Pin tract infection caused by Mycobacterium neoaurum in a 14-year-old child: A case report.

Although rapidly growing non-tuberculosis mycobacterium can occasionally cause postoperative infections, Mycobacterium neoaurum is a rare pathogen of surgical site infection. We report a case of pin tract infection caused by M. neoaurum in a 14-year-old girl who was admitted for lengthening of her right fourth metatarsal bone. Pain, redness, and exudate were observed 18 days after external fixator insertion. Repeated exudate cultures revealed M. neoaurum, and she was diagnosed with a mycobacterial pin tract infection. She was initially administered intravenous ciprofloxacin and minocycline, and then was switched to oral trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and minocycline for a total of 6 months. Despite the pin tract infection, bone lengthening was completed under antibiotic treatment without removal of the pin; no other complications were noted. There are no prior reports of external fixator pin tract infection by M. neoaurum. While such cases may be rare, this case demonstrates that bone distraction may still be successfully completed using appropriate antibiotic therapy without pin removal.

Hypoxia Up-regulates HIF Expression While Suppressing Cell Growth and NOTCH Activity in Leukaemia Cells.

AIM: To examine the influence of hypoxia on the in vitro growth of leukaemia cells and the activity of signalling proteins to better understand the pathophysiology of leukaemia cells in human bone marrow. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six human leukaemia cell lines were cultured under normoxic or hypoxic conditions. Cell growth, recovery of clonogenic cells, and the expression and activation of various signalling proteins were examined. RESULTS: Hypoxia suppressed cell growth and the recovery of clonogenic cells. Moreover, hypoxia up-regulated hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) 1α and HIF2α expression while suppressing the expression and activation of NOTCH1, mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase (mTOR) activation, and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) phosphorylation. CONCLUSION: We found that hypoxia up-regulated HIF expression while it suppressed the self-renewal capacity of leukaemia cells, NOTCH activity, and expression of its down-stream signalling molecules, which differs from previous reports mentioning that HIF activates NOTCH signalling. Our findings serve to further elucidate the in vivo pathophysiology of leukaemia cells.

FOXP3 knockdown inhibits the proliferation and reduces NOTCH1 expression of T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells.

OBJECTIVE: Forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) is a master transcriptional factor of regulatory T-cells (Tregs). Recent studies have shown that FOXP3 is associated with growth inhibition of cancer cells. However, the role of FOXP3 in acute T-lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cells is not known. It was also reported that NOTCH signaling promoted the expression of FOXP3 in Tregs. However, the effect of FOXP3 on NOTCH expression in T-ALL cells is little known. Therefore, we examined the effect of FOXP3 knockdown on the proliferation of T-ALL cells and NOTCH1 signaling. RESULTS: Two T-ALL cell lines Jurkat and KOPT-K1, harboring activating NOTCH1 mutations, were transfected with small interfering RNA against FOXP3. Cell growth was assessed with a colorimetric assay and morphology was observed under a microscope. FOXP3 knockdown significantly reduced cell growth and induced morphological changes suggesting apoptosis. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction revealed that FOXP3 knockdown caused the downregulation of mRNA expression of NOTCH1 and HES1. These findings suggest that FOXP3 supports the growth of T-ALL cells although this can not be generalized because we examined only two cell lines. The observed growth suppression can be partly due to the downregulation of NOTCH1 signaling. FOXP3 may be a potential therapeutic target in T-ALL.

NOTCH activation promotes glycosyltransferase expression in human myeloid leukemia cells.

NOTCH signaling diversely regulates the growth of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells. It is known that glycosylation of NOTCH receptors modulates NOTCH activation. However, little is known about glycosylation of NOTCH in AML cells. We examined the effects of ligand-induced NOTCH activation on the expression of NOTCHmodifying glycosyltransferases in two AML cell lines, THP-1 and TMD7. The cells were stimulated with recombinant NOTCH ligands JAGGED1 and DELTA1, and subjected to immunoblot analysis to evaluate the expression levels of glycosyltransferases. Ligand stimulation promoted the expression of POFUT1, LFNG, MFNG, RFNG, GXYLT1, GXYLT2, and XXYLT1 in THP-1 cells, and that of RFNG and GXYLT1 in TMD7 cells. We found that NOTCH activation promoted the expression of several glycosyltransferases in AML cells. This suggests that NOTCH activation modulates its sensitivity to NOTCH ligands by increased glycosylation of NOTCH receptors in AML cells. Further investigation is needed to elucidate its biological significance.

MYD88 Inhibitor ST2825 Suppresses the Growth of Lymphoma and Leukaemia Cells.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MYD88), which activates the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway, is important for the growth of lymphoma and leukaemia cells. In this study, we investigated the effects of ST2825, a synthetic peptidomimetic compound which inhibits MYD88 homodimerization, on their growth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seven lymphoma and leukaemia cell lines including TMD8, a B-cell lymphoma line with MYD88-activating mutation, were treated with ST2825 and analysed for cell proliferation and expression of NF-κB signalling-related molecules. RESULTS: ST2825 suppressed the growth of all cell lines by inducing apoptosis and down-regulating phosphorylation of NF-κB pathway components inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B kinase (IκB) and reticuloendotheliosis oncogene A (RelA), as well as of MYD88 activator Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK), suggesting that MYD88 may affect BTK activity. ST2825 effects were specific as MYD88-targeting siRNA also suppressed phosphorylation of NF-κB signalling proteins and BTK in TMD8 cells. CONCLUSION: ST2825 may be a novel drug targeting not only B-lymphoid malignancies with MYD88 mutations, but also lymphoma and leukaemia with wild-type MYD88.