Metabolic Flexibility in Canine Mammary Tumors: Implications of Carnitine System

Deregulation of fatty acid catabolism provides an alternative energy source to glycolysis for cancer cell survival and proliferation. The regulator enzymes of the carnitine system (CS), responsible for the transport of fatty acids across mitochondrial membranes for β-oxidation are deregulated in tumorigenesis. Recently, we found that Carnitine Palmitoyl Transferase 1 (CPT1), a crucial regulator of CS components, is expressed and dysregulated in canine mammary tumor (CMT) tissues and cells. In this study, we examined the protein expression of the three remaining enzymes of CS (Carnitine Acylcarnitine Translocase (CACT), Carnitine Palmitoyl Transferase 2 (CPT2), Carnitine O-acetyltransferase (CrAT), in canine mammary cells and tissues by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. Protein expression of the components of CS was found in normal mammary glands and a concomitant deregulation of expression in CMT tissues that inversely correlated with the degree of tumor differentiation. Moreover, the expression and a different deregulation of CS-related proteins was also observed in CF33, CMT-U27, CMT-U309, and P114 cell lines used as in vitro model. These results demonstrate for the first time the expression of CS components in CMT tissues and cancer cells; however, further studies are needed to elucidate their roles in dogs as well

Proceedings from the Ice Hockey Summit III: Action on Concussion

Objectives The Ice Hockey Summit III provided updated scientific evidence on concussions in hockey to inform these five objectives: (1) describe sport related concussion (SRC) epidemiology, (2) classify prevention strategies, (3) define objective, diagnostic tests, (4) identify treatment and (5) integrate science and clinical care into prioritized action plans and policy. Methods Our action plan evolved from 40 scientific presentations. The 155 attendees (physicians, athletic trainers, physical therapists, nurses, neuropsychologists, scientists, engineers, coaches and officials) voted to prioritize these action items in the final Summit session. Results (1) establish a national and international hockey data base for SRCs at all levels; (2) eliminate body checking in Bantam youth hockey games; (3) expand a behavior modification program (Fair Play) to all youth hockey levels; (4) enforce game ejection penalties for fighting in Junior A and professional hockey leagues; (5) establish objective tests to diagnose concussion at point of care (POC); and (6) mandate baseline testing to improve concussion diagnosis for all age groups. Conclusions Expedient implementation of the Summit III prioritized action items is necessary to reduce the risk, severity and consequences of concussion in the sport of ice hockey

Role of monocyte/macrophage population in immune response

The central role of macrophages in host defence against infection and malignancy and processes such as atherosclerosis, makes macrophage biology a fascinating area for research in immunology and cell biology. The endocytic and phagocytic machinery of macrophages is particularly potent and their secretory potential is large and diverse. Studies of cell surface receptors and their role in antigen presentation, microbicidal and tumouricidal activity are actively researched and progress is now being made in cell adhesion within the immune system. This short-review hichlights the recent advance in macrophage biology

CYTOFLUORIMETRIC ANALYSIS OF CYTOKINE-PRODUCING LYMPHOCYTES IN BAL FROM TB PATIENTS

9 TB patients, 4 without (Group I) and with (Group II) chest X-ray evidence of cavitary disease were evaluated at admission for the frequencies of TH1 and TH2 CD4 T-cells in the BAL fluid using intracellular immunofluorescence with anti INF-y (TH1) and anti-IL-4 (TH2) antibodies and flow-cytometric analysis and for the release in 24 h. culture supematants of IFNy. TH1 CD4+ cells dominated (93 ± 2%) the alveolar lymphocytes while TH2 CD4+ T-cells were absent in Group I patients; on the other hand, both TH1 (66 ± 4%) and TH2 CD4+ T-cells (28 ± 5%) were present in Group II patients. Also, BAL cells from Group I patients release high levels of IFNy (144 ±13 pg/ml) with minimal levels of IL-4 (<2 pg/ml) while BAL cells from Group II patients released lower IFNy (23 ± 5 pg/ml) with higher levels of IL-4 (75 ± 24 pg/ml). This suggest that IFNy secretion may be lowered by the presence of activate TH2 CD4+ cells in the inflammatory milieu

ACCESSORY FUNCTION OF ALVEOLAR MACROPHAGES FROM PATIENTS WITH MILIARY TBC AND CAVITARY TBC

Alveolar macrophages are believed to be important in initial mycobacterial con¬tainment and for activation of the cellular immune response. There is substantial controversy about the ability and efficiency of alveolar macrophages to serve as accessory cells for T cell responses to antigen and mitogens. Generally, accessory function is one way antigen presenting cells generating sufficient secondary signals for optimal T-cell proliferation and IL-2 production. On the contrary, alveolar mac¬rophages (AM) are inferior accessory cells in comparison to monocytes whereas in TBC accessory function of AM seems to be increased. Methods: we compared the accessory index of AM and peripheral blood mono¬cytes (PBM) of patients with miliary active TBC (n = 19), active cavitary TBC (n = 10), and hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) (n = 12), by employing the histoincompatibility-insensitive Jurkat cells as indicator cells. Results: compared with the controls (1.07 ± 0.2) AMs of all groups with the exclusion of TBC cavitary exhibited significantly increased accessory functions (miliary TBC: 3.7 ± 2.9; HP: 3 ± 2). Only in HP, accessory index of PBM was significantly increased compared with controls (3 ± 1.3 and 1.3 ± 0.5 respectively). AMs from patients with TB, and HP express the costimulatory molecule CD80 on their surface and anti-CD80 antibodies inhibited the IL-2 release of Jurkat cells in this system to 61 db 25%. Coclusions: our data demonstrate that AM from patients with miliary TBC have the capability to act as competent accessory cells and that the reported accessory function of these cells is at least in part mediated by the expression of CD80