High Resolution In Vivo Bioluminescent Imaging for the Study of Bacterial Tumour Targeting

The ability to track microbes in real time in vivo is of enormous value for preclinical investigations in infectious disease or gene therapy research. Bacteria present an attractive class of vector for cancer therapy, possessing a natural ability to grow preferentially within tumours following systemic administration. Bioluminescent Imaging (BLI) represents a powerful tool for use with bacteria engineered to express reporter genes such as lux. BLI is traditionally used as a 2D modality resulting in images that are limited in their ability to anatomically locate cell populations. Use of 3D diffuse optical tomography can localize the signals but still need to be combined with an anatomical imaging modality like micro-Computed Tomography (μCT) for interpretation

The beta-catenin--TCF-1 pathway ensures CD4(+)CD8(+) thymocyte survival

The association of trans-acting T cell factors (TCFs) or lymphoid enhancer factor 1 (LEF-1) with their coactivator beta-catenin mediates transient transcriptional responses to extracellular Wnt signals. We show here that T cell maturation depends on the presence of the beta-catenin--binding domain in TCF-1. This domain is necessary to mediate the survival of immature CD4(+)CD8(+) double-positive (DP) thymocytes. Accelerated spontaneous thymocyte death in the absence of TCF-1 correlates with aberrantly low expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-x(L). Increasing anti-apoptotic effectors in thymocytes by the use of a Bcl-2 transgene rescued TCF-1-deficient DP thymocytes from apoptosis. Thus, TCF-1, upon association with beta-catenin, transiently ensures the survival of immature T cells, which enables them to generate and edit T cell receptor (TCR) alpha chains and attempt TCR-mediated positive selection

Role of STAT5 in controlling cell survival and immunoglobulin gene recombination during pro-B cell development

STAT5 and IL-7 signaling are thought to control B-lymphopoiesis by regulating key transcription factor genes and activating V(H) gene segments at the Igh locus. Using conditional mutagenesis, we demonstrate that transgenic Bcl2 expression rescued the development of Stat5-deleted pro-B cells by compensating for the loss of Mcl-1. Ebf1 and Pax5 expression as well as V(H) gene recombination were normal in Bcl2-rescued pro-B cells lacking STAT5 or IL-7Rα. In agreement with this finding, STAT5-expressing pro-B cells contained little or no active chromatin at most V(H) genes. In contrast, Igk rearrangements were increased in STAT5-or IL-7Rα-deficient pro-B cells. Hence, STAT5 and IL-7 signaling control cell survival and the developmental ordering of immunoglobulin gene rearrangements by suppressing premature Igk recombination in pro-B cells