Phenotypic and transcriptomic characterization of canine myeloid-derived suppressor cells

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are key players in immune evasion, tumor progression and metastasis. MDSCs accumulate under various pathological states and fall into two functionally and phenotypically distinct subsets that have been identified in humans and mice: polymorphonuclear (PMN)-MDSCs and monocytic (M)-MDSCs. As dogs are an excellent model for human tumor development and progression, we set out to identify PMN-MDSCs and M-MDSCs in clinical canine oncology patients. Canine hypodense MHC class II-CD5-CD21-CD11b+ cells can be subdivided into polymorphonuclear (CADO48A+CD14-) and monocytic (CADO48A-CD14+) MDSC subsets. The transcriptomic signatures of PMN-MDSCs and M-MDSCs are distinct, and moreover reveal a statistically significant similarity between canine and previously published human PMN-MDSC gene expression patterns. As in humans, peripheral blood frequencies of canine PMN-MDSCs and M-MDSCs are significantly higher in dogs with cancer compared to healthy control dogs (PMN-MDSCs: p < 0.001; M-MDSCs: p < 0.01). By leveraging the power of evolution, we also identified additional conserved genes in PMN-MDSCs of multiple species that may play a role in MDSC function. Our findings therefore validate the dog as a model for studying MDSCs in the context of cancer

Development of a digital readout board for the ATLAS Tile calorimeter upgrade demonstrator

During the shutdown of the ATLAS scintillating Tile calorimeter (TileCal) in 2013/14 one of its on-detector electronic modules will be replaced with a compatible hybrid demonstrator system. This is being built to fulfill all requirements for the complete upgrade of the TileCal elec- tronics in 2022 but augmented to stay compatible with the present system. We report on the hybrid systems FPGA based communication module that is responsible for receiving and unpacking com- mands using a4.8 Gbps downlink and driving a high bandwidth data uplink. The report includes key points like multi gigabit transmission, clock distribution, programming and operation of the hardware. We also report on a firmware skeleton implementing all these key points and demon- strate how timing, trigger, control and data transmission can be achieved in the demonstrator

Towards better health: achieving a step change in health research in Ireland.

Item does not contain fulltext5 p