Change in Radiation Sterilization Process from Gamma Ray to X-ray.

The terminal sterilization of sterile orthopedic implants is a key process that, in addition to providing sterility, changes the material properties of the product and packaging. These changes might be observed during functionality testing and/or biological evaluation. We are establishing an additional sterilization process that appears promising from both a technical and business perspective. Our project aims to add X-ray sterilization to the established gamma sterilization for metallic hip and shoulder implants. To limit complexity, we started with a narrow product range. The main steps of our project journey are described here. Given that X-ray sterilization remains relatively new in terms of understanding the changes that might occur for product materials and functionality compared with changes observed following gamma radiation processing, this article highlights key steps in the change from gamma ray to X-ray sterilization.

Hypoxia and HIF-1 activation in bacterial infections.

For most of the living beings, oxygen is one of the essential elements required to sustain life. Deprivation of oxygen causes tissue hypoxia and this severely affects host cell and organ functions. Tissue hypoxia is a prominent microenvironmental condition occurring in infections and there is a body of evidence that hypoxia and inflammation are interconnected with each other. The primary key factor mediating the mammalian hypoxic response is hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1, which regulates oxygen homeostasis on cellular, tissue and organism level. Recent studies show that HIF-1 plays a central role in angiogenesis, cancer and cardiovascular disease but also in bacterial infections. Activation of HIF-1 depends on the nature of the pathogen and the characteristics of infections in certain hosts. Up to date, it is not completely clear whether the phenomenon of HIF-1 activation in infections has a protective or detrimental effect on the host. In this review, we give an overview of whether and how hypoxia and HIF-1 affect the course of infections.

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1-regulated lysyl oxidase is involved in Staphylococcus aureus abscess formation.

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is the key transcription factor involved in the adaptation of mammals to hypoxia and plays a crucial role in cancer angiogenesis. Recent evidence suggests a leading role for HIF-1 in various inflammatory and infectious diseases. Here we describe the role of HIF-1 in Staphylococcus aureus infections by investigating the HIF-1-dependent host cell response. For this purpose, transcriptional profiling of HIF-1α-deficient HepG2 and control cells, both infected with Staphylococcus aureus, was performed. Four hours after infection, the expression of 190 genes, 24 of which were regulated via HIF-1, was influenced. LOX (encoding lysyl oxidase) was one of the upregulated genes with a potential impact on the course of S. aureus infection. LOX is an amine oxidase required for biosynthetic cross-linking of extracellular matrix components. LOX was upregulated in vitro in different cell cultures infected with S. aureus and also in vivo, in kidney abscesses of mice intravenously infected with S. aureus and in clinical skin samples from patients with S. aureus infections. Inhibition of LOX by ß-aminopropionitrile (BAPN) did not affect the bacterial load in kidneys or blood but significantly influenced abscess morphology and collagenization. Our data provide evidence for a crucial role of HIF-1-regulated LOX in abscess formation.

Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii and Bartonella henselae as potential causes of proliferative vascular diseases in animals.

Bartonella species are highly fastidious, vector borne, zoonotic bacteria that cause persistent intraerythrocytic bacteremia and endotheliotropic infection in reservoir and incidental hosts. Based upon prior in vitro research, three Bartonella sp., B. bacilliformis, B. henselae, and B. quintana can induce proliferation of endothelial cells, and each species has been associated with in vivo formation of vasoproliferative tumors in human patients. In this study, we report the molecular detection of B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii, B. henselae, B. koehlerae, or DNA of two of these Bartonella species simultaneously in vasoproliferative hemangiopericytomas from a dog, a horse, and a red wolf and in systemic reactive angioendotheliomatosis lesions from cats and a steer. In addition, we provide documentation that B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii infections induce activation of hypoxia inducible factor-1 and production of vascular endothelial growth factor, thereby providing mechanistic evidence as to how these bacteria could contribute to the development of vasoproliferative lesions. Based upon these results, we suggest that a fourth species, B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii, should be added to the list of bartonellae that can induce vasoproliferative lesions and that infection with one or more Bartonella sp. may contribute to the pathogenesis of systemic reactive angioendotheliomatosis and hemangiopericytomas in animals.

Activation of hypoxia inducible factor 1 is a general phenomenon in infections with human pathogens.

BACKGROUND: Hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1 is the key transcriptional factor involved in the adaptation process of cells and organisms to hypoxia. Recent findings suggest that HIF-1 plays also a crucial role in inflammatory and infectious diseases. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using patient skin biopsies, cell culture and murine infection models, HIF-1 activation was determined by immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting and reporter gene assays and was linked to cellular oxygen consumption. The course of a S. aureus peritonitis was determined upon pharmacological HIF-1 inhibition. Activation of HIF-1 was detectable (i) in all ex vivo in biopsies of patients suffering from skin infections, (ii) in vitro using cell culture infection models and (iii) in vivo using murine intravenous and peritoneal S. aureus infection models. HIF-1 activation by human pathogens was induced by oxygen-dependent mechanisms. Small colony variants (SCVs) of S. aureus known to cause chronic infections did not result in cellular hypoxia nor in HIF-1 activation. Pharmaceutical inhibition of HIF-1 activation resulted in increased survival rates of mice suffering from a S. aureus peritonitis. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Activation of HIF-1 is a general phenomenon in infections with human pathogenic bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa. HIF-1-regulated pathways might be an attractive target to modulate the course of life-threatening infections.

Oxygen and carbon source-regulated expression of PDC and ADH genes in the respiratory yeast Pichia anomala.

We amplified, sequenced and studied the transcriptional regulation of genes of the alcoholic fermentation pathway in the biocontrol and non-Saccharomyces wine yeast, Pichia anomala. Two ADH isogenes, PaADH1 and PaADH2, and one PDC gene, PaPDC1, were amplified from genomic P. anomala DNA by a two-step PCR approach, using degenerated primers against conserved regions of the respective genes for cloning core regions, and PCR-based gene walking for cloning the respective 5' and 3'-ends. According to sequence analysis, ADH1 and PDC1 are most likely cytoplasmatic proteins, while ADH2 is most probably localized in the mitochondria. PaADH1 was expressed during aerobic growth on glucose, ethanol and succinate, but was nine-fold upregulated in response to oxygen limitation when grown on glucose. The gene seems to be involved in both production and consumption of ethanol. Only low expression of PaADH2 was detected during growth on glucose and ethanol, but it was highly expressed during growth on the non-fermentable carbon source succinate and repressed by the addition of glucose. PaPDC1 was expressed during aerobic growth on glucose and was upregulated four-fold in response to oxygen limitation. PaPDC1 expression was lower in cells grown on ethanol and succinate than on glucose and was up- regulated two- and four-fold, respectively, after glucose addition. Our results demonstrate that transcription of genes of the fermentative pathway is regulated by hypoxia and carbon source but posttranscriptional regulation may play a major role in regulating the metabolic flux.