Search results for " Vectors"
showing 10 items of 286 documents
Epidemiology and clinical features of Mediterranean spotted fever in Italy
2006
Mediterranean Spotted Fever is caused by Rickettsia conorii and is transmitted to humans by Rhipicephalus sanguineus, the common dog tick. It is characterized by the symptomatologic triad: fever, exanthema and "tache noire", the typical eschar at the site of the tick bite. In Italy the most affected region is Sicily. The seasonal peak of the disease (from June through September) occurs during maximal activity of immature stage ticks. Severe forms of the disease have been reported in 6% of patients, especially adults with one of the following conditions: diabetes, cardiac disease, chronic alcoholism, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, end stage kidney disease. The mortality rate m…
Successful adenovirus-mediated wild-type p53 gene transfer in patients with bladder cancer by intravesical vector instillation.
2002
PURPOSE: To study safety, feasibility, and biologic activity of adenovirus-mediated p53 gene transfer in patients with bladder cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twelve patients with histologically confirmed bladder cancer scheduled for cystectomy were treated on day 1 with a single intratumoral injection of SCH 58500 (rAd/p53) at cystoscopy at one dose level (7.5 × 1011 particles) or a single intravesical instillation of SCH 58500 with a transduction-enhancing agent (Big CHAP) at three dose levels (7.5 × 1011 to 7.5 × 1013 particles). Cystectomies were performed in 11 patients on day 3, and transgene expression, vector distribution, and biologic markers of transgene activity were assessed by m…
Temporal dynamics of hippocampal neurogenesis in chronic neurodegeneration.
2014
Increased neurogenesis has been reported in neurodegenerative disease, but its significance is unclear. In a mouse model of prion disease, Gomez-Nicola et al. detect increased neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus that partially counteracts neuronal loss. Targeting neurogenesis may have therapeutic potential.
CT-guided intratumoral gene therapy in non-small-cell lung cancer.
1999
The objective of this study was to prove the principle of CT-guided gene therapy by intratumoral injection of a tumor suppressor gene as an alternative treatment approach of incurable non-small-cell lung cancer. In a prospective clinical phase I trial six patients with non-small-cell lung cancer and a mutation of the tumor suppressor gene p53 were treated by CT-guided intratumoral gene therapy. Ten milliliters of a vector solution (replication-defective adenovirus with complete wild-type p53 cDNA) were injected under CT guidance. In four cases the vector solution was completely applied to the tumor center, whereas in two cases 2 ml aliquots were injected into different tumor areas. For the …
A phase I study of adenovirus-mediated wild-type p53 gene transfer in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
1998
Mutations of the tumor suppressor gene p53 are the most common genetic alterations observed in human cancer. Loss of wild-type p53 function impairs cell cycle arrest as well as repair mechanisms involved in response to DNA damage. Further, apoptotic pathways as induced by radio- or chemotherapy are also abrogated. Gene transfer of wild-type p53 was shown to reverse these deficiencies and to induce apoptosis in vitro and in preclinical in vivo tumor models. A phase I dose escalation study of a single intratumoral injection of a replication-defective adenoviral expression vector encoding wild-type p53 was carried out in patients with incurable non-small cell lung cancer. All patients enrolled…
[Mediterranean spotted fever in paediatric and adult patients: two clinical aspects of the same disease].
2012
Mediterranean Spotted Fever is an acute febrile disease caused by Rickettsia conorii and transmitted to humans by the brown dog tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus. Nearly 400 cases are reported every year in Sicily, mainly from June to September. The aim of this study is to compare the clinical and laboratory features of two different groups of patients , one of adults and one of children. The analysis included all adult patients with MSF diagnosed at the Institute of Infectious Diseases, Paolo Giaccone University Polyclinic in Palermo, during the period January 2007- August 2010 and all the children diagnosed with MSF at the G. Di Cristina Children Hospital in Palermo during the period January …
Upgrading cytochrome P450 activity in HepG2 cells co-transfected with adenoviral vectors for drug hepatotoxicity assessment
2011
In a number of adverse drug reactions leading to hepatotoxicity, drug metabolism is thought to be involved by the generation of reactive metabolites from non-toxic drugs. The use of hepatoma cell lines, such as HepG2 cell line, for the evaluation of drug-induced hepatotoxicity is hampered by their low cytochrome P450 expression which makes impossible the study of the toxicity produced by bioactivable compounds. Genetically manipulated cells constitute promising tools for hepatotoxicity applications. HepG2 cells were simultaneously transfected with recombinant adenoviruses encoding CYP1A2, CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 to confer them drug-metabolic competence. Upgraded cells (Adv-HepG2) were highly able…
Risk estimation for air travel-induced malaria transmission in central Europe – A mathematical modelling study
2019
Abstract Background Aim of our study was to identify conditions under which malaria transmission caused by imported infectious mosquitoes or travellers could occur at large central European airports, and if such transmission could be sustained by indigenous mosquitoes. Methods We developed a deterministic and a stochastic compartmental Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered-Susceptible (humans)/Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious (mosquitoes) model with two mosquito (imported Anopheles gambiae, indigenous A. plumbeus) and three human (travellers, airport personnel exposed/not exposed to imported A. gambiae) populations. We assessed various scenarios to identify combinations of model parameters…
Mosaic Qβ coats as a new presentation model
1998
The new protein carrier was developed on the basis of recombinant RNA phage Qbeta capsid. C-terminal UGA extension of the short form of Qbeta coat, so-called A1 extension, served as a target for presentation of foreign peptides on the outer surface of mosaic Qbeta particles. In conditions of enhanced UGA suppression, the proportion of A1-extended to short coats in mosaic particles dropped from 48% to 14%, with an increase of the length of A1 extension. A model insertion, short preS1 epitope 31-DPAFR-35 of hepatitis B surface antigen, demonstrated superficial location on the mosaic Qbeta particles and ensured specific antigenicity and immunogenicity.
Increased Atherosclerotic Lesions in ApoE Mice With Plasma Phospholipid Transfer Protein Overexpression
2003
Objective— Plasma phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) is involved in the metabolism of HDL and apolipoprotein B (apoB)-containing lipoproteins. Atherosclerosis susceptibility is decreased in mice with PLTP deficiency that is associated with decreased liver production of apoB-containing lipoproteins and increase in their antioxidant. To investigate additionally the effect of PLTP on the development of atherosclerosis, we overexpressed PLTP in mice. Methods and Results— PLTP was overexpressed in apoE knockout mice using an adenovirus-associated virus (AAV)-mediated system. Plasma PLTP activity was 1.3- to 2-fold higher in mice injected with AAV-PLTP than in mice injected with control AAV-GF…