Systemic delivery and SPECT/CT in vivo imaging of 125I-labelled oncolytic adenoviral mutants in models of pancreatic cancer.

Early phase clinical trials have demonstrated good therapeutic index for oncolytic adenoviruses in patients with solid tumours when administered intratumorally, resulting in local tumour elimination. Entrapment and binding of adenovirus to erythrocytes, blood factors, and neutralising antibodies have prevented efficient systemic delivery and targeting of distant lesions in the clinic. We previously generated the novel replication-selective Ad-3∆-A20T to improve tumour targeting by increasing the viral dose at distant sites. Here, we developed a protocol to directly radiolabel the virus for rapid and sensitive detection by single-photon emitted computed tomography (SPECT/CT) providing a convenient method for determining biodistribution following intravenous administration in murine models. Longitudinal whole-body scans, demonstrated efficient viral uptake in pancreatic Suit-2 and Panc04.03 xenografts with trace amounts of 125I-Ad-3∆-A20T up to 48 h after tail vein delivery. Hepatic and splenic radioactivity decreased over time. Analysis of tissues harvested at the end of the study, confirmed potency and selectivity of mutant viruses. Ad-3∆-A20T-treated animals showed higher viral genome copy numbers and E1A gene expression in tumors than in liver and spleen compared to Ad5wt. Our direct radiolabeling approach, allows for immediate screening of novel oncolytic adenoviruses and selection of optimal viral genome alterations to generate improved mutants

Anti-stromal treatment together with chemotherapy targets multiple signalling pathways in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Stromal targeting for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is rapidly becoming an attractive option, due to the lack of efficacy of standard chemotherapy and increased knowledge about PDAC stroma. We postulated that the addition of stromal therapy may enhance the anti-tumour efficacy of chemotherapy. Gemcitabine and all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) were combined in a clinically applicable regimen, to target cancer cells and pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) respectively, in 3D organotypic culture models and genetically engineered mice (LSL-Kras(G12D) (/+) ;LSL-Trp53(R172H) (/+) ;Pdx-1-Cre: KPC mice) representing the spectrum of PDAC. In two distinct sets of organotypic models as well as KPC mice, we demonstrate a reduction in cancer cell proliferation and invasion together with enhanced cancer cell apoptosis when ATRA is combined with gemcitabine, compared to vehicle or either agent alone. Simultaneously, PSC activity (as measured by deposition of extracellular matrix proteins such as collagen and fibronectin) and PSC invasive ability were both diminished in response to combination therapy. These effects were mediated through a range of signalling cascades (Wnt, hedgehog, retinoid, and FGF) in cancer as well as stellate cells, affecting epithelial cellular functions such as epithelial-mesenchymal transition, cellular polarity, and lumen formation. At the tissue level, this resulted in enhanced tumour necrosis, increased vascularity, and diminished hypoxia. Consequently, there was an overall reduction in tumour size. The enhanced effect of stromal co-targeting (ATRA) alongside chemotherapy (gemcitabine) appears to be mediated by dampening multiple signalling cascades in the tumour-stroma cross-talk, rather than ablating stroma or targeting a single pathway. © 2016 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.This work was supported by project grants from the Knowledge Transfer Network (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Committee) and Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund (UK) to HMK. CF was supported by an EMBO long term fellowship and by a Marie Curie Intra8European Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme. TB and FR were supported by Cancer Research UK (grant C14303/A17197). Other grant funding includes project grants from Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, Cancer Research UK and Barts Charity.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/path.472

Monitoring acid-volatile sulphide by a fast scan voltammetric method: application to mercury contamination studies in salt marsh sediments

The present work demonstrates the application of fast scan linear sweep cathodic stripping voltammetry to the determination of acid-volatile sulphide (AVS) in salt marsh sediments. This approach combines very fast analysis with relatively high sensitivity without the need for additional reagents or derivatization procedures. The purge-and-trap AVS methodology was used. The sulphide content in the trapping NaOH solution was directly measured by voltammetry with a high scan rate (1000 mV s−1). The limit of detection (3σ) was 0.34 μmol L−1 for a deposition time of 5 s. Vertical distribution of AVS in sediments was determined in salt marsh sediments of a Portuguese coastal lagoon vegetated with H. portulacoides and correlated to the total dissolved mercury content in pore waters. At the depth of higher root biomass (around 20 cm), AVS concentrations (range 0.24–24.8 μmol g−1) were low in comparison to other depths, probably due to modifications in sediments that occur in the vicinity of the roots. The highest dissolved mercury concentrations (835 and 675 ng L−1), were found at the surface layer and at 20 cm depth, with an opposite trend from that of AVS. A possible explanation is that root activity reduced AVS concentrations at the depth of higher root biomass and resulted in elevated pore water concentrations of mercury. Concentrations of mercury in pore water from layers above and below the high root biomass were consistently lower (less than 152 ng L−1)

Object-Oriented Software Engineering: Measuring and Controlling the Development Process

Although the benefits of Object-Orientation are manifold and it is, for certain, one of the mainstays for software production in the future, it will only achieve widespread practical acceptance when the management aspects of the software development process using this technology are carefully addressed. Here, software metrics play an important role allowing, among other things, better planning, the assessment of improvements, the reduction of unpredictability, early identification of potential problems and productivity evaluation. This paper proposes a set of metrics suitable for evaluating the use of the main abstractions of the Object-Oriented paradigm such as inheritance, encapsulation, information hiding or polymorphism and the consequent emphasis on reuse that, together, are believed to be responsible for the increase in software quality and development productivity. Those metrics are aimed at helping to establish comparisons throughout the practitioners' community and setting de..

Evaluation of thin mercury film rotating disk electrode to perform absence of gradients and Nernstian equilibrium stripping (AGNES) measurements

In the present work, the applicability of thin mercury film on a rotating disk electrode (TMF-RDE), to assess the free metal ion concentration by the absence of gradients and Nernstian equilibrium stripping (AGNES), is evaluated. The thickness of the mercury film and several AGNES parameters has been optimized. A nominal 16 nm film is chosen due to the higher signal (faradaic current) relative to the value of the noise (capacitive current). Due to the smaller volume to area ratio, the deposition time needed to reach a certain preconcentration factor (Y) is much shorter than in larger electrodes, like the HMDE. The limit of detection (3σ) for lead(II) is 7.4 × 10−9 M and 7.2 × 10−8 M for a Y of 5000 (deposition time of 150 s) and 1000 (deposition time of 100 s), respectively. A specific mathematical treatment is developed in order to subtract a corrected blank taking into account the degradation of the thin film (presumably, falling down of drops). The couple TMF-RDE/AGNES is successfully applied for speciation purposes in the systems Pb(II)–latex nanospheres and Pb(II)–IDA (iminodiacetic acid), where the stability constants calculated for both systems agree with values reported in the literature