Characterization of normal and infarcted rat myocardium using a combination of small-animal PET and clinical MRI.

The combination of small-animal PET and MRI data provides quantitative in vivo insights into cardiac pathophysiology, integrating information on biology and morphology. We sought to determine the feasibility of PET and MRI for the quantification of ischemic injury in the rat model. METHODS: Fourteen healthy male Wistar rats were studied with 18F-FDG PET and cine MRI. Myocardial viability was determined in a transmural myocardial infarction model in 12 additional rats, using 18F-FDG PET and delayed-enhancement MRI with gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid. All PET was acquired with a dedicated small-animal PET system. MRI was performed on a 1.5-T clinical tomograph with a dedicated small-animal electrocardiographic triggering device and a small surface coil. RESULTS: In normal rats, 18F-FDG uptake was homogeneous throughout the left ventricle. The lowest mean uptake of the 18F-FDG was found in the apical regions (79% +/- 6.0% of maximum) and the highest uptake was in the anterior wall (93% +/- 4.3 % of maximum). Myocardial infarct size as determined by histology correlated well with defects of glucose metabolism obtained with 18F-FDG PET (r = 0.89) and also with delayed-enhancement MRI (r = 0.91). Left ventricular ejection fraction in normal rats measured by cine MRI was 57% +/- 5.4% and decreased to 38% +/- 12.9% (P < 0.001) in the myocardial infarction model. CONCLUSION: Integrating information from small-animal PET and clinical MRI instrumentation allows for the quantitative assessment of cardiac function and infarct size in the rat model. The MRI measurements of scar can be complemented by metabolic imaging, addressing the extent and severity of ischemic injury and providing endpoints for therapeutic interventions.     

Measles infection of the central nervous system

Central nervous system (CNS) complications occurring early and late after acute measles are serious and often fatal. In spite of functional cell-mediated immunity and high antiviral antibody titers, an immunological control of the CNS infection is not achieved in patients suffering from subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). The known cellular receptors for measle virus (MV) in humans, CD46 and CD150 (signaling lymphocyte activation molecule, SLAM), are important components of the viral tropism by mediating binding and entry to peripheral cells. Because neural cells do not express SLAM and only sporadically CD46, virus entry to neural cells, and spread within the CNS, remain mechanistically unclear. Mice, hamsters, and rats have been used as model systems to study MV-induced CNS infections, and revealed interesting aspects of virulence, persistence, the immune response, and prerequisites of protection. With the help of recombinant MV and mice expressing transgenic receptors, questions such as receptor-dependent viral spread, or viral determinants of virulence, have been investigated. However, many questions concerning the human MV-induced CNS diseases are still open.     

Homozygous microdeletion of chromosome 4q11-q12 causes severe limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2E with joint hyperlaxity and contractures

Microdeletion syndromes are commonly transmitted as dominant traits and are frequently associated with variably expressed pleiotropic phenotypes. Nonlethal homozygous microdeletions, on the other hand, are very rare. Here, we delineate the fifth and so far largest homozygous microdeletion in nonmalignancies of approximately 400 kb on chromosome 4q11-q12 in a large consanguineous East-Anatolian family with six affected patients. The deleted region contains the beta-sarcoglycan gene (SGCB), the predicted gene SPATA18 (spermatogenesis associated 18 homolog) and several expressed sequence tags. Patients presented with a severe and progressive Duchenne-like muscular dystrophy phenotype, a combination of hyperlaxity and joint contractures, chest pain, palpitations, and dyspnea.     

Construction and Characterization of an Isogenic slt-ii Deletion Mutant of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) produces Shiga-like toxins (SLT), potent protein synthesis inhibitors. To further dissect the role of SLT-II in the course of disease, we have constructed E. coli TUV86-2, an isogenic SLT-II-negative mutant of EHEC strain 86-24. The slt-ii gene was inactivated by suicide vector mutagenesis. We also isolated derivatives of strain 86-24 that were cured of the phage carrying the toxin genes.     

Measles virus-induced down-regulation of CD46 is associated with enhanced sensitivity to complement-mediated lysis of infected cells

CD46, the major component of the measles virus (MV) receptor complex and a member of the regulators of complement activity (RCA) gene cluster, is down-regulated in MV-infected cells. We investigated whether the reduction of surface CD46 correlates with enhanced sensitivity of lymphoid and monocytic cells to lysis by activated complement. On human U937 cells, acutely or persistently infected with MV-Edmonston (ED) vaccine strain, infection-dependent down-regulation of CD46 confers sensitivity to activated complement, regardless of the pathway of activation and the specificity of the activating antibodies. Interestingly, down-regulation of CD46 alone is sufficient to confer susceptibility of cells to complement lysis despite the continued surface expression of other RCA proteins such as CD35 and CD55. In primary cultures, both peripheral blood lymphocytes and macrophages are efficiently lysed in the presence of complement activated via the alternative pathway after MV infection. In contrast to the MV-ED infection, infection of cells with the lymphotropic MV wild-type strain WTF does not down-regulate CD46. Cells infected with MV-WTF do not exhibit enhanced susceptibility to complement lysis. These data suggest that MV strains similar to WTF that do not down-regulate CD46 may have an enhanced potential for replication and dissemination within the human host, whereas complement-mediated elimination of cells infected with CD46-down-regulating strains of MV, such as ED, may limit the spread of MV infection, and could thus represent an attenuating factor for MV.     

Fibrin-polyurethane composites for articular cartilage tissue engineering: a preliminary analysis

In this study we investigated the use of a fibrin hydrogel to improve the potential of a polyurethane (PU) scaffold-based system for articular cartilage tissue engineering. PU-only ("no-fibrin") and PU-fibrin ("fibrin") composites were cultured for up to 28 days and analyzed for DNA content, glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content, type II collagen content, GAG release, and gene expression of aggrecan, collagen I, and collagen II. The use of fibrin allowed for higher viable cell-seeding efficiency (10% higher DNA content on day 2 in fibrin versus no-fibrin composites) and more even cell distribution on seeding, a more than 3-fold increase in the percentage of newly synthesized GAG retained in the constructs, and 2- to 6-fold higher levels of type II collagen and aggrecan gene expression through day 14. Addition of aprotinin to the medium inhibited fibrin degradation, most noticeably in the center of the constructs, but had little effect on biochemical composition or gene expression. Short-term mechanical compression (0-10% sinusoidal strain at 0.1 Hz for 1 h, applied twice daily for 3 days) doubled the rate of GAG release from the constructs, but had little effect on gene expression, regardless of the presence of fibrin. Although further work is needed to optimize this system, the addition of fibrin hydrogel to encapsulate cells in the stiff, macroporous PU scaffold is a step forward in our approach to articular cartilage tissue engineering.