Surface Functionalization of an Ovarian Cancer Diagnostic Biosensor

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of death among women in United States and the disease has 1.4% (1 in 71) lifetime risk. Patients with ovarian cancer have a short median survival time after diagnosis with their 5-year survival rate being less than 40%. Early stage ovarian cancer represents an important target for screening since it is lethal in most late stage cases (1). Currently the primary screening procedure for ovarian cancer are blood levels of cancer antigen (CA) 125, however CA 125 levels can also be elevated due to other disorders and do not provide conclusive results (2). Utilizing the research done at the Cell and Molecular Biology department at the University of South Florida which conclusively revealed that urinary levels of bcl-2 are elevated in ovarian cancer patients (3), this research it the first of its kind looking to assess the capture of an analyte protein on a series of potential bioconjugated surfaces for use in a novel acoustic biosensor. Therefore, this research addresses the need for a reliable and economic testing platform to detect ovarian cancer.

Comparison of the transmissibility ofTrypanosoma congolensestrains, isolated in a trypanosomiasis endemic area of eastern Zambia, byGlossina morsitans morsitans

Transmission experiments were conducted to compare the transmissibility of genetically differentTrypanosoma congolense(Savannah subgroup) strains isolated from cattle in a trypanosomiasis endemic area of eastern Zambia. A total of 17 strains were compared. Three strains were extremely virulent with a short pre-patent period, high parasitaemia and a short median survival time (between 5 and 9 days) in mice. The remainder of the strains belonged to the moderate (6 strains) or low (8 strains) virulence categories with median survival times between 10 and 30 days and >30 days, respectively. Batches of 40 teneralGlossina morsitans morsitans(Diptera: Glossinidae) were offered a single bloodmeal on mice infected with one of those strains. Flies were dissected to determine their infection status 21 days later. The proportion of flies with procyclic and metacyclic infections differed significantly between trypanosome strains and were significantly higher in flies infected with extremely virulent strains (P=0·033 andP=0·016 for the differences in the procyclic infection rate of strains with moderate and low virulence, respectively andP=0·005 andP=0·019 for the differences in the metacyclic infection rate of strains with moderate and low virulence, respectively). On the other hand, moderately virulent strains had, in general, higher procyclic and metacyclic infection rates compared to low virulent strains. But the differences were not significant (P>0·05). The outcome of those experiments shows clear differences in transmissibility of trypanosome strains associated with their virulence. This observation confirms the theory for the evolution and maintenance of virulence in a parasite population and may explain the persistence of virulent trypanosome strains in a susceptible host population.

Goldfish, Carassius auratus, a Novel Animal Model for the Study of Mycobacterium marinumPathogenesis

ABSTRACT We have developed an animal model for studying mycobacterial pathogenesis using Mycobacterium marinum and the goldfish,Carassius auratus. Goldfish are injected intraperitoneally with doses between 102 and 109 CFU of M. marinum organisms. Depending on the dose of M. marinum organisms administered, an acute or chronic disease is produced. The acute disease is characterized by systemic mycobacterial infection, severe peritonitis, tissue necrosis, and a short median survival time. The chronic disease is characterized by granuloma formation in all organs and survival of animals to the end point of the experiment (56 days). Colony counts in organ homogenates showed recovery of mycobacteria from a high percentage of inoculated animals. We believe this well-characterized animal model will be useful for studying mycobacterial pathogenesis.