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High levels of immune activation are reported for people who inject drugs. Studies of the relationship between injection behaviors and immune activation have yielded mixed results, in part due to lack of control for hepatitis C virus in analyses. This study, of 48 HIV-seronegative people who inject drugs, examines this relationship controlling for hepatitis C virus viremia. Frequency of injection was positively related to markers of immune activation (soluble CD14, %CD8(+)CD38(+)HLADR(+) T cells), as was duration of injection (high-specificity C-reactive protein and D-dimer). Sharing injection equipment was not related to markers studied. Findings suggest that efforts to encourage injection cessation or reduction in frequency can have positive health benefits through reducing immune activation.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) offer promising opportunities for preventing HIV-1 infection in humans. Immunoprophylaxis with potent bNAbs efficiently protects non-human primates from mucosal transmission even after repeated challenges. However, the precise mechanisms of bNAb-mediated viral inhibition in mucosal tissues are currently unknown. Here, we show that immunoglobulin (Ig)G and IgA bNAbs do not interfere with the endocytic transport of HIV-1 across epithelial cells, a process referred to as transcytosis. Instead, both viruses and antibodies are translocated to the basal pole of epithelial cells, possibly in the form of an immune complex. Importantly, as opposed to free virions, viral particles bound by bNAbs are no longer infectious after transepithelial transit. Post-transcytosis neutralization activity of bNAbs displays comparable inhibitory concentrations as those measured in classical neutralization assays. Thus, bNAbs do not block the transport of incoming HIV-1 viruses across the mucosal epithelium but rather neutralize the transcytosed virions, highlighting their efficient prophylactic and protective activity in vivo.

Organizing data about patterning and morphogenesis into a coherent framework remains a challenge in developmental biology. Reporting in Science, Corson et al. (2017) apply innovative analysis to an old problem of bristle patterns in Drosophila, reducing the nonlinear interactions among tens of cells to a succinct model with quantitative predictions.

Mutations in the neuron-specific alpha(3) isoform of the Na+/K+-ATPase are found in patients suffering from Rapid onset Dystonia Parkinsonism and Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood, two closely related movement disorders. We show that mice harboring a heterozygous hot spot disease mutation, D801Y (alpha(+/D801Y)(3)), suffer abrupt hypothermia-induced dystonia identified by electromyographic recordings. Single-neuron in vivo recordings in awake alpha(+/D801Y)(3) mice revealed irregular firing of Purkinje cells and their synaptic targets, the deep cerebellar nuclei neurons, which was further exacerbated during dystonia and evolved into abnormal high-frequency burst-like firing. Biophysically, we show that the D-to-Y mutation abolished pump-mediated Na+/K+ exchange, but allowed the pumps to bind Na+ and become phosphorylated. These findings implicate aberrant cerebellar activity in alpha(3) isoform-related dystonia and add to the functional understanding of the scarce and severe mutations in the alpha(3) isoform Na+/K+-ATPase.

Tissue stem cells contribute to tissue regeneration and wound repair through cellular programs that can be hijacked by cancer cells. Here, we investigate such a phenomenon in skin, where during homeostasis, stem cells of the epidermis and hair follicle fuel their respective tissues. We find that breakdown of stem cell lineage confinement-granting privileges associated with both fates-is not only hallmark but also functional in cancer development. We show that lineage plasticity is critical in wound repair, where it operates transiently to redirect fates. Investigating mechanism, we discover that irrespective of cellular origin, lineage infidelity occurs in wounding when stress-responsive enhancers become activated and override homeostatic enhancers that govern lineage specificity. In cancer, stress-responsive transcription factor levels rise, causing lineage commanders to reach excess. When lineage and stress factors collaborate, they activate oncogenic enhancers that distinguish cancers from wounds.

The delivery of drugs to the brain is a constant challenge due to limitations imposed by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Various methods of bypassing the BBB are under investigation. One approach is intranasal administration, where the olfactory region of the nasal cavity extends up to the cranial cavity and provides direct access to the brain. The pharmacokinetics of this transport and factors that determine transport rates and capacity is of vital importance for evaluating the clinical value of this route. Here, the pharmacokinetics of intranasally administered imatinib has been explored. Imatinib is distributed into the brain following intravenous administration, and then rapidly removed. Following intravenous administration, the brain/plasma ratio for imatinib was calculated to be 2% and remained at this ratio for 30 min. The brain/plasma ratio following intranasal administration, however, was found to be 5.3% and remained at this ratio for up to 90 min. Imatinib was found to be rapidly transported into the brain via the olfactory region, by shutting down the nose-to-blood-to-brain transport with epinephrine. The increased brain concentration of imatinib (0.33 mu g/g tissue) achieved by intranasal administration, compared with an IV injection, is likely to provide a model for developing a wide range of CNS active molecules that were previously removed from consideration as drug candidates due to their lack of CNS access. Furthermore, brain imatinib levels were increased by co-administration of the p-gp substrates, elacridar and pantoprazole, showing that both compounds were able to inhibit the elimination of imatinib from the brain. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Background: Vitamin D deficiency, defined as a serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D [25(OH) D] concentration,20 ng/mL, is correlated with a more atherogenic lipid profile. However, oral vitamin D supplementation does not lower LDL-cholesterol concentrations or raise HDL-cholesterol concentrations. This uncoupling between association and causation may result from a failure of oral vitamin D to mimic the effect of dermally synthesized vitamin D in response to ultraviolet type B (UVB) light. Objective: We tested the hypothesis that, in vitamin D-deficient adults, the replenishment of vitamin D with UVB exposure would lower LDL-cholesterol concentrations compared with the effect of oral vitamin D-3 supplementation. Design: We performed a randomized clinical trial in vitamin D-deficient adults and compared vitamin D replenishment between subjects who received oral vitamin D-3 (n = 60) and those who received narrow-band UVB exposure (n = 58) <= 6 mo. Results: There was no difference in the change from baseline LDL-cholesterol concentrations between oral vitamin D-3 and UVB groups (difference in median of oral vitamin D-3 minus that of UVB: 1.5 mg/dL; 95% CI: -5.0, 7.0 mg/dL). There were also no differences within groups or between groups for changes in total or HDL cholesterol or triglycerides. Transcriptional profiling of skin and blood, however, revealed significant upregulation of immune pathway signaling with oral vitamin D-3 but significant downregulation with UVB. Conclusions: Correcting vitamin D deficiency with either oral vitamin D-3 or UVB does not improve the lipid profile. Beyond cholesterol, these 2 modalities of raising 25(OH) D have disparate effects on gene transcription.

Linear 2D- or 3D-structured illumination microscopy (SIM or 3D-SIM, respectively) enables multicolor volumetric imaging of fixed and live specimens with subdiffraction resolution in all spatial dimensions. However, the reliance of SIM on algorithmic post-processing renders it particularly sensitive to artifacts that may reduce resolution, compromise data and its interpretations, and drain resources in terms of money and time spent. Here we present a protocol that allows users to generate high-quality SIM data while accounting and correcting for common artifacts. The protocol details preparation of calibration bead slides designed for SIM-based experiments, the acquisition of calibration data, the documentation of typically encountered SIM artifacts and corrective measures that should be taken to reduce them. It also includes a conceptual overview and checklist for experimental design and calibration decisions, and is applicable to any commercially available or custom platform. This protocol, plus accompanying guidelines, allows researchers from students to imaging professionals to create an optimal SIM imaging environment regardless of specimen type or structure of interest. The calibration sample preparation and system calibration protocol can be executed within 1-2 d.

Mud is a porous medium containing a high density of diverse microorganisms. It is out of equilibrium as the energy from a photon flux is dissipated by a cascade of biochemical reactions, mediated by the metabolisms of the constituent organisms. Despite its complexity, microbes in nature self-organize into simple reproducible patterns. We present two experiments in which the dynamics of natural mud coming to steady state are observed and modeled. In the first, the oxygen gradient produced by cyanobacteria in an imposed light gradient is measured. In the second, a thin front of oxygen-consuming microbes forms at the penetration depth of oxygen and moves with the changing oxygen gradient.

We report on a measurement of the D+ -meson production cross section as a function of transverse momentum (p(T)) in proton-antiproton (p (p) over bar) collisions at 1.96 TeV center-of-mass energy, using the full data set collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab in Tevatron Run II and corresponding to 10 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity. We use D-broken vertical bar -> K- pi(broken vertical bar) pi(broken vertical bar) decays fully reconstructed in the central rapidity region broken vertical bar y broken vertical bar < 1 with transverse momentum down to 1.5 GeV/c, a range previously unexplored in p<(p)over bar> collisions. Inelastic p (p) over bar -scattering events are selected online using minimally biasing requirements followed by an optimized offline selection. The K- pi(+) pi(+) mass distribution is used to identify the D+ signal, and the D+ transverse impact-parameter distribution is used to separate prompt production, occurring directly in the hard-scattering process, from secondary production from b-hadron decays. We obtain a prompt D+ signal of 2950 candidates corresponding to a total cross section sigma(D+), 1.5 < P-T < 14.5 GeV/c, vertical bar y vertical bar < 1) = 71.9 +/- 6.8 (stat) +/- 9.3 (syst) mu b.While the measured cross sections are consistent with theoretical estimates in each p(T) bin, the shape of the observed p(T) spectrum is softer than the expectation from quantum chromodynamics. The results are unique in p<(p)over bar> collisions and can improve the shape and uncertainties of future predictions.