A DNA vaccine expressing an optimized secreted FAPα induces enhanced anti-tumor activity by altering the tumor microenvironment in a murine model of breast cancer

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), major components of the tumor microenvironment (TME), promote tumor growth and metastasis and inhibit the anti-tumor immune response. We previously constructed a DNA vaccine expressing human FAPα, which is highly expressed by CAFs, to target these cells in the TME, and observed limited anti-tumor effects in the 4T1 breast cancer model. When the treatment time was delayed until tumor nodes formed, the anti-tumor effect of the vaccine completely disappeared. In this study, to improve the safety and efficacy, we constructed a new FAPα-targeted vaccine containing only the extracellular domain of human FAPα with a tissue plasminogen activator signal sequence for enhanced antigen secretion and immunogenicity. The number of CAFs was more effectively reduced by CD8⁺ T cells induced by the new vaccine. This resulted in decreases in CCL2 and CXCL12 expression, leading to a significant decrease in the ratio of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in the TME. Moreover, when mice were treated after the establishment of tumors, the vaccine could still delay tumor growth. To facilitate the future application of the vaccine in clinical trials, we further optimized the gene codons and reduced the homology between the vaccine and the original sequence, which may be convenient for evaluating the vaccine distribution in the human body. These results indicated that the new FAPα-targeted vaccine expressing an optimized secreted human FAPα induced enhanced anti-tumor activity by reducing the number of FAPα⁺ CAFs and enhancing the recruitment of effector T cells in the 4T1 tumor model mice.     

Oral Everolimus for Treatment of a Giant Left Ventricular Rhabdomyoma in a Neonate—Rapid Tumor Regression Documented by Real Time 3D Echocardiography

The presented case reports on successful treatment with everolimus in a neonate with left ventricular giant rhabdomyoma. The authors used a different dosage regime compared to literature and documented rapid tumor regression by 3D echocardiography.     

Real‐time RF pulse adjustment for B0 drift correction

Although the magnetic field of an MR scanner is very stable under little or no load, it can become less stable under heavy‐duty cycle conditions, such as in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Uncorrected, such field drifts lead to an apparent image shift along the phase‐encoding direction and decreasing effectiveness of fat saturation pulses. A method is presented to adjust the center frequency of all RF pulses and the receiver in real time during the acquisition. No data postprocessing or changes to the sequence timing are necessary. In vivo acquisitions were performed to assess the prolonged effectiveness of fat saturation. Field drifts of approximately 2.5 Hz/min were measured and corrected during DTI acquisitions at b‐values of up to 3000 s/mm². The effectiveness of fat saturation diminished over the duration of an 18‐min acquisition when the drift was left uncorrected. The proposed method corrects for apparent image shift and ensures continuously effective fat saturation over the duration of an acquisition. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

LightCycler实时监测PCR定量分析血清HBV DNA

目的 检验LightCycler实时监测PCR（real-time detection PCR,RTD-PCR)对血清中HBV DNA定量检测的灵敏性和可重复性，探讨HBV血清标志物与HBV DNA定量的关系。方法 HBV定量按深圳匹基公司乙肝PCR荧光检测试剂盒使用说明，对乙肝标志物已明确的773例血清中HBV DNA定量结果进行统计分析。结果 实时监测PCR对血清中HBV DNA定量检测的灵敏性高，可检测低至1000拷贝／ml血清；可重复性好，批间误差＜20％；各种标志物类型的血清HBV DNA含量分布情况表明，HBV血清标志物中HBeAg与HBV DNA含量有明显的关系，一般HBeAg阳性血清HBV DNA含量较高，但也有相当一部分例外。结论 LightCycler实时监测PCR对血清中HBV DNA定量检测灵敏性高可重复性好；仅根据HBV血清标志物往往不能确定乙肝患者HBV DNA复制水平的高低，HBV DNA定量检测具有十分重要的临床意义。     

基于MATLAB胎儿心电实时显示

文章介绍了从母亲体中采集到的心电信号，利用MATLAB软件对采集到的心电信号进行准确的数据实时处理，分离出胎儿心电（ECG）信号，实验结果表明，这种方法有一定的实用性。     

Reduced peripheral blood mitochondrial DNA content is not a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes.

AIMS: Mitochondrial depletion in pancreatic beta cells is known to reduce glucose stimulated insulin secretion. We aimed to determine whether the offspring of patients with early onset Type 2 diabetes had reduced peripheral blood mitochondrial content relative to control subjects and whether this could lead to a predisposition to type 2 diabetes in later life. METHODS: We measured the levels of mitochondria relative to a single copy genomic target by real time polymerase chain reaction in a series of peripheral blood samples taken from the offspring of Caucasian patients with Type 2 diabetes and matched controls. Measures of insulin sensitivity and beta cell function were also taken. RESULTS: In contrast with previous studies, mitochondrial DNA content was not decreased in the offspring of patients with Type 2 diabetes relative to matched controls in our cohort. Conversely, we noted a small proliferation in mitochondrial numbers in our case subjects. In agreement with these findings, no correlations with either insulin sensitivity or beta cell function were noted. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that reduced mitochondrial DNA content in peripheral blood is not a risk factor for the development of Type 2 diabetes in the offspring of patients with early onset Type 2 diabetes.     

Rapid identification of female carriers of DMD/BMD by quantitative real-time PCR

Recently developed PCR systems offer online-monitoring of amplification and allow simple and reliable DNA quantification. We have used the LightCycler system to develop a simple and rapid method for direct identification of female carriers of deletions and duplications in the dystrophin gene. The challenge resides in the ability to identify the presence of a deleted or duplicated allele over the background contributed by the normal allele. Quantification is based on the determination of the ratio between potentially deleted/duplicated dystrophin exons and non-deleted/-duplicated reference exons using the unspecific dsDNA-dye SYBRgreen I. In a retrospective study, we evaluated our method in female relatives of DMD/BMD patients with known carrier status by comparative analysis of deleted or duplicated versus non-deleted/-duplicated exons. Carrier status was accurately attributed in 100% of cases, the mean ratios being 0.52+/-0.12 for deletion carriers (expected value: 0.5) and 1.56+/-0.18 for duplication carriers (expected value: 1.5) vs. 1.022+/-0.17 for non-carriers (expected value: 1.0). The method proved to be simple, rapid, reliable, and cost-effective. It may be used for direct determination of deletions/duplications in potential DMD/BMD carriers and may easily be adapted for other genetic conditions involving deletions and duplications.