) is a regulatory phosphotransferase system in many bacteria. Mutation of the PTS(Ntr) enzymes causes pleiotropic growth phenotypes, dry colony morphology and a posttranslational inactivation of ABC transporters in Rhizobium leguminosarum 3841. The PTS(Ntr) proteins EI(Ntr) and 2 copies of EIIA(Ntr) have been described previously. Here we identify the intermediate phosphocarrier protein NPr and show its phosphorylation by EI(Ntr) in vitro. Furthermore we demonstrate that phosphorylation of EI(Ntr) and NPr is required for ABC transport activation and that the N-terminal GAF domain of EI(Ntr) is not required for autophosphorylation. Previous studies have shown that non-phosphorylated EIIA(Ntr) is able to modulate the transcriptional activation of the high affinity potassium transporter KdpABC. In R. leguminosarum 3841 kdpABC expression strictly depends on EIIA(Ntr). Here we demonstrate that under strong potassium limitation ABC transport is inactivated, presumably by non-phosphorylated EIIA(Ntr). This is to our knowledge the first report where PTS(Ntr) dictates an essential cellular function. This is achieved by the inverse regulation of two important ATP dependent transporter classes.
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Transportadores de Cassetes de Ligação de ATP/metabolismo , Proteínas de Bactérias/metabolismo , Sistema Fosfotransferase de Açúcar do Fosfoenolpiruvato/metabolismo , Potássio/farmacologia , Rhizobium leguminosarum/efeitos dos fármacos , Rhizobium leguminosarum/metabolismo , Ácidos Aminoisobutíricos/metabolismo , Transporte Biológico , Histidina/metabolismo , Proteínas Mutantes/metabolismo , Fosfoenolpiruvato/metabolismo , Fosforilação/efeitos dos fármacos , Estrutura Terciária de Proteína , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/metabolismo , Rhizobium leguminosarum/crescimento & desenvolvimentoRESUMO
Amongst the many synthetic aminoglycoside analogues that were developed to regain the efficacy of this class of antibiotics against resistant bacterial strains, the 1-N-acylated analogues are the most clinically used. In this study we demonstrate that 6'-N-acylation of the clinically used compound tobramycin and 6'''-N-acylation of paromomycin result in derivatives resistant to deactivation by 6'-aminoglycoside acetyltransferase (AAC(6')) which is widely found in aminoglycoside resistant bacteria. When tested against AAC(6')- or AAC(3)-expressing bacteria as well as pathogenic bacterial strains, some of the analogues demonstrated improved antibacterial activity compared to their parent antibiotics. Improvement of the biological performance of the N-acylated analogues was found to be highly dependent on the specific aminoglycoside and acyl group. Our study indicates that as for 1-N-acylation, 6'- and 6'''-N-acylation of aminoglycosides offer an additional promising direction in the search for aminoglycosides capable of overcoming infections by resistant bacteria.
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Aminoglicosídeos/farmacologia , Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Bacillus subtilis/efeitos dos fármacos , Farmacorresistência Bacteriana/efeitos dos fármacos , Escherichia coli/efeitos dos fármacos , Staphylococcus aureus/efeitos dos fármacos , Acilação , Aminoglicosídeos/síntese química , Aminoglicosídeos/química , Antibacterianos/síntese química , Antibacterianos/química , Configuração de Carboidratos , Testes de Sensibilidade Microbiana , EstereoisomerismoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Bioluminescent imaging (BLI) is based on the detection of light emitted by living cells expressing a luciferase gene. Stable transfection of luciferase in cancer cells and their inoculation into permissive animals allows the noninvasive monitorization of tumor progression inside internal organs. We have applied this technology for the development of a murine model of colorectal cancer involving the liver, with the aim of improving the pre-clinical evaluation of new anticancer therapies. RESULTS: A murine colon cancer cell line stably transfected with the luciferase gene (MC38Luc1) retains tumorigenicity in immunocompetent C57BL/6 animals. Intrahepatic inoculation of MC38Luc1 causes progressive liver infiltration that can be monitored by BLI. Compared with ultrasonography (US), BLI is more sensitive, but accurate estimation of tumor mass is impaired in advanced stages. We applied BLI to evaluate the efficacy of an immunogene therapy approach based on the liver-specific expression of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-12 (IL-12). Individualized quantification of light emission was able to determine the extent and duration of antitumor responses and to predict long-term disease-free survival. CONCLUSION: We show that BLI is a rapid, convenient and safe technique for the individual monitorization of tumor progression in the liver. Evaluation of experimental treatments with complex mechanisms of action such as immunotherapy is possible using this technology.
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Neoplasias Colorretais/complicações , Neoplasias Colorretais/patologia , Diagnóstico por Imagem/métodos , Neoplasias Hepáticas/patologia , Neoplasias Hepáticas/secundário , Luminescência , Animais , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Neoplasias Colorretais/diagnóstico por imagem , Progressão da Doença , Feminino , Imuno-Histoquímica , Imunoterapia , Neoplasias Hepáticas/diagnóstico por imagem , Luciferases/genética , Luciferases/metabolismo , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BL , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase Via Transcriptase Reversa , UltrassonografiaRESUMO
A fast, cost-efficient, sensitive and accurate assay method for zearalenone in edible oils is described, as an alternative to gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Oil samples were extracted with an alkaline mixture of methanol and water (methanol +10 g/l aqueous ammonium carbaminate solution, pH 9; 9 + 1, v+v). The pH of the extract was neutralized with hydrochloric acid and then concentrated to dryness. The residue was dissolved with HPLC solvent, and zearalenone was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorometric detection (HPLC-FLD). The method was successfully validated for two matrices, maize oil and rapeseed oil. The recovery rate was 87%, and the coefficient of variation was 2.8% in a rapeseed oil sample contaminated with 27 µg zearalenone/kg. At a signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1, the method detection limit was 10 µg/kg, which was considered to be adequate in view of the present European Union maximum level of 400 µg/kg.
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Control of transgene expression from long-term expression vectors can be achieved with inducible and regulated promoters. The two most commonly used inducible systems employ doxycycline or mifepristone as the drug activating a silent trans-activator, which is expressed from a constitutive promoter. We evaluated the alterations provoked by constitutive expression in the liver of rtTA2(S)-M2 (rtTA2; second-generation reverse tetracycline-controlled trans-activator) and GLp65, which are the trans-activators of the doxycyline- and mifepristone-inducible systems, respectively. To this end we performed transcriptomic analysis of mice expressing these trans-activators in the liver over 1 month. rtTA2 expression induced alterations in a few genes (69 gene probesets; false discovery rate [FDR], approximately 0.05), whereas GLp65 caused more numerous changes (1059 gene probe-sets, an FDR of approximately 0.05). However, only 20 and 53 of the genes from the rtTA2 and GLp65 groups, respectively, showed changes (R-fold >or= 3). Functional assignments indicate that alterations were mild and of little general significance. Few additional transcriptomic changes were observed when expressing trans-activators in the presence of inducer drugs; most were due to the drugs themselves. These results and the absence of toxicity observed in treated animals indicate that the two inducible systems are well tolerated and have little impact on the liver transcriptome profile. The milder alterations found with the use of rtTA2 suggest that this system is possibly safer for gene therapy applications.
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Perfilação da Expressão Gênica , Antagonistas de Hormônios/farmacologia , Fígado/efeitos dos fármacos , Fígado/metabolismo , Mifepristona/farmacologia , Inibidores da Síntese de Proteínas/farmacologia , Tetraciclina/farmacologia , Animais , Biomarcadores/metabolismo , Feminino , Vetores Genéticos , Proteínas de Fluorescência Verde/genética , Proteínas de Fluorescência Verde/metabolismo , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos BALB C , Análise de Sequência com Séries de Oligonucleotídeos , Transativadores/fisiologia , Transgenes/fisiologiaRESUMO
A Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae VF39 gene (glnD) encoding the uridylyltransferase/uridylyl-removing enzyme, which constitutes the sensory component of the nitrogen regulation (ntr) system, was identified, cloned and characterized. The deduced amino acid sequence contains the conserved active site motif of the nucleotidyltransferase superfamily and is highly homologous to the glnD gene products of other bacterial species. Downstream of the VF39 glnD resides an open reading frame with similarity to the Salmonella typhimurium virulence factor gene mviN. Mutation of the glnD gene abolished the ability to use nitrate as a sole nitrogen source but not glutamine. In addition, neither uridylylation of P(II) nor induction of the ntr-regulated glnII gene (encoding glutamine synthetase II) under ammonium deficiency could be observed in mutant strains. This strongly suggests that glnD mutants harbour a permanently deuridylylated P(II) protein and as a consequence are unable to activate transcription from NtrC-dependent promoters. The glnD gene itself is expressed constitutively, irrespective of the nitrogen content of the medium. A functional GlnD protein is not essential for nitrogen fixation in R. leguminosarum bv. viciae, but in situ detection of glnD expression in the symbiotic and infection zone of the root nodule and quantitative measurements suggest that at least part of the ntr system functions in symbiosis. The results also indicate that the N-terminal part of GlnD is essential for the cell, as deletions in the 5'-region of the gene appear to be lethal and mutations possibly affecting the expression of the first half of the protein have a significant effect on the vitality of the mutant strain.
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Genes Bacterianos , Nucleotidiltransferases/genética , Rhizobium leguminosarum/enzimologia , Rhizobium leguminosarum/genética , Proteínas de Bactérias/metabolismo , Sequência de Bases , Mapeamento Cromossômico , Clonagem Molecular , Primers do DNA/genética , Fabaceae/metabolismo , Fabaceae/microbiologia , Expressão Gênica , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Mutação , Fixação de Nitrogênio , Nucleotidiltransferases/metabolismo , Proteínas PII Reguladoras de Nitrogênio , Fenótipo , Raízes de Plantas/metabolismo , Raízes de Plantas/microbiologia , Plantas Medicinais , Plasmídeos/genética , Rhizobium leguminosarum/metabolismo , SimbioseRESUMO
Os autores definen Psiconeuroimunoendocrinologia, fazem uma introduçäo sobre o funcionamento do sistema imune e uma ampla revisäo dos trabalhos referentes à relaçäo entre luto, estresse, depressäo e a resposta imune. Concluem que pacientes submetidos a estresse psicológico agudo (natural ou experimental) ou crônico (natural) apresentam um aumento de catecolaminas, ACTH e cortisol, uma diminuiçäo da resposta proliferativa dos linfócitos aos mitógenos PHA, ConA e PWK, e do número de células T auxiliares, T supressoras / citotóxicas e também do número e atividade dos linfócitos B e da atividade das NK, o que explicaria a associaçäo encontrada na prática clínica entre estresse e infecçäo, particularmente as viróticas. Na depressäo clínica ligada ou näo nos quadros que apresentam apenas alguns sintomas depressivos, há uma diminiçäo da resposta proliferativa aos mitógenos PHA, ConA e PWK, do número de linfócitos T auxiliares e do número e da atividade das célula NK, o que explicaria a menor resistência à infecçäo por parte de alguns deprimidos assim como a propensäo ao desenvolvimento, morbidade por câncer