Certain immunological parameters in subacute cold stress

The effect of subacute cold swimming stress on the immune system of albino rats was investigated. Subacute cold stressed animals showed an increase in total WBC count, eosinophils and basophils. Phagocytic index and avidity index were also increased indicating hyperactive phagocytic process. On the other hand NBT reduction and soluble immune complex levels decreased significantly in stressed animals. There were no significant changes in the weight of the lymphoid organs.     

Expression of Notch-1 and its ligands, Delta-like-1 and Jagged-1, is critical for glioma cell survival and proliferation

The Notch family of proteins plays an integral role in determining cell fates, such as proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. We show that Notch-1 and its ligands, Delta-like-1 and Jagged-1, are overexpressed in many glioma cell lines and primary human gliomas. Immunohistochemistry of a primary human glioma tissue array shows the presence in the nucleus of the Notch-1 intracellular domain, indicating Notch-1 activation in situ. Down-regulation of Notch-1, Delta-like-1, or Jagged-1 by RNA interference induces apoptosis and inhibits proliferation in multiple glioma cell lines. In addition, pretreatment of glioma cells with Notch-1 or Delta-like-1 small interfering RNA significantly prolongs survival in a murine orthotopic brain tumor model. These results show, for the first time, the dependence of cancer cells on a single Notch ligand; they also suggest a potential Notch juxtacrine/autocrine loop in gliomas. Notch-1 and its ligands may present novel therapeutic targets in the treatment of glioma.     

Daily Quality Control in CD3+ and CD4+ T Cell Estimation by the FACSCount System at a Tertiary Care Center in South India

CD4⁺ T cell count estimations are subject to high variations; hence, in this study, the previous day''s tested samples were included routinely as the internal quality controls. The percentages of variation of the 2-day values were analyzed for 280 observations and the mean variation for CD4⁺ and CD3⁺ T cell counts ranged from 5.21% to 9.66%. This method is a good internal quality control (IQC) procedure for the estimation of CD3⁺ and CD4⁺ T cell counts in resource-poor settings.     

Predictors of very low adherence with medications for osteoporosis: towards development of a clinical prediction rule

Summary  

We developed a clinical prediction rule score to predict medication non-adherence for women prescribed osteoporosis treatment. When combined into a summative score, 62% with seven or more points on the score demonstrated very low adherence. This compares with 17% subjects with fewer than seven points (c-statistic = 0.74).     

Robo family of proteins exhibit differential expression in mouse spinal cord and Robo-Slit interaction is required for midline crossing in vertebrate spinal cord.

The ventral midline of the central nervous system is an important intermediate target where growing commissural axons either cross and project contralaterally or remain on the same side of the body. New studies on mice and humans show that this decision by commissural axons is largely dependent on Slits, extracellular matrix proteins that are widely expressed in the midline of the nervous system, and their receptors, Robos (Long et al. [2004] Neuron 42:213-223; Sabatier et al. [2004] Cell 117:157-169; Jen et al. [2004] Science 304:1509-1513). Here, we show that the Robo family proteins Robo1 and Rig-1 exhibit differential expression patterns on commissural axons as they approach, cross, and leave the midline of the developing mouse spinal cord and demonstrate that Robo1 and Robo2 bind Slit1 and Slit2, but Rig-1 does not. In addition, we show that cultured chick commissural axons are repelled by a source of Slit protein, and the soluble Robo-Fc proteins are capable of neutralizing this repulsion. Finally, we exploit the large size and accessibility of the early chick embryo to analyze the function of Slit/Robo signaling in midline commissural axon guidance, and we demonstrate that the in vivo perturbation of Robo-Slit interaction at the floor plate causes consistent guidance defects of commissural axons during midline crossing. These findings demonstrate the evolutionarily conserved role for Robo-Slit interaction in the control of midline crossing axons in vertebrates.