Isolation of a bacteriophage for actinomyces viscosus

A lytic phage which produces clear plaques on a human isolate of Actinomyces viscosus was isolated from a sample of raw domestic sewage.     

ROC analysis in radioimmunoassay: an application to the interpretation of thyroglobulin measurement in the follow-up of thyroid carcinoma

This study is an application of the ROC technique to the determination of threshold values (TV) for the interpretation of serum thyroglobulin (Tg) measurements in the follow-up of differentiated thyroid cancer. Serum Tg was assayed using the Henning kit in 1466 samples from 245 individuals. A local or distant recurrence was assessed by clinical examination, radiological and scintigraphic investigations, and was present in 23 patients. The measurements were divided into four groups: 1) measurements performed less than 6 months after thyroidectomy; 2) measurements performed more than 6 months after thyroidectomy; 3) measurements performed during the suppression of pituitary secretion; 4) measurements performed during withdrawal of the substitutive therapy. An ROC curve was calculated for each group and for each curve three TVs were determined: TV1, TV2, and TV3 corresponding to a high sensitivity, a high specificity and a high sum of sensitivity and specificity respectively. TV1 is 3.12 micrograms/l in the four groups. TV2 is 44 micrograms/l, 19 micrograms/l, 11 micrograms/l and 30 micrograms/l, in the first, second, third and fourth groups respectively. TV3 is 35 micrograms/l in the first group, 3.12 micrograms/l in both the second and third groups and 30 micrograms/l in the fourth group. When the classical method allows the determination of only one threshold value, the ROC technique allows us to determine threshold values adapted to both the patient clinical status and the chosen sensitivity or specificity.     

Perturbation in dystrophin-associated glycoprotein complex in a boy with Becker muscular dystrophy

We report on a boy with a BMD phenotype presenting with a deletion of exons 45-49 in the DMD gene. Immunofluorescence and Western blot analysis of a skeletal muscle sample revealed, as expected, truncated dystrophin with loss in the central rod domain, but with an unusual severe deficiency in the sarcoglycan complex, as in severe DMD. We discuss possible neighboring between dystrophin and associated proteins within their complex organization at the muscle membrane.     

αvβ3 Integrin and Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1): Prognostic factors in a phase I–II clinical trial associating continuous administration of Tipifarnib with radiotherapy for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma

BackgroundBased on our previous results showing the involvement of the farnesylated form of RhoB in glioblastoma radioresistance, we designed a phase II trial associating the farnesyltransferase inhibitor Tipifarnib with radiotherapy in patients with glioblastoma and studied the prognostic values of the proteins which we have previously shown control this pathway.Patients and methodsPatients were treated with 200 mg Tipifarnib (recommended dose (RD)) given continuously during radiotherapy. Twenty-seven patients were included in the phase II whose primary end-point was time to progression (TTP). Overall survival (OS) and biomarker analysis were secondary end-points. Expressions of αvβ3, αvβ5 integrins, FAK, ILK, fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) and fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) were studied by immuno-histochemistry in the tumour of the nine patients treated at the RD during the previously performed phase I and on those of the phase II patients. We evaluated the correlation of the expressions of these proteins with the clinical outcome.ResultsFor the phase II patients median TTP was 23.1 weeks (95%CI = [15.4; 28.2]) while the median OS was 80.3 weeks (95%CI = [57.8; 102.7]). In the pooled phase I and II population, median OS was 60.4w (95%CI = [47.3; 97.6]) while median TTP was 18.1w (95%CI = [16.9; 25.6]). FGFR1 over-expression (HR = 4.65; 95%CI = [1.02; 21.21], p = 0.047) was correlated with shorter TTP while FGFR1 (HR = 4.1 (95% CI = [1.09–15.4]; p = 0.036)) and αvβ3 (HR = 10.38 (95%CI = [2.70; 39.87], p = 0.001)) over-expressions were associated with reduced OS.ConclusionAssociation of 200 mg Tipifarnib with radiotherapy shows promising OS but no increase in TTP compared to historical data. FGFR1 and αvβ3 integrin are independent bad prognostic factors of OS and TTP.