T-cell TGF-ß signaling abrogation restricts medulloblastoma progression.

Cancer cell secretion of TGF-ß is a potent mechanism for immune evasion. However, little is known about how central nervous system tumors guard against immune eradication. We sought to determine the impact of T-cell TGF-ß signaling blockade on progression of medulloblastoma (MB), the most common pediatric brain tumor. Genetic abrogation of T-cell TGF-ß signaling mitigated tumor progression in the smoothened A1 (SmoA1) transgenic MB mouse. T regulatory cells were nearly abolished and antitumor immunity was mediated by CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocytes. To define the CD8 T-cell subpopulation responsible, primed CD8 T cells were adoptively transferred into tumor-bearing immunocompromised SmoA1 recipients. This led to generation of CD8(+)/killer cell lectin-like receptor G1 high (KLRG1(hi))/IL-7R(lo) short-lived effector cells that expressed granzyme B at the tumor. These results identify a cellular immune mechanism whereby TGF-ß signaling blockade licenses the T-cell repertoire to kill pediatric brain tumor cells.

Study on the standard components of digital forensics laboratory.

Recently, digital forensics has become increasingly important as it is used by investigation agencies, corporate, and private sector. To supplement the limitations of evidence capacity and be recognized in court, it is essential to establish an environment that ensures the integrity of the entire process ranging from collecting and analyzing to submitting digital evidence to court. In this study, common elements were extracted by comparing and analyzing ISO/IEC 17025, 27001 standards and Interpol and Council of Europe (CoE) guidelines to derive the necessary components for building a digital forensic laboratory. Subsequently, based on 21 digital forensic experts in the field, Delphi survey and verifications were conducted in three rounds. As a result, 40 components from seven areas were derived. The research results are based on the establishment, operation, management, and authentication of a digital forensics laboratory suitable for the domestic environment, with added credibility through collection of the opinions of 21 experts in the field of digital forensics in Korea. This study can be referred to in establishing digital forensic laboratories in national, public, and private digital forensic organizations as well as for employing as competency measurement criteria in courts to evaluate the reliability of the analysis results.

Inducible Expression of GDNF in Transplanted iPSC-Derived Neural Progenitor Cells.

Trophic factor delivery to the brain using stem cell-derived neural progenitors is a powerful way to bypass the blood-brain barrier. Protection of diseased neurons using this technology is a promising therapy for neurodegenerative diseases. Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) has provided benefits to Parkinsonian patients and is being used in a clinical trial for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. However, chronic trophic factor delivery prohibits dose adjustment or cessation if side effects develop. To address this, we engineered a doxycycline-regulated vector, allowing inducible and reversible expression of a therapeutic molecule. Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural progenitors were stably transfected with the vector and transplanted into the adult mouse brain. Doxycycline can penetrate the graft, with addition and withdrawal providing inducible and reversible GDNF expression in vivo, over multiple cycles. Our findings provide proof of concept for combining gene and stem cell therapy for effective modulation of ectopic protein expression in transplanted cells.

SPR microscopy and its applications to high-throughput analyses of biomolecular binding events and their kinetics.

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing has long been used to study biomolecular binding events and their kinetics in a label-free way. This approach has recently been extended to SPR microscopy, which is an ideal tool for probing large microarrays of biomolecules for their binding interactions with various partners and the kinetics of such binding. Commercial SPR microscopes now make it possible to simultaneously monitor binding kinetics on >1300 spots within a protein microarray with a detection limit of approximately 0.3 ng/cm(2), or <50 fg per spot (<1 million protein molecules) with a time resolution of 1s, and spot-to-spot reproducibility within a few percent. Such instruments should be capable of high-throughput kinetic studies of the binding of small ( approximately 200 Da) ligands onto large protein microarrays. The method is label free and uses orders of magnitude less of the precious biomolecules than standard SPR sensing. It also gives the absolute bound amount and binding stoichiometry.

Looking towards label-free biomolecular interaction analysis in a high-throughput format: a review of new surface plasmon resonance technologies.

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors have enabled a wide range of applications in which researchers can monitor biomolecular interactions in real time. Owing to the fact that SPR can provide affinity and kinetic data, unique features in applications ranging from protein-peptide interaction analysis to cellular ligation experiments have been demonstrated. Although SPR has historically been limited by its throughput, new methods are emerging that allow for the simultaneous analysis of many thousands of interactions. When coupled with new protein array technologies, high-throughput SPR methods give users new and improved methods to analyze pathways, screen drug candidates and monitor protein-protein interactions.

Investigations of polyelectrolyte adsorption at the solid/liquid interface by sum frequency spectroscopy: evidence for long-range macromolecular alignment at highly charged quartz/water interfaces.

IR-visible sum frequency spectroscopy (SFS) was employed to investigate the molecular level details of the adsorption of the positively charged polyelectrolyte, polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDDA), at the quartz/water interface. Below pH 9.0, signal from the interfacial water structure was visible, but none from the adsorbed polymer could be detected. This indicated that the PDDA was not well enough aligned at the interface under these conditions to elicit a sum frequency response. At more basic pH values (>or=9.6), however, adsorbed PDDA molecules became well-ordered as indicated by the presence of CH stretch peaks from methylene and methyl groups. The intensities of the CH stretch modes were independent of the adsorbed amount of PDDA at pH 12.3 but decreased as the pH of the bulk solution was lowered. The conditions for polymer alignment fell outside the parameters where layer-by-layer growth of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes was possible because the net charge on the surface under high pH conditions remained negative.

The Vroman effect: a molecular level description of fibrinogen displacement.

The molecular level details of the displacement of surface adsorbed fibrinogen from silica substrates were studied by atomic force microscopy, immunochemical assays, fluorescence microscopy, and vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy. The results showed that human plasma fibrinogen (HPF) can be readily displaced from the interface by other plasma proteins near neutral pH because the positively charged alpha C domains on HPF sit between the rest of the macromolecule and the underlying surface. The alpha C domains make weak electrostatic contact with the substrate, which is manifest by a high degree of alignment of Lys and Arg residues. Upon cycling through acidic pH, however, the alpha C domains are irreversibly removed from this position and the rest of the macromolecule is free to engage in stronger hydrogen bonding, van der Waals, and hydrophobic interactions with the surface. This results in a 170-fold decrease in the rate at which HPF can be displaced from the interface by other proteins in human plasma.