ArgD of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a functional N-acetylornithine aminotransferase with moonlighting function as an effective immune modulator

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) encodes an essential enzyme acetyl ornithine aminotransferase ArgD (Rv1655) of arginine biosynthetic pathway which plays crucial role in M. tuberculosis growth and survival. ArgD catalyzes the reversible conversion of N-acetylornithine and 2 oxoglutarate into glutamate-5-semialdehyde and L-glutamate. It also possesses succinyl diaminopimelate aminotransferase activity and can thus carry out the corresponding step in lysine biosynthesis. These essential roles played by ArgD in amino acid biosynthetic pathways highlight it as an important metabolic chokepoint thus an important drug target. We showed that M. tuberculosis ArgD rescues the growth of ΔargD E. coli grown in minimal media validating its functional importance. Phylogenetic analysis of M. tuberculosis ArgD showed homology with proteins in gram positive bacteria, pathogenic and non-pathogenic mycobacteria suggesting the essentiality of this protein. ArgD is a secretory protein that could be utilized by M. tuberculosis to modulate host innate immunity as its moonlighting function. In-silico analysis predicted it to be a highly antigenic protein. The recombinant ArgD protein when exposed to macrophage cells induced enhanced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF, IL6 and IL12 in a dose dependent manner. ArgD also induced the increased production of innate immune effector molecule NOS2 and NO in macrophages. We also demonstrated ArgD mediated activation of the canonical NFkB pathway. Notably, we also show that ArgD is a specific TLR4 agonist involved in the activation of pro-inflammatory signaling for sustained production of effector cytokines. Intriguingly, ArgD protein treatment activated macrophages to acquire the M1 phenotype through the increased surface expression of MHCII and costimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86. ArgD induced robust B-cell response in immunized mice, validating its antigenicity potential as predicted by the in-silico analysis. These properties of M. tuberculosis ArgD signify its functional plasticity that could be exploited as a possible drug target to combat tuberculosis.     

中毒性表皮坏死松解症导致眼部远期并发症1例

中毒性表皮坏死松解症与Stevens-Johnson综合征是一种由药物反应引起的严重的表皮及黏膜的不良反应。最常发生于成人,与服用磺胺类、巴比妥类、非类固醇抗炎药、苯妥英纳、醋甲唑胺、别嘌呤醇和青霉素等药物有关。约有1/5的患者否认有服药史,约在1/3病例中由于同时患有严重疾病及用药物治疗而病因不明。中毒性表皮坏死松解症为皮肤科少数病情危重的疾病之一,其死亡率达30%~35%。20%~40%的存活者有眼睛受累。少数患者由于泪管阻塞可出现泪眼,多数患者表现为睫毛、眼睑上皮增生,伴鳞状化生、结膜和角膜新生血管形成,引起一种中毒性表皮坏死松解症眼综合征。经及时治疗中毒性表皮坏死松解症可好转。但是部分患者眼部情况可继续发展,可引起畏光、灼痛、视力下降甚至失明。现汇报1例中毒性表皮坏死松解症眼综合征患者眼部远期并发症。     

基于基因表达谱相似性的四物汤重定位及抗乳腺癌有效成分群辨识＊

目的 发现四物汤的新药理作用并辨识其有效成分群。方法 于GEO和Cmap数据库获取四物汤和1309个小分子药物的基因表达谱，计算差异表达基因及四物汤与1309个小分子药物的基因表达谱间的相似性，相似性较高的小分子药物的药理作用为四物汤的新药理作用。相似性较高的小分子药物的靶点作为四物汤发挥新药理作用的靶标，利用分子对接技术辨识四物汤的有效成分群。结果 四物汤具有抗乳腺癌的作用，其有效成分群为荭草苷、芍药苷和半乳糖醛酸等，并通过文献调研验证了辨识结果的可靠性。结论 本研究将为扩大四物汤的临床应用范围及质量控制奠定基础，为乳腺癌的治疗提供新方法。     

Recent insights into the characteristics and role of peritoneal macrophages from ascites of cirrhotic patients

Macrophages are a diverse myeloid cell population involved in innate and adaptive immune responses, embryonic development, wound repair, and regulation of tissue homeostasis. These cells link the innate and adaptive immunities and are crucial in the development and sustainment of various inflammatory diseases. Macrophages are tissue-resident cells in steady-state conditions; however, they are also recruited from blood monocytes after local pathogen invasion or tissue injury. Peritoneal macrophages vary based on their cell complexity, phenotype, and functional capabilities. These cells regulate inflammation and control bacterial infections in the ascites of decompensated cirrhotic patients. Our recent work reported several phenotypic and functional characteristics of these cells under both healthy and pathological conditions. A direct association between cell size, CD14/CD16 expression, intracellular level of GATA-6, and expression of CD206 and HLA-DR activation/maturation markers, indicate that the large peritoneal macrophage CD14^highCD16^high subset constitutes the mature phenotype of human resident peritoneal macrophages during homeostasis. Moreover, elevated expression of CD14/CD16 is related to the phagocytic capacity. The novel large CD14^highCD16^high peritoneal subpopulation is increased in the ascites of cirrhotic patients and is highly sensitive to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced activation, thereby exhibiting features of inflammatory priming. Thus, phosphorylation of ERK1/2, PKB/Akt, and c-Jun is remarkably increased in response to LPS in vitro, whereas that of p38 MAPK is reduced compared with the monocyte-derived macrophages from the blood of healthy controls. Furthermore, in vitro activated monocyte-derived macrophages from ascites of cirrhotic patients secreted significantly higher levels of IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α and lower amounts of IL-1β and IL-12 than the corresponding cells from healthy donor’s blood. Based on these results, other authors have recently reported that the surface expression level of CD206 can be used to identify mature, resident, inflammatory peritoneal macrophages in patients with cirrhosis. Soluble CD206 is released from activated large peritoneal macrophages, and increased concentrations in patients with cirrhosis and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) indicate reduced odds of survival for 90 d. Hence, the level of soluble CD206 in ascites might be used to identify patients with SBP at risk of death. In conclusion, peritoneal macrophages present in ascites of cirrhotic patients display multiple phenotypic modifications characterized by reduced ratio of cells expressing several membrane markers, together with an increase in the ratios of complex and intermediate subpopulations and a decrease in the classic-like subset. These modifications may lead to the identification of novel pharmaceutical targets for prevention and treatment of hepatic damage.     

Responsabilidad social corporativa en los centros de la red hospitalaria de utilización pública de Cataluña

The adoption of a management approach that integrates corporate social responsibility in organizations is an increasing trend that responds to the demands of society related to sustainability, ethics and transparency. Health organizations are adopting corporate social responsibility asymmetrically, which raises the analysis of the implementation models and the developed initiatives. Through qualitative research, with four in-depth case studies of the Catalan health sector, this article analyzes the need to address this new approach and to identify good practices and the challenges for its implementation.     

CCNE1基因在卵巢高级别浆液性癌中的研究进展

细胞周期蛋白E1（Cyclin E1,CCNE1）基因扩增是卵巢高级别浆液性癌（high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma,HGSOC）最常见的拷贝数变异之一,扩增率为20%左右。CCNE1基因扩增不仅参与HGSOC的早期癌前病变,促进恶性肿瘤的发生、发展,还可引起细胞周期紊乱和染色体不稳定,从而增加HGSOC的铂类耐药性和复发率,最终导致患者的化疗效果不佳和预后较差。为改善CCNE1扩增的HGSOC患者的预后和生活质量,在暂时没有CCNE1扩增的HGSOC的靶向治疗药物的情况下,使用细胞周期蛋白依赖性激酶2（cyclin-dependent kinases 2,CDK2）小分子抑制剂或者多腺苷二磷酸核糖聚合酶[poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase,PARP]抑制剂与其他药物联合治疗,一定程度上能有效地抑制肿瘤细胞的增殖活性,促进肿瘤细胞死亡。因此,从CCNE1扩增对HGSOC的早期发病机制的影响和产生铂类耐药的角度上来说,CCNE1基因有望成为HGSOC的潜在治疗靶标和预后评价生物学指标,在改善患者的治疗和预后方面具有重要意义。