Search results for "RFA"
showing 10 items of 11106 documents
Update of the statements on biology and clinical impact of occult hepatitis B virus infection
2019
In October 2018 a large number of international experts with complementary expertise came together in Taormina to participate in a workshop on occult hepatitis B virus infection (OBI). The objectives of the workshop were to review the existing knowledge on OBI, to identify issues that require further investigation, to highlight both existing controversies and newly emerging perspectives, and ultimately to update the statements previously agreed in 2008. This paper represents the output from the workshop.
TEM8/ANTXR1-Specific CAR T Cells as a Targeted Therapy for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.
2018
Abstract Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive disease lacking targeted therapy. In this study, we developed a CAR T cell–based immunotherapeutic strategy to target TEM8, a marker initially defined on endothelial cells in colon tumors that was discovered recently to be upregulated in TNBC. CAR T cells were developed that upon specific recognition of TEM8 secreted immunostimulatory cytokines and killed tumor endothelial cells as well as TEM8-positive TNBC cells. Notably, the TEM8 CAR T cells targeted breast cancer stem–like cells, offsetting the formation of mammospheres relative to nontransduced T cells. Adoptive transfer of TEM8 CAR T cells induced regression of established…
Mesopolysaccharides: The extracellular surface layer of visceral organs
2020
The mesothelium is a dynamic and specialized tissue layer that covers the somatic cavities (pleural, peritoneal, and pericardial) as well as the surface of the visceral organs such as the lung, heart, liver, bowel and tunica vaginalis testis. The potential therapeutic manipulation of visceral organs has been complicated by the carbohydrate surface layer—here, called the mesopolysaccharide (MPS)—that coats the outer layer of the mesothelium. The traditional understanding of MPS structure has relied upon fixation techniques known to degrade carbohydrates. The recent development of carbohydrate-preserving fixation for high resolution imaging techniques has provided an opportunity to re-examine…
Fishing for G-quadruplexes in solution with a perylene diimide derivative labeled with biotins
2018
A new fluorescent, non‐cytotoxic perylene diimide derivative with two biotins at the peri position, PDI2B, has been synthesized. This molecule is able to interact selectively with G‐quadruplexes with scarce or no affinity towards single‐ or double‐stranded DNA. These features have made it possible to design a simple, effective, safe, cheap, and selective method for fishing G‐quadruplex structures in solution by use of PDI2B and streptavidin coated magnetic beads. The new cyclic method reported leads to the recovery of more than 80 % of G‐quadruplex structures from solution, even in the presence of an excess of single‐stranded or duplex DNA as competitors. Moreover, PDI2B is a G4 ligand that…
Characterization of a Novel Conformational GII.4 Norovirus Epitope: Implications for Norovirus-Host Interactions
2016
ABSTRACT Human noroviruses (NoVs) are the main etiological agents of acute gastroenteritis worldwide. While NoVs are highly diverse (more than 30 genotypes have been detected in humans), during the last 40 years most outbreaks and epidemics have been caused by GII.4 genotype strains, raising questions about their persistence in the population. Among other potential explanations, immune evasion is considered to be a main driver of their success. In order to study antibody recognition and evasion in detail, we analyzed a conformational epitope recognized by a monoclonal antibody (3C3G3) by phage display, site-directed mutagenesis, and surface plasmon resonance. Our results show that the predi…
Physical mechanisms of micro- and nanodomain formation in multicomponent lipid membranes.
2016
This article summarizes a variety of physical mechanisms proposed in the literature, which can generate micro- and nanodomains in multicomponent lipid bilayers and biomembranes. It mainly focusses on lipid-driven mechanisms that do not involve direct protein-protein interactions. Specifically, it considers (i) equilibrium mechanisms based on lipid-lipid phase separation such as critical cluster formation close to critical points, and multiple domain formation in curved geometries, (ii) equilibrium mechanisms that stabilize two-dimensional microemulsions, such as the effect of linactants and the effect of curvature-composition coupling in bilayers and monolayers, and (iii) non-equilibrium me…
MicroRNA Intercellular Transfer and Bioelectrical Regulation of Model Multicellular Ensembles by the Gap Junction Connectivity.
2017
We have studied theoretically the microRNA (miRNA) intercellular transfer through voltage-gated gap junctions in terms of a biophysically grounded system of coupled differential equations. Instead of modeling a specific system, we use a general approach describing the interplay between the genetic mechanisms and the single-cell electric potentials. The dynamics of the multicellular ensemble are simulated under different conditions including spatially inhomogeneous transcription rates and local intercellular transfer of miRNAs. These processes result in spatiotemporal changes of miRNA, mRNA, and ion channel protein concentrations that eventually modify the bioelectrical states of small multi…
Human-Driven Microbiological Contamination of Benthic and Hyporheic Sediments of an Intermittent Peri-Urban River Assessed from MST and 16S rRNA Gene…
2017
International audience; Rivers are often challenged by fecal contaminations. The barrier effect of sediments against fecal bacteria was investigated through the use of a microbial source tracking (MST) toolbox, and by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) of V5-V6 16S rRNA gene (rrs) sequences. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling analysis of V5-V6 16S rRNA gene sequences differentiated bacteriomes according to their compartment of origin i.e., surface water against benthic and hyporheic sediments. Classification of these reads showed the most prevalent operating taxonomic units (OTU) to be allocated to Flavobacterium and Aquabacterium. Relative numbers of Gaiella, Haliangium, and Thermoleophilu…
Plasma modified PLA electrospun membranes for actinorhodin production intensification in Streptomyces coelicolor immobilized-cell cultivations
2017
Most of industrially relevant bioproducts are produced by submerged cultivations of actinomycetes. The immobilization of these Gram-positive filamentous bacteria on suitable porous supports may prevent mycelial cell-cell aggregation and pellet formation which usually negatively affect actinomycete submerged cultivations, thus, resulting in an improved biosynthetic capability. In this work, electrospun polylactic acid (PLA) membranes, subjected or not to O2-plasma treatment (PLA-plasma), were used as support for immobilized-cell submerged cultivations of Streptomyces coelicolor M145. This strain produces different bioactive compounds, including the blue-pigmented actinorhodin (ACT) and red-p…
Basement Membrane Mimics of Biofunctionalized Nanofibers for a Bipolar-Cultured Human Primary Alveolar-Capillary Barrier Model
2017
In vitro reconstruction of an alveolar barrier for modeling normal lung functions and pathological events serve as reproducible, high-throughput pharmaceutical platforms for drug discovery, diagnosis, and regenerative medicine. Despite much effort, the reconstruction of organ-level alveolar barrier functions has failed due to the lack of structural similarity to the natural basement membrane, functionalization with specific ligands for alveolar cell function, the use of primary cells and biodegradability. Here we report a bipolar cultured alveolar-capillary barrier model of human primary cells supported by a basement membrane mimics of fully synthetic bifunctional nanofibers. One-step elect…