Therapy of solid tumors using probiotic Symbioflor-2: restraints and potential.

To date, virulent bacteria remain the basis of most bacteria mediated cancer therapies. For clinical application attenuation is required. However, this might result in a drastically lowered therapeutic capacity. Herein we argue that the E. coli probiotic Symbioflor-2, with a history of safe application may constitute a viable tumor therapeutic candidate. We demonstrate that Symbioflor-2 displays a highly specific tumor targeting ability as determined in murine CT26 and RenCa tumor models. The excellent specificity was ascribed to reduced levels of adverse colonization. A high safety standard was demonstrated in WT and Rag1-/- mice. Thus, Symbioflor-2 may represent an ideal tumor targeting delivery system for therapeutic molecules. Moreover, Symbioflor-2 was capable of inducing CT26 tumor clearance as result of an adjuvant effect on tumor specific CD8+ T cells analogous to the Salmonella variant SL7207. However, lower therapeutic efficacy against RenCa tumors suggested a generally reduced therapeutic potency for probiotics. Interestingly, concurrent depletion of Gr-1+ or Ly6G+ cells installed therapeutic efficacy equal to SL7207, thus highlighting the role of innate effector cells in restraining the anti-tumor effects of Symbioflor-2. Collectively, our findings argue for a strategy of safe strain application and a more sustainable use of bacteria as a delivery system for therapeutic molecules.

Analysis of contingency tables based on generalised median polish with power transformations and non-additive models.

Contingency tables are a very common basis for the investigation of effects of different treatments or influences on a disease or the health state of patients. Many journals put a strong emphasis on p-values to support the validity of results. Therefore, even small contingency tables are analysed by techniques like t-test or ANOVA. Both these concepts are based on normality assumptions for the underlying data. For larger data sets, this assumption is not so critical, since the underlying statistics are based on sums of (independent) random variables which can be assumed to follow approximately a normal distribution, at least for a larger number of summands. But for smaller data sets, the normality assumption can often not be justified. Robust methods like the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney-U test or the Kruskal-Wallis test do not lead to statistically significant p-values for small samples. Median polish is a robust alternative to analyse contingency tables providing much more insight than just a p-value. Median polish is a technique that provides more information than just a p-value. It explains the contingency table in terms of an overall effect, row and columns effects and residuals. The underlying model for median polish is an additive model which is sometimes too restrictive. In this paper, we propose two related approach to generalise median polish. A power transformation can be applied to the values in the table, so that better results for median polish can be achieved. We propose a graphical method how to find a suitable power transformation. If the original data should be preserved, one can apply other transformations - based on so-called additive generators - that have an inverse transformation. In this way, median polish can be applied to the original data, but based on a non-additive model. The non-linearity of such a model can also be visualised to better understand the joint effects of rows and columns in a contingency table.

Antibiotic control of tumor-colonizing Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium.

Systemic administration of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. typhimurium) into tumor-bearing mice results in preferential colonization of tumors and causes shrinkage and sometimes complete tumor clearance. However, in spite of these beneficial antitumor effects, the systemic administration of a bacterial pathogen raises serious safety concerns as well. Addressing those concerns, here, we demonstrate that tumor-colonizing Salmonella can be readily controlled by systemic administration of the antibiotic - ciprofloxacin. Treatment was most effective when started early postinfection. This was achieved at the expense of the efficacy of tumor therapy. In many of the mice treated in such a way, tumors re-grew again. Nevertheless, some mice were able to clear the tumor despite the start of antibiotic treatment only 24 h after the start of infection. Furthermore, we could demonstrate that such mice had elicited a specific antitumor immune response. Thus, S. typhimurium-mediated tumor therapy might be applied safely when combined with early antibiotic treatment. However, the therapeutic power of the bacteria needs to be enhanced in order to provide a more effective therapeutic tool.

Biofilm formation by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium colonizing solid tumours.

Systemic administration of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium to tumour bearing mice results in preferential colonization of the tumours and retardation of tumour growth. Although the bacteria are able to invade the tumour cells in vitro, in tumours they were never detected intracellularly. Ultrastructural analysis of Salmonella-colonized tumours revealed that the bacteria had formed biofilms. Interestingly, depletion of neutrophilic granulocytes drastically reduced biofilm formation. Obviously, bacteria form biofilms in response to the immune reactions of the host. Importantly, we tested Salmonella mutants that were no longer able to form biofilms by deleting central regulators of biofilm formation. Such bacteria could be observed intracellularly in immune cells of the host or in tumour cells. Thus, tumour colonizing S. typhimurium might form biofilms as protection against phagocytosis. Since other bacteria are behaving similarly, solid murine tumours might represent a unique model to study biofilm formation in vivo.

Influence of infection route and virulence factors on colonization of solid tumors by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium.

Administration of facultative anaerobic bacteria such as Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium as anticancer treatment holds a great therapeutic potential. Here, we tested different routes of application of S. typhimurium with regard to tumor colonization and therapeutic efficacy. No differences between intravenous and intraperitoneal infection were observed, often leading to a complete tumor clearance. In contrast, after oral application, tumor colonization was inefficient and delayed. No therapeutic effect was observed under such conditions. We also showed that tumor invasion and colonization were independent of functional Salmonella pathogenicity island (SPI) 1 and SPI 2. Furthermore, tumor invasion and colonization did not require bacterial motility or chemotactic responsiveness. The distribution of the bacteria within the tumor was independent of such functions.