Thalamus Optimized Multi Atlas Segmentation (THOMAS): fast, fully automated segmentation of thalamic nuclei from structural MRI.

The thalamus and its nuclei are largely indistinguishable on standard T1 or T2 weighted MRI. While diffusion tensor imaging based methods have been proposed to segment the thalamic nuclei based on the angular orientation of the principal diffusion tensor, these are based on echo planar imaging which is inherently limited in spatial resolution and suffers from distortion. We present a multi-atlas segmentation technique based on white-matter-nulled MP-RAGE imaging that segments the thalamus into 12 nuclei with computation times on the order of 10 min on a desktop PC; we call this method THOMAS (THalamus Optimized Multi Atlas Segmentation). THOMAS was rigorously evaluated on 7T MRI data acquired from healthy volunteers and patients with multiple sclerosis by comparing against manual segmentations delineated by a neuroradiologist, guided by the Morel atlas. Segmentation accuracy was very high, with uniformly high Dice indices: at least 0.85 for large nuclei like the pulvinar and mediodorsal nuclei and at least 0.7 even for small structures such as the habenular, centromedian, and lateral and medial geniculate nuclei. Volume similarity indices ranged from 0.82 for the smaller nuclei to 0.97 for the larger nuclei. Volumetry revealed that the volumes of the right anteroventral, right ventral posterior lateral, and both right and left pulvinar nuclei were significantly lower in MS patients compared to controls, after adjusting for age, sex and intracranial volume. Lastly, we evaluated the potential of this method for targeting the Vim nucleus for deep brain surgery and focused ultrasound thalamotomy by overlaying the Vim nucleus segmented from pre-operative data on post-operative data. The locations of the ablated region and active DBS contact corresponded well with the segmented Vim nucleus. Our fast, direct structural MRI based segmentation method opens the door for MRI guided intra-operative procedures like thalamotomy and asleep DBS electrode placement as well as for accurate quantification of thalamic nuclear volumes to follow progression of neurological disorders.

Phenotypic and functional characterization of long-term cultured rhesus macaque spleen-derived NKT cells.

Natural killer T cells are immunoregulatory cells, which have important roles in tolerance and autoimmunity, as demonstrated primarily in mice and humans. In this study, we define the phenotype and function of Valpha24(+) T cells derived from the spleens of rhesus macaques, a species increasingly used in models of immune tolerance. Valpha24(+) cells were isolated and expanded with monocyte-derived immature dendritic cells in the presence of alpha-galactosylceramide, IL-2, and IL-15. Rhesus NKT cells were stained with mAbs against both Valpha24 and the invariant complementarity-determining region 3 epitope of the human Valpha24/JalphaQ TCR. The cells were CD4, CD8 double negative and expressed CD56. Rhesus NKT cells also exhibited moderate to high expression of CD95, CD45RO, CD11a, and beta(7) integrin, but did not express CD45 RA, CD62L, CCR7, CD28, and other activation, costimulatory molecules (CD69 and CD40L). By intracellular staining, >90% of unstimulated rhesus NKT cells expressed IL-10, but not IFN-gamma. However, the latter was strongly expressed after stimulation. Rhesus NKT secreted large amounts of TGF-beta, IL-13, and IL-6, and modest levels of IFN-gamma, whereas IL-10 secretion was negligible and no detectable IL-4 was observed either intracellularly or in culture supernatants. Functionally, the NKT cells and their supernatants suppressed T cell proliferation in allogeneic MLR. We conclude that long-term cultured rhesus macaque spleen-derived Valpha24(+) T cells are semi-invariant double-negative cells with effector memory phenotype. These cells are semianergic, polarized to a uniquely Th3 > T regulatory-1 regulatory cell phenotype, and have regulatory/suppressive function in vitro.

The immune decision toward allograft tolerance in non-human primates requires early inhibition of innate immunity and induction of immune regulation.

Brief treatment of rhesus macaques with immunotoxin plus 15-deoxyspergualin has yielded exceptional numbers (54%) of stable tolerant kidney allograft recipients, surviving over 6 years without rejection or immunosuppression. An early increase in IL-10 and reduction in IFNgamma distinguished recipients that subsequently became tolerant. Furthermore, analysis suggested that this immune switch was programmed within hours of transplantation. Administering deoxyspergualin within 5 h of surgery gave a higher incidence of tolerance (76%) compared to administration >5 h before or after surgery (11%, P<0.01). Deoxyspergualin inhibits nuclear translocation of activated NF-kappaB through heat shock proteins. Lymph node biopsies from tolerant recipients showed significant reductions in cytoplasmic expression of Hsp70 and RelB and almost complete inhibition of nuclear translocation of both. The early timing effect of deoxyspergualin suggests a crucial limitation to induction of stable tolerance is activation of Hsp-dependent innate responses to damage by ischemia-reperfusion. This was supported by studies in murine kidney reperfusion injury, where deoxyspergualin given 5 h before reperfusion protected renal function and reduced levels of IL-6 and IL-12. The narrow timing window for initiating deoxyspergualin treatment suggests the innate immune system is poised to defeat allograft tolerance induction, so effective blockade of NF-kappaB-mediated innate immunity must be in place early, to enable development of a tolerogenic environment.

Stable alpha- and beta-islet cell function after tolerance induction to pancreatic islet allografts in diabetic primates.

Pancreatic islet transplantation (PIT) is an attractive alternative for type 1 diabetic patients. PIT is not yet an effective clinical reality due in part to early loss of functional islet mass. In addition, current immunosuppressive drugs have toxic effects on islets and increase the risk of morbidity and mortality. Precise and durable alpha- and beta-cell function is essential for the success of PIT. Therefore, it is important to establish whether PIT can produce adequate long-term metabolic control, especially in the absence of chronic immunosuppressive therapy (CIT). In the present study, the stability of functional alpha- and beta-cell mass and metabolic function was assessed in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic primates following PIT in the absence of CIT. Diabetes was induced in rhesus macaques with STZ, 140 mg/kg. Hyperglycemia was reversed rapidly by PIT coupled with a 14-day tolerance induction protocol based on F(Ab)2-IT and DSG (n = 7). Two diabetic animals received the tolerance induction protocol without PIT. Acute rejection was presented in three animals at 70, 353 and 353 days post transplant in the tolerance induction protocol, whereas the controls [F(Ab)2-IT or DSG alone] showed early 10-day function but all lost islet function by days 15-70. One recipient [F(Ab)2-IT or DSG] died euglycemic after a surgical procedure on day 187. At 2 years, three animals studied had a normal FIM evaluated by oral glucose tolerance test, mixed meal test, acute insulin response to glucose, glucose disposal rate, and hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemic clamp. PIT in STZ-induced diabetic primates resulted in restoration of normal alpha- and beta-cell function. Operational tolerance induction was achieved with only peritransplant administration of F(Ab)2-IT and DSG sparing the animals from chronic exposure of diabetogenic immunosuppressive drugs. These results offer an exciting new potential for treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Cytoprotection of pancreatic islets before and early after transplantation using gene therapy.

Pancreatic islet transplantation (PIT) is an attractive alternative to insulin-dependent diabetes treatment but is not yet a clinical reality. The first few days after PIT are characterized by substantial pancreatic islet dysfunction and death. Apoptosis has been documented in PI after extracellular matrix removal, during culture time, after exposure to proinflammatory cytokines, hypoxic conditions before islet revascularization, and rejection. Targeting the apoptosis pathway by adenoviral-mediated gene transfer of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 gene exerts a major cytoprotective effect on isolated macaque pancreatic islets. Bcl-2 transfection ex vivo protects islets from apoptosis induced by disruption of the islet extracellular matrix during pancreatic digestion. Additionally, over-expression of Bcl-2 confers long-term, stable protection and maintenance of functional islet mass after transplantation into diabetic SCID mice. Genetic modification of PI also reduced the islet mass required to achieve stable euglycemia. Ex vivo gene transfer of anti-apoptotic genes has potential as a therapeutic approach to both minimize loss of functional islet mass post-transplant and reduce the high islet requirement currently needed for successful stable reversal of insulin-dependent diabetes [1, 2].