Differential roles of GABAergic and glycinergic input on FM selectivity in the inferior colliculus of the pallid bat.

Multiple mechanisms have been shown to shape frequency-modulated (FM) selectivity within the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (IC) in the pallid bat. In this study we focus on the mechanisms associated with sideband inhibition. The relative arrival time of inhibition compared with excitation can be used to predict FM responses as measured with a two-tone inhibition paradigm. An early-arriving low-frequency inhibition (LFI) prevents responses to upward sweeps and thus shapes direction selectivity. A late-arriving high-frequency inhibition (HFI) suppresses slow FM sweeps and thus shapes rate selectivity for downward sweeps. Iontophoretic application of gabazine (GBZ) to block GABA(A) receptors or strychnine (Strych) to block glycine receptors was used to assess the effects of removal of inhibition on each form of FM selectivity. GBZ and Strych had a similar effect on FM direction selectivity, reducing selectivity in up to 86% of neurons when both drugs were coapplied. FM rate selectivity was more resistant to drug application with less than 38% of neurons affected. In addition, only Strych could eliminate FM rate selectivity, whereas GBZ alone was ineffective. The loss of FM selectivity was directly correlated to a loss of the respective inhibitory sideband that shapes that form of selectivity. The elimination of LFI correlated to a loss of FM direction selectivity, whereas elimination of HFI correlated to a loss of FM rate selectivity. Results indicate that 1) although the majority of FM direction selectivity is created within the IC, the majority of rate selectivity is inherited from lower levels of the auditory system, 2) a loss of LFI corresponds to a loss of FM direction selectivity and is created through either GABAergic or glycinergic input, and 3) a loss of HFI corresponds to a loss of FM rate selectivity and is created mainly through glycinergic input.

Multiple mechanisms shape selectivity for FM sweep rate and direction in the pallid bat inferior colliculus and auditory cortex.

The inferior colliculus and auditory cortex of the pallid bat contain a large percentage of neurons that are highly selective for the direction and rate of the downward frequency modulated (FM) sweep of the bat's echolocation pulse. Approximately 25% of neurons tuned to the echolocation pulse respond exclusively to downward FM sweeps. This review focuses on the finding that this selectivity is generated by multiple mechanisms that may act alone or in concert. In the inferior colliculus, selectivity for sweep rate is shaped by at least three mechanisms: shortpass or bandpass tuning for signal duration, delayed high-frequency inhibition that prevents responses to slow sweep rates, and asymmetrical facilitation that occurs only when two tones are presented at appropriate delays. When acting alone, the three mechanisms can produce essentially identical rate selectivity. Direction selectivity can be produced by two mechanisms: an early low-frequency inhibition that prevents responses to upward sweeps, and the same asymmetrical two-tone inhibition that shapes rate tuning. All mechanisms except duration tuning are also present in the auditory cortex. Discussion centers on whether these mechanisms are redundant or complementary.

Facilitatory mechanisms shape selectivity for the rate and direction of FM sweeps in the inferior colliculus of the pallid bat.

The inferior colliculus (IC) of the pallid bat has a large percentage of neurons that respond selectively to the rate and direction of the bat's echolocation pulse, a downward FM sweep. Three underlying mechanisms have been previously described. Here we describe a fourth mechanism, facilitation, that shapes selectivity for both sweep rate and direction. The neurons studied are termed FM specialists, because they do not respond to tones. Most were selective for the downward sweep direction, and this preference was expressed even when presented with narrowband, 1 kHz sweeps that crossed only a fraction of their excitatory receptive fields. This selectivity was also expressed in response to two tones delayed in time, termed two-tone facilitation (TTF). Direction-selective neurons showed a greatly facilitated response when a higher-frequency tone preceded a lower-frequency tone, simulating conditions in a downward sweep. The degree of temporal asymmetry in facilitation accurately predicted direction selectivity. When the spectral difference between the two tones was increased, the best delay also increased and could be used to predict a neuron's preferred sweep rate. To determine whether TTF alone created rate and direction selectivity, low- and high-frequency inhibitory sidebands, which can also shape selectivity, were eliminated from sweeps. In most cases, selectivity persisted. These results support the idea of spectral delay lines that produce an overlap and summation of excitatory inputs only when a dynamic stimulus traverses a receptive field in one direction at a specific velocity.

Modeling cerebral ischemia in neuroproteomics.

Protein changes induced by traumatic or ischemic brain injury can serve as diagnostic markers as well as therapeutic targets for neuroprotection. The focus of this chapter is to provide a representative overview of preclinical brain injury and proteomics analysis protocols for evaluation and discovery of novel biomarkers. Detailed surgical procedures have been provided for inducing MCAo and implantation of chronic indwelling cannulas for drug delivery. Sample collection and tissue processing techniques for collection of blood, CSF, and brain are also described including standard biochemical methodology for the proteomic analysis of these tissues.The dynamics of proteomic analysis is a multistep process comprising sample preparation, separation, quantification, and identification of proteins. Our approach is to separate proteins first by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis according to charge and molecular mass. Proteins are then fragmented and analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Identification of proteins can be achieved by comparing the mass-to-charge data to protein sequences in respective databases.

Cortical Layer and Spectrotemporal Architecture of Epileptiform Activity in vivo in a Mouse Model of Focal Cortical Malformation.

Our objective is to examine the layer and spectrotemporal architecture and laminar distribution of high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) in a neonatal freeze lesion model of focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) associated with a high prevalence of spontaneous spike-wave discharges (SWDs). Electrophysiological recording of local field potentials (LFPs) in control and freeze lesion animals were obtained with linear micro-electrode arrays to detect presence of HFOs as compared to changes in spectral power, signal coherence, and single-unit distributions during "hyper-excitable" epochs of anesthesia-induced burst-suppression (B-S). Result were compared to HFOs observed during spontaneous SWDs in animals during sleep. Micro-electrode array recordings from the malformed cortex indicated significant increases in the presence of HFOs above 100 Hz and associated increases in spectral power and altered LFP coherence of recorded signals across cortical lamina of freeze-lesioned animals with spontaneous bursts of high-frequency activity, confined predominately to granular and supragranular layers. Spike sorting of well-isolated single-units recorded from freeze-lesioned cortex indicated an increase in putative excitatory cell activity in the outer cortical layers that showed only a weak association with HFOs while deeper inhibitory units were strongly phase-locked to high-frequency ripple (HFR) oscillations (300-800 Hz). Both SWDs and B-S show increases in HFR activity that were phase-locked to the high-frequency spike pattern occurring at the trough of low frequency oscillations. The spontaneous cyclic spiking of cortical inhibitory cells appears to be the driving substrate behind the HFO patterns associated with SWDs and a hyperexcitable supragranular layer near the malformed cortex may play a key role in epileptogenesis in our model. These data, derived from a mouse model with a distinct focal cortical malformation, support recent clinical data that HFOs, particularly fast ripples, is a biomarker to help define the cortical seizure zone, and provide limited insights toward understanding cellular level changes underlying the HFOs.

Public chemical compound databases.

The internet has rapidly become the first port of call for all information searches. The increasing array of chemistry-related resources that are now available provides chemists with a direct path to the information that was previously accessed via library services and was limited by commercial and costly resources. The diversity of the information that can be accessed online is expanding at a dramatic rate, and the support for publicly available resources offers significant opportunities in terms of the benefits to science and society. While the data online do not generally meet the quality standards of manually curated sources, there are efforts underway to gather scientists together and 'crowdsource' an improvement in the quality of the available data. This review discusses the types of public compound databases that are available online and provides a series of examples. Focus is also given to the benefits and disruptions associated with the increased availability of such data and the integration of technologies to data mine this information.

Topiramate reduces non-convulsive seizures after focal brain ischemia in the rat.

Acute "silent" seizures after brain injury are associated with a worsening of patient outcome and are often refractory to anti-epileptic drug (AED) therapy. In the present study we evaluated topiramate (TPM, 1-30 mg/kg, i.v.) in a rodent model of spontaneous non-convulsive seizure (NCS) activity induced by focal cerebral ischemia. For seizure detection, electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was continuously recorded for 24h in male Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo). Infarct volume, neurological deficit, and NCS were evaluated by an experimenter blinded to the treatment group. All vehicle treated rats (7/7) exhibited NCS following MCAo. TPM treatment, delivered at 20 min post-occlusion and prior to onset of NCS activity, dose-dependently reduced the incidence of NCS (ED(50)=21.1mg/kg). The highest dose of TPM tested (30 mg/kg) exhibited maximal reductions of 76% in the number of NCS/rat (vehicle=22.1+/-5.3, TPM=4.4+/-3.2, P<0.05), 80% in the total time of NCS (vehicle=1259+/-337 s, TPM=253+/-220 s, P<0.05), 20% in core brain infarction (vehicle=45+/-1%, TPM=36+/-4%, percent of ipsilateral volume corrected for swelling, P<0.05), and 38% in neurological deficit score (vehicle=7.4+/-1.2, TPM=4.6+/-1.5, P<0.05). Despite efficacy as a pre-seizure treatment, TPM was not effective when delivered immediately following onset of the first NCS event (36+/-5 min post-MCAo). In conclusion, TPM exhibited significant efficacy for the prophylactic treatment of brain-injury induced NCS and represents a novel class of AED for treatment of this type of silent brain seizure.

Detection of protein biomarkers using high-throughput immunoblotting following focal ischemic or penetrating ballistic-like brain injuries in rats.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: Recent efforts have been aimed at developing a panel of protein biomarkers for the diagnosis/prognosis of the neurological damage associated with acute brain injury. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: This study utilized high-throughput immunoblotting (HTPI) technology to compare changes between two animal models of acute brain injury: penetrating ballistic-like brain injury (PBBI) which mimics the injury created by a gunshot wound and transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) which is a model of stroke. Brain and blood were collected at 24-hours post-injury. MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: This study identified the changes in 18 proteins following PBBI and 17 proteins following MCAo out of a total of 998 screened proteins. Distinct differences were observed between the two models: five proteins were up- or down-regulated in both models, 23 proteins changed in only one model and one protein was differentially expressed. Western blots were used to verify HTPI results for selected proteins with measurable changes observed in both blood and brain for the proteins STAT3, Tau, PKA RII beta, 14-3-3 epsilon and p43/EMAPII. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest distinct post-injury protein profiles between brain injury types (traumatic vs. ischemic) that will facilitate strategies aimed at the differential diagnosis and prognosis of acute brain injury.

Acute and delayed neuroinflammatory response following experimental penetrating ballistic brain injury in the rat.

BACKGROUND: Neuroinflammation following acute brain trauma is considered to play a prominent role in both the pathological and reconstructive response of the brain to injury. Here we characterize and contrast both an acute and delayed phase of inflammation following experimental penetrating ballistic brain injury (PBBI) in rats out to 7 days post-injury. METHODS: Quantitative real time PCR (QRT-PCR) was used to evaluate changes in inflammatory gene expression from the brain tissue of rats exposed to a unilateral frontal PBBI. Brain histopathology was assessed using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), silver staining, and immunoreactivity for astrocytes (GFAP), microglia (OX-18) and the inflammatory proteins IL-1beta and ICAM-1. RESULTS: Time course analysis of gene expression levels using QRT-PCR indicated a peak increase during the acute phase of the injury between 3-6 h for the cytokines TNF-alpha (8-11 fold), IL-1beta (11-13 fold), and IL-6 (40-74 fold) as well as the cellular adhesion molecules VCAM (2-3 fold), ICAM-1 (7-15 fold), and E-selectin (11-13 fold). Consistent with the upregulation of pro-inflammatory genes, peripheral blood cell infiltration was a prominent post-injury event with peak levels of infiltrating neutrophils (24 h) and macrophages (72 h) observed throughout the core lesion. In regions of the forebrain immediately surrounding the lesion, strong immunoreactivity for activated astrocytes (GFAP) was observed as early as 6 h post-injury followed by prominent microglial reactivity (OX-18) at 72 h and resolution of both cell types in cortical brain regions by day 7. Delayed thalamic inflammation (remote from the primary lesion) was also observed as indicated by both microglial and astrocyte reactivity (72 h to 7 days) concomitant with the presence of fiber degeneration (silver staining). CONCLUSION: In summary, PBBI induces both an acute and delayed neuroinflammatory response occurring in distinct brain regions, which may provide useful diagnostic information for the treatment of this type of brain injury.

Broad spectrum neuroprotection profile of phosphodiesterase inhibitors as related to modulation of cell-cycle elements and caspase-3 activation.

Cellular injury can involve the aberrant stimulation of cell cycle proteins in part through activation of phosphodiesterases (PDEs) and downstream expression of cell-cycle components such as cyclin D1. In mature non-proliferating cells activation of the cell cycle can lead to the induction of programmed cell death. In the present study, we investigated the in vitro neuroprotective efficacy and mechanism of action of vinpocetine (PDE1 inhibitor), trequinsin (PDE3 inhibitor), and rolipram (PDE4 inhibitor) in four mechanistically-distinct models of injury to primary rat cortical neurons as related to cell cycle regulation and apoptosis. Cellular injury was induced by hypoxia/hypoglycemia, veratridine (10 microM), staurosporine (1 microM), or glutamate (100 microM), resulting in average neuronal cell death rates of 43-48% as determined by MTT assay. Treatment with each PDE inhibitor (PDEI) resulted in a similar concentration-dependent neuroprotection profile with maximal effective concentrations of 5-10 microM (55-77% neuroprotection) in all four neurotoxicity models. Direct cytotoxicity due to PDE inhibition alone was not observed at concentrations below 100 microM. Further studies indicated that PDEIs can suppress the excitotoxic upregulation of cyclin D1 similar to the effects of flavopiridol, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, including suppression of pro-apoptotic caspase-3 activity. Overall, these data indicate that PDEIs are broad-spectrum neuroprotective agents acting through modulation of cell cycle elements and may offer a novel mode of therapy against acute injury to the brain.

Penetrating ballistic-like brain injury in the rat: differential time courses of hemorrhage, cell death, inflammation, and remote degeneration.

Acute and delayed cerebral injury was assessed in a recently developed rat model of a penetrating ballistic-like brain injury (PBBI). A unilateral right frontal PBBI trajectory was used to induce survivable injuries to the frontal cortex and striatum. Three distinct phases of injury progression were observed. Phase I (primary injury, 0-6 h) began with immediate (<5 min) intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) that reached maximal volumetric size at 6 h (27.0 +/- 2.9 mm(3)). During Phase II (secondary injury, 6-72 h), a core lesion of degenerate neurons surrounding the injury track expanded into peri-lesional areas to reach a maximal volume of 69.9 +/- 6.1 mm(3) at 24 h. The core lesion consisted of predominately necrotic cell death and included marked infiltration of both neutrophils (24 h) and macrophages (72 h). Phase III (delayed degeneration, 3-7 days) involved the degeneration of neurons and fiber tracts remote from the core lesion including the thalamus, internal capsule, external capsule, and cerebral peduncle. Overall, different time courses of hemorrhage, lesion evolution, and inflammation were consistent with complementary roles in injury development and repair, providing key information about these mediators of primary, secondary, and delayed brain injury development. The similarities/differences of PBBI to other focal brain injury models are discussed.

Neuroprotection with the proteasome inhibitor MLN519 in focal ischemic brain injury: relation to nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB), inflammatory gene expression, and leukocyte infiltration.

The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) is a major cellular protein degradation pathway that involves the modulation of key proteins controlling inflammation, cell cycle regulation and gene expression. Modulation of the UPS with proteasome inhibitors has indicated efficacy in the treatment of several disease states including cancer and neuro-inflammatory disorders. In particular, a series of recent reports have evaluated the pre-clinical efficacy of the proteasome inhibitor MLN519 for the treatment of focal ischemic/reperfusion brain injury in rats. Evidence from these studies indicate that the neuroprotection provided by MLN519 is related to an anti-inflammatory effect linked to the modulation of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) activity, attenuation of cytokine (TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-6) and cellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1 and E-selectin) expression, and reduction of neutrophil and macrophage infiltration into the injured rat brain. It is the aim of this paper to review the experimental neuroprotection data reported using MLN519 with a focus on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of anti-inflammatory action.

Severity level and injury track determine outcome following a penetrating ballistic-like brain injury in the rat.

Penetrating ballistic brain injury (PBBI) is a high-energy transfer wound causing direct damage to the cerebrum. Outcome is directly related to the ballistic's anatomical path and degree of energy transfer. In this study we evaluated differences in outcome induced by altering the 'projectile' paths and severity levels of a simulated bullet wound using a newly characterized rat model of PBBI. Severity levels (5, 10, and 15%) were compared across three distinct injury paths: (1) unilateral 'frontal', (2) 'bilateral' hemispheric, and (3) unilateral 'caudal' (including cerebellum/midbrain). Outcome was assessed by differences in mortality rate and motor dysfunction (e.g. neurological and balance beam deficits). Results indicated that outcome was dependent not only on the severity level of PBBI (P<0.001, r=0.535) but also brain regions injured (P<0.001, r=0.398). A unilateral caudal injury was associated with the highest degree of mortality (up to 100%) and motor dysfunction (64-100% disability). Bilateral hemispheric injuries were also potentially fatal, while the best outcomes were associated with a unilateral frontal injury (no mortality and 14-39% motor disability). These data closely resemble clinical reports of ballistic wounds to the head and further validate the rat PBBI model with the ultimate intent to investigate novel therapeutic approaches for diagnosis and treatment of the neuropathological damage associated with PBBI.

Enhanced Burst-Suppression and Disruption of Local Field Potential Synchrony in a Mouse Model of Focal Cortical Dysplasia Exhibiting Spike-Wave Seizures.

Focal cortical dysplasias (FCDs) are a common cause of brain seizures and are often associated with intractable epilepsy. Here we evaluated aberrant brain neurophysiology in an in vivo mouse model of FCD induced by neonatal freeze lesions (FLs) to the right cortical hemisphere (near S1). Linear multi-electrode arrays were used to record extracellular potentials from cortical and subcortical brain regions near the FL in anesthetized mice (5-13 months old) followed by 24 h cortical electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. Results indicated that FL animals exhibit a high prevalence of spontaneous spike-wave discharges (SWDs), predominately during sleep (EEG), and an increase in the incidence of hyper-excitable burst/suppression activity under general anesthesia (extracellular recordings, 0.5%-3.0% isoflurane). Brief periods of burst activity in the local field potential (LFP) typically presented as an arrhythmic pattern of increased theta-alpha spectral peaks (4-12 Hz) on a background of low-amplitude delta activity (1-4 Hz), were associated with an increase in spontaneous spiking of cortical neurons, and were highly synchronized in control animals across recording sites in both cortical and subcortical layers (average cross-correlation values ranging from +0.73 to +1.0) with minimal phase shift between electrodes. However, in FL animals, cortical vs. subcortical burst activity was strongly out of phase with significantly lower cross-correlation values compared to controls (average values of -0.1 to +0.5, P < 0.05 between groups). In particular, a marked reduction in the level of synchronous burst activity was observed, the closer the recording electrodes were to the malformation (Pearson's Correlation = 0.525, P < 0.05). In a subset of FL animals (3/9), burst activity also included a spike or spike-wave pattern similar to the SWDs observed in unanesthetized animals. In summary, neonatal FLs increased the hyperexcitable pattern of burst activity induced by anesthesia and disrupted field potential synchrony between cortical and subcortical brain regions near the site of the cortical malformation. Monitoring the altered electrophysiology of burst activity under general anesthesia with multi-dimensional micro-electrode arrays may serve to define distinct neurophysiological biomarkers of epileptogenesis in human brain and improve techniques for surgical resection of epileptogenic malformed brain tissue.

Characterization of a new rat model of penetrating ballistic brain injury.

Penetrating brain injury (PBI) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in modern warfare and accounts for a significant number of traumatic brain injuries worldwide. Here we characterize the pathophysiology of a new rat model of PBI that simulates the large temporary cavity caused by energy dissipation from a penetrating bullet round. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (250-300 g) were subjected to a simulated ballistic wound to the right frontal hemisphere implemented by an inflatable penetrating probe. Three levels of injury severity were compared to control animals. Neurological and physiological outcome was assessed over a 3-day recovery period and brain tissue collected at 72 h for histopathological evaluation. Brain-injured regions included the ipsilateral frontal cortex and striatum with volumetric increases in intracranial hemorrhage (5-18 mm3) and lesion size (9-86 mm3) related to severity. Similarly, hemispheric swelling increased (3-14%) following PBI, associated with a significant rise in intracranial pressure. Astrogliosis was present in regions adjacent to the core-injury along with microglial and leukocyte infiltration. Injury remote to the lesion was observed in the cerebral peduncle that may have accounted, in part, for observed neurological deficits. Neurological and balance beam testing revealed sensorimotor deficits that persisted through 72 h. Severe electroencephalographic disturbances included the occurrence of cortical spreading depression, slow-waves, and brain seizure activity. In conclusion, this rat PBI model replicates diverse, salient features of clinical PBI pathology, generates reproducible and quantifiable measures of outcome, and is scalable by injury severity, rendering it an attractive vehicle for experimental brain trauma research.

Effects of delayed intrathecal infusion of an NMDA receptor antagonist on ischemic injury and peri-infarct depolarizations.

The potent NMDA receptor antagonist, Conantokin-G (CGX-1007), a snail peptide, has an 8-h therapeutic window in rat focal cerebral ischemia. We hypothesized that the mechanism of neuroprotection is the inhibition of 'secondary phase' peri-infarct depolarizations (PIDs), recently shown to recur 6--24 h post-reperfusion. Rats were implanted with intrathecal (i.t.) catheters for drug delivery and DC-compatible electrodes for continuous PID monitoring and subjected to transient (2 h) middle cerebral artery occlusion. Four groups were studied. In two groups (C(40)C and C(20)C), continuous infusion of CGX--1007 was administered over 8--24 h post-occlusion at 0.1 microg/h (0.04 nmol/h) following either a 40- or 20-nmol bolus dose at 8 h. Another group (C(40)S) received the 40-nmol bolus followed by saline infusion, and a control group received saline. Intrathecal drug treatment reduced infarct volumes relative to controls by 61%, 31%, and 10% in C(40)C, C(40)S, and C(20)C groups, respectively, but also induced dose-dependent paralysis and elevated mortality. All rats had PID rates similar to the control group prior to treatment, but following treatment secondary phase PIDs were reduced by 47--57% in each drug group compared to controls. Because several animals exhibited PID inhibition but no neuroprotection, there was no significant correlation between these endpoints across groups. However, drug-treated animals that did not exhibit secondary phase PIDs prior to treatment had significantly smaller infarcts and reduced subsequent PID activity than corresponding control rats. Results suggest that post-reperfusion PIDs play a substantial, though still undefined pathogenic role in delayed maturation of cerebral infarction and NMDA receptor-targeted neuroprotection.

Recovery from ischemic brain injury in the rat following a 10 h delayed injection with MLN519.

In the present study, we evaluated delayed treatment effects of the proteasome inhibitor and anti-inflammatory agent MLN519 (initiated 10 h post-injury) to improve recovery following ischemic brain injury in rodents. Male rats were exposed to 2 h of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) and treated with MLN519 (1.0 mg/kg, i.v. @ 10, 24, and 48 h post-occlusion) or vehicle. By 2 weeks post-injury, 60% (6/10) of vehicle animals survived, which was improved (although non-significantly) to 78% (7/9) following MLN519 treatment. The percent loss of tissue in the ipsilateral brain hemisphere (at 2 weeks) was significantly reduced from 27+/-4% (vehicle) to 15+/-4% (MLN519). MLN519 treated animals also lost significantly less body weight (39%) and showed significant improvement in overall neurological function across the 2-week recovery period. However, no significant treatment effects were observed to reduce foot-fault deficits (balance beam) or improve recovery of operant performance (active avoidance test). Overall, delayed treatment with MLN519 provided significant improvement in 3 of 6 test metrics (histopathology, body weight, and neurological dysfunction) supporting improved outcome for brain-injured subjects.

Identification of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in Circulating Blood from Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Metastasis is facilitated by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) in the tumor microenvironment through mechanisms yet to be elucidated. In this study, we used a size-based microfilter technology developed by our group to examine whether circulating CAF identified by FAP and α-SMA co-expression (cCAF) could be distinguished in the peripheral blood of patients with metastatic breast cancer. In a pilot study of patients with breast cancer, we detected the presence of cCAFs in 30/34 (88%) patients with metastatic disease (MET group) and in 3/13 (23%) patients with localized breast cancer (LOC group) with long-term disease-free survival. No cCAFs as defined were detected in healthy donors. Further, both cCAF and circulating tumor cells (CTC) were significantly greater in the MET group compared with the LOC group. Thus, the presence of cCAF was associated with clinical metastasis, suggesting that cCAF may complement CTC as a clinically relevant biomarker in metastatic breast cancer.

Delayed treatment of ischemia/reperfusion brain injury: extended therapeutic window with the proteosome inhibitor MLN519.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Clinical development of novel neuroprotection therapies for the treatment of brain injury has been unsuccessful. One critical limitation is the lack of a viable therapeutic treatment window (TW). In this study, we evaluated the neuroprotection TW for the proteosome inhibitor MLN519 after ischemia/reperfusion brain injury in rats as related to its antiinflammatory mechanism. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 2 hours of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo), followed by 70 hours of reperfusion and recovery. MLN519 was administered after injury (starting 6 to 12 hours after MCAo) to evaluate the full TW. Brain infarction, neuronal degeneration, neurological recovery, leukocyte infiltration, and inflammatory gene mRNA levels were assessed. RESULTS: Core infarct volume in vehicle-treated rats (216+/-25 mm3) was reduced with delayed MLN519 treatments of 6, 8, or 10 hours after injury (45+/-13, 86+/-28, and 150+/-27 mm3, respectively, P<0.05) and was associated with reductions in neuronal and axonal degeneration. MLN519-treated rats had reduced brain mRNA levels of TNF-alpha (46%, P<0.05), ICAM-1 (58%, P<0.05), IL-6 (58%, P<0.05), and E-selectin (72%, P<0.05) at 24 hours after injury. Furthermore, MLN519 treatment reduced leukocyte infiltration by 32% to 80% (P<0.05) in ischemic brain regions. CONCLUSIONS: Neuroprotection treatment with MLN519 provides an extended TW of up to 10 hours after ischemia/reperfusion brain injury, in part by attenuating the inflammatory response. As such, the delayed onset of brain inflammation after an ischemic injury offers a prime target for extending the neuroprotective TW with compounds such as MLN519, used either alone or possibly as an adjunctive therapy with thrombolytic agents.

Quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis of inflammatory gene expression associated with ischemia-reperfusion brain injury.

Ischemia-reperfusion brain injury initiates an inflammatory response involving the expression of adhesion molecules and cytokines, some of which are regulated by the nuclear transcription factor NF-kappaB. In this study the authors examined mRNA expression levels for several important genes associated with inflammation at five time points (3, 6, 12, 24, and 72 hours) after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in Sprague-Dawley rats. A sensitive and quantitative technique (TaqMan real-time QRT-PCR) was used to simultaneously measure mRNA levels for key cell adhesion molecules and inflammatory cytokines. Gene expression increased significantly in the injured hemisphere for interleukin (IL)-1beta (12-fold increase at 24 hours), IL-6 (25-fold increase at 6 hours) and ICAM-1 (4-fold increase at 24 hours), and the interhemispheric differences for these genes were significant for every time point examined (P < 0.05 for all values). Tumor necrosis factor-alpha mRNA was upregulated in the injured versus uninjured hemisphere from 3 to 24 hours (5-fold increase at 6 hours), while E-selectin showed a significant increase in mRNA levels from 6 to 24 hours after MCAO (10-fold increase at 6 hours) (P < 0.05 for all values). VCAM-1 mRNA levels did not respond differentially to injury at any time point between the two brain hemispheres. At all time points examined, activated NF-kappaB immunoreactivity was observed in cells throughout the infarct-damaged tissue. These results are consistent with the proinflammatory properties of the induced molecules, which are involved in the initiation of the inflammatory cascade, and may thus contribute to secondary cellular responses that lead to further brain damage.