scholarly journals The Equine Antimicrobial Peptide eCATH1 Is Effective against the Facultative Intracellular Pathogen Rhodococcus equi in Mice

2013 ◽  
Vol 57 (10) ◽  
pp. 4615-4621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margot Schlusselhuber ◽  
Riccardo Torelli ◽  
Cecilia Martini ◽  
Matthias Leippe ◽  
Vincent Cattoir ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTRhodococcus equi, the causal agent of rhodococcosis, is a major pathogen of foals and is also responsible for severe infections in immunocompromised humans. Of great concern, strains resistant to currently used antibiotics have emerged. As the number of drugs that are efficientin vivois limited because of the intracellular localization of the bacterium inside macrophages, new active but cell-permeant drugs will be needed in the near future. In the present study, we evaluated, byin vitroandex vivoexperiments, the ability of the alpha-helical equine antimicrobial peptide eCATH1 to kill intracellular bacterial cells. Moreover, the therapeutic potential of the peptide was assessed in experimental rhodococcosis induced in mice, while thein vivotoxicity was evaluated by behavioral and histopathological analysis. The study revealed that eCATH1 significantly reduced the number of bacteria inside macrophages. Furthermore, the bactericidal potential of the peptide was maintainedin vivoat doses that appeared to have no visible deleterious effects for the mice even after 7 days of treatment. Indeed, daily subcutaneous injections of 1 mg/kg body weight of eCATH1 led to a significant reduction of the bacterial load in organs comparable to that obtained after treatment with 10 mg/kg body weight of rifampin. Interestingly, the combination of the peptide with rifampin showed a synergistic interaction in bothex vivoandin vivoexperiments. These results emphasize the therapeutic potential that eCATH1 represents in the treatment of rhodococcosis.

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 565-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yumi Kumagai ◽  
Taisuke Murakami ◽  
Kuwahara-Arai ◽  
Toshiaki Iba ◽  
Johannes Reich ◽  
...  

Sepsis is a life-threatening disease caused by systemic dys-regulated inflammatory response to infection. We previously revealed that LL-37, a human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, improves the survival of cecal ligation and puncture septic mice. Ectosomes, microvesicles released from neutrophils, are reported to be elevated in sepsis survivors; however, the functions of ectosomes in sepsis remain largely unknown. Therefore, we herein elucidated the protective action of LL-37 on sepsis, by focusing on LL-37-induced ectosome release in a cecal ligation and puncture model. The results demonstrated the enhancement of ectosome levels by LL-37 administration, accompanied by a reduction of bacterial load. Importantly, ectosomes isolated from LL-37-injected cecal ligation and puncture mice contained higher amounts of antimicrobial proteins/peptides and exhibited higher antibacterial activity, compared with those from PBS-injected cecal ligation and puncture mice, suggesting that LL-37 induces the release of ectosomes with antibacterial potential in vivo. Actually, LL-37 stimulated mouse bone-marrow neutrophils to release ectosomes ex vivo, and the LL-37-induced ectosomes possessed antibacterial potential. Furthermore, administration of LL-37-induced ectosomes reduced the bacterial load and improved the survival of cecal ligation and puncture mice. Together these observations suggest LL-37 induces the release of antimicrobial ectosomes in cecal ligation and puncture mice, thereby reducing the bacterial load and protecting mice from lethal septic conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroto Nakajima ◽  
Atsushi Miyashita ◽  
Hiroshi Hamamoto ◽  
Kazuhisa Sekimizu

AbstractIn this study, we investigated a new application of bubble-eye goldfish (commercially available strain with large bubble-shaped eye sacs) for immunological studies in fishes utilizing the technical advantage of examining immune cells in the eye sac fluid ex vivo without sacrificing animals. As known in many aquatic species, the common goldfish strain showed an increased infection sensitivity at elevated temperature, which we demonstrate may be due to an immune impairment using the bubble-eye goldfish model. Injection of heat-killed bacterial cells into the eye sac resulted in an inflammatory symptom (surface reddening) and increased gene expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines observed in vivo, and elevated rearing temperature suppressed the induction of pro-inflammatory gene expressions. We further conducted ex vivo experiments using the immune cells harvested from the eye sac and found that the induced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines was suppressed when we increased the temperature of ex vivo culture, suggesting that the temperature response of the eye-sac immune cells is a cell autonomous function. These results indicate that the bubble-eye goldfish is a suitable model for ex vivo investigation of fish immune cells and that the temperature-induced infection susceptibility in the goldfish may be due to functional impairments of immune cells.


Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1363
Author(s):  
Elena V. Abakushina ◽  
Liubov I. Popova ◽  
Andrey A. Zamyatnin ◽  
Jens Werner ◽  
Nikolay V. Mikhailovsky ◽  
...  

In the last decade, an impressive advance was achieved in adoptive cell therapy (ACT), which has improved therapeutic potential and significant value in promising cancer treatment for patients. The ACT is based on the cell transfer of dendritic cells (DCs) and/or immune effector cells. DCs are often used as vaccine carriers or antigen-presenting cells (APCs) to prime naive T cells ex vivo or in vivo. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and natural killer (NK) cells are used as major tool effector cells for ACT. Despite the fact that NK cell immunotherapy is highly effective and promising against many cancer types, there are still some limitations, including insignificant infiltration, adverse conditions of the microenvironment, the immunosuppressive cellular populations, and the low cytotoxic activity in solid tumors. To overcome these difficulties, novel methods of NK cell isolation, expansion, and stimulation of cytotoxic activity should be designed. In this review, we discuss the basic characteristics of DC vaccines and NK cells as potential adoptive cell preparations in cancer therapy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik H. J. G. Aarntzen ◽  
Edel Noriega-Álvarez ◽  
Vera Artiko ◽  
André H. Dias ◽  
Olivier Gheysens ◽  
...  

AbstractInflammatory musculoskeletal diseases represent a group of chronic and disabling conditions that evolve from a complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors that cause perturbations in innate and adaptive immune responses. Understanding the pathogenesis of inflammatory musculoskeletal diseases is, to a large extent, derived from preclinical and basic research experiments. In vivo molecular imaging enables us to study molecular targets and to measure biochemical processes non-invasively and longitudinally, providing information on disease processes and potential therapeutic strategies, e.g. efficacy of novel therapeutic interventions, which is of complementary value next to ex vivo (post mortem) histopathological analysis and molecular assays. Remarkably, the large body of preclinical imaging studies in inflammatory musculoskeletal disease is in contrast with the limited reports on molecular imaging in clinical practice and clinical guidelines. Therefore, in this EANM-endorsed position paper, we performed a systematic review of the preclinical studies in inflammatory musculoskeletal diseases that involve radionuclide imaging, with a detailed description of the animal models used. From these reflections, we provide recommendations on what future studies in this field should encompass to facilitate a greater impact of radionuclide imaging techniques on the translation to clinical settings.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 1080-1095 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfonso Eirin ◽  
Xiang-Yang Zhu ◽  
Sreela Jonnada ◽  
Amir Lerman ◽  
Andre J. van Wijnen ◽  
...  

Background: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) released from mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) mediate their paracrine effect, but their efficacy to protect the microcirculation of the kidney is unknown. Using a novel swine model of unilateral renovascular disease (RVD) complicated by metabolic syndrome (MetS), we tested the hypothesis that EVs would attenuate renal microvascular loss. Methods: Four groups of pigs ( n = 7 each) were studied after 16 weeks of diet-induced MetS and RVD (MetS+RVD), MetS+RVD treated 4 weeks earlier with a single intra-renal delivery of EVs harvested from autologous adipose tissue-derived MSCs, and Lean and MetS Sham controls. Stenotic-kidney renal blood flow (RBF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) were measured in-vivo (fast CT), whereas EV characteristics, renal microvascular architecture (micro-CT), and injury pathways were studied ex-vivo. Results: mRNA sequencing and proteomic analysis revealed that EVs are packed with several pro-angiogenic genes and proteins, such as vascular endothelial growth factor. Labeled EVs were detected in the stenotic kidney 4 weeks after injection internalized by tubular and endothelial cells. EVs restored renal expression of angiogenic factors and improved cortical microvascular and peritubular capillary density. Renal apoptosis, oxidative stress, tubular injury, and fibrosis were also attenuated in EV-treated pigs. RBF and GFR decreased in MetS+RVD compared with MetS, but normalized in MetS+RVD+EVs. Conclusions: Intra-renal delivery of MSC-derived EVs bearing pro-angiogenic properties restored the renal microcirculation and in turn hemodynamics and function in chronic experimental MetS+RVD. Our study suggests a novel therapeutic potential for MSC-derived EVs in restoring renal hemodynamics in experimental MetS+RVD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Rajib Hossain ◽  
Cristina Quispe ◽  
Jesús Herrera-Bravo ◽  
Md. Shahazul Islam ◽  
Chandan Sarkar ◽  
...  

Lasia spinosa (L.) is used ethnobotanically for the treatment of various diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, inflammation of the lungs, bleeding cough, hemorrhoids, intestinal diseases, stomach pain, and uterine cancer. This review is aimed at summarizing phytochemistry and pharmacological data with their molecular mechanisms of action. A search was performed in databases such as PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar using the keywords: “Lasia spinosa,” then combined with “ethnopharmacological use,” “phytochemistry,” and “pharmacological activity.” This updated review included studies with in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo experiments with compounds of known concentration and highlighted pharmacological mechanisms. The research results showed that L. spinosa contains many important nutritional and phytochemical components such as alkanes, aldehydes, alkaloids, carotenoids, flavonoids, fatty acids, ketones, lignans, phenolics, terpenoids, steroids, and volatile oil with excellent bioactivity. The importance of this review lies in the fact that scientific pharmacological evidence supports the fact that the plant has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, antidiarrheal, antihelminthic, antidiabetic, antihyperlipidemic, and antinociceptive effects, while protecting the gastrointestinal system and reproductive. Regarding future toxicological and safety data, more research is needed, including studies on human subjects. In light of these data, L. spinosa can be considered a medicinal plant with effective bioactives for the adjuvant treatment of various diseases in humans.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Pieropan ◽  
AD Rivera ◽  
G Williams ◽  
F Calzolari ◽  
AM Butt ◽  
...  

AbstractOligodendrocytes are the myelin forming cells of the central nervous system (CNS) and are generated from oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs). Disruption or loss of oligodendrocytes and myelin has devastating effects on CNS function and integrity, which occurs in diverse neurological disorders, including Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and neuropsychiatric disorders. Hence, there is a need to develop new therapies that promote oligodendrocyte regeneration and myelin repair. A promising approach is drug repurposing, but most agents have potentially contrasting biological actions depending on the cellular context and their dose-dependent effects on intracellular regulatory pathways. Here, we have used a combined drug connectivity systems biology and neurobiological approach to identify compounds that exert positive and negative effects on oligodendroglia, depending on concentration. Notably, LY294002, a potent inhibitor of PI3K/Akt signalling, was the most highly ranked small molecule for both pro- and anti-oligodendroglial effects. We validated these in silico findings in multiple in vivo and ex vivo neurobiological models and demonstrate that low and high doses of LY294002 have a profoundly bipartite effect on the generation of OPCs and their differentiation into myelinating oligodendrocytes. Finally, we employed transcriptional profiling and signalling pathway activity assays to determine cell-specific mechanisms of action of LY294002 on oligodendrocytes and resolve optimal in vivo conditions required to promote myelin repair. These results demonstrate the power of multifactorial neurobiological and in silico strategies in determining the therapeutic potential of small molecules in neurodegenerative disorders.One-sentence summaryDrug discovery and CNS myelination


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 403-409
Author(s):  
S Sonitha ◽  
◽  
D Sivaraman ◽  
V Rani ◽  
◽  
...  

Medicinal plants have been used in traditional medicines for their unmatched availability of bioactive compounds. Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children worldwide. It is ranked 16th among the leading causes of years lived with disability. Medicinal plants have placed a vital role in the siddha system of medicine over centuries to cure acute and chronic illness. The aim of the present study was to investigate toxicity analysis to evaluate safety of the siddha drug Thulasi Ennai in vivo in wistar albino rats. Thulasi Ennai is a polyherbal siddha formulation mentioned in the ancient siddha books and literature, indicated to cure childhood bronchial asthma. In this study, Thulasi Ennai administered orally at a single dose of 2000mg/kg body weight and monitored for 14 days. For subacute toxicity study, Thulasi Ennai was orally administered in different doses of 200,400mg/kg body weight, daily for 28 days. At the end of each study physical parameters, hematological, biochemical and histopathological analysis were evaluated. No animals in each group of acute or subacute toxicity study showed mortality or clinical signs of toxicity throughout the study. Hence, the results of the study indicate a safe toxicological profile of Thulasi Ennai.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sieweke ◽  
Sethuraman Subramanian ◽  
Clara Busch ◽  
Kaaweh Molawi ◽  
Laufey Geirsdottir ◽  
...  

Abstract Alveolar macrophages (AM) are tissue resident macrophages of the lung that can be expanded in culture, but it is unknown to what extent culture affects their in vivo identity. Here we show that long-term ex vivo expanded mouse AM (exAM) maintain core AM gene expression but show culture adaptations related to adhesion, metabolism and proliferation. Strikingly, even after several months in culture exAM reacquired full transcriptional and epigenetic identity upon transplantation into the lung and could self-maintain in the natural niche long-term. Changes in open chromatin regions (OCR) observed in culture were fully reversible in transplanted exAM (texAM) and resulted in a gene expression profile indistinguishable from resident AM. Our results demonstrate that long-term proliferation of AM in culture does not compromise cellular identity in vivo. The demonstrated robustness of exAM identity provides new opportunities for mechanistic analysis and highlights the therapeutic potential of ex vivo expanded macrophages.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2234
Author(s):  
Anbharasi Lakshmanan ◽  
Roman A. Akasov ◽  
Natalya V. Sholina ◽  
Polina A. Demina ◽  
Alla N. Generalova ◽  
...  

Formulation of promising anticancer herbal drug curcumin as a nanoscale-sized curcumin (nanocurcumin) improved its delivery to cells and organisms both in vitro and in vivo. We report on coupling nanocurcumin with upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) using Poly (lactic-co-glycolic Acid) (PLGA) to endow visualisation in the near-infrared transparency window. Nanocurcumin was prepared by solvent-antisolvent method. NaYF4:Yb,Er (UCNP1) and NaYF4:Yb,Tm (UCNP2) nanoparticles were synthesised by reverse microemulsion method and then functionalized it with PLGA to form UCNP-PLGA nanocarrier followed up by loading with the solvent-antisolvent process synthesized herbal nanocurcumin. The UCNP samples were extensively characterised with XRD, Raman, FTIR, DSC, TGA, UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer, Upconversion spectrofluorometer, HRSEM, EDAX and Zeta Potential analyses. UCNP1-PLGA-nanocurcumin exhibited emission at 520, 540, 660 nm and UCNP2-PLGA-nanocurmin showed emission at 480 and 800 nm spectral bands. UCNP-PLGA-nanocurcumin incubated with rat glioblastoma cells demonstrated moderate cytotoxicity, 60–80% cell viability at 0.12–0.02 mg/mL marginally suitable for therapeutic applications. The cytotoxicity of UCNPs evaluated in tumour spheroids models confirmed UCNP-PLGA-nanocurcumin therapeutic potential. As-synthesised curcumin-loaded nanocomplexes were administered in tumour-bearing laboratory animals (Lewis lung cancer model) and showed adequate contrast to enable in vivo and ex vivo study of UCNP-PLGA-nanocurcumin bio distribution in organs, with dominant distribution in the liver and lungs. Our studies demonstrate promise of nanocurcumin-loaded upconversion nanoparticles for theranostics applications.


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