Pharmacokinetic evaluation of the PNC disassembler metarrestin in wild-type and Pdx1-Cre;LSL-KrasG12D/+;Tp53R172H/+ (KPC) mice, a genetically engineered model of pancreatic cancer

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Purpose Metarrestin is a first-in-class small molecule clinical candidate capable of disrupting the perinucleolar compartment, a subnuclear structure unique to metastatic cancer cells. This study aims to define the pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of metarrestin and the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic relationship of metarrestin-regulated markers. Methods PK studies included the administration of single or multiple dose of metarrestin at 3, 10, or 25 mg/kg via intravenous (IV) injection, gavage (PO) or with chow to wild-type C57BL/6 mice and KPC mice bearing autochthonous pancreatic tumors. Metarrestin concentrations were analyzed by UPLC–MS/MS. Pharmacodynamic assays included mRNA expression profiling by RNA-seq and qRT-PCR for KPC mice. Results Metarrestin had a moderate plasma clearance of 48 mL/min/kg and a large volume of distribution of 17 L/kg at 3 mg/kg IV in C57BL/6 mice. The oral bioavailability after single-dose (SD) treatment was > 80%. In KPC mice treated with SD 25 mg/kg PO, plasma AUC0–∞ of 14400 ng h/mL, Cmax of 810 ng/mL and half-life (t1/2) of 8.5 h were observed. At 24 h after SD of 25 mg/kg PO, the intratumor concentration of metarrestin was high with a mean value of 6.2 µg/g tissue (or 13 µM), well above the cell-based IC50 of 0.4 µM. At multiple dose (MD) 25 mg/kg/day PO in KPC mice, mean tissue/plasma AUC0–24h ratio for tumor, spleen and liver was 37, 30 and 31, respectively. There was a good linear relationship of dosage to AUC0–24h and C24h. AUC0–24h MD to AUC0–24h SD ratios ranged from two for liver to five for tumor indicating additional accumulation in tumors. Dose-dependent normalization of FOXA1 and FOXO6 mRNA expression was observed in KPC tumors. Conclusions Metarrestin is an effective therapeutic candidate with a favorable PK profile achieving excellent intratumor tissue levels in a disease with known poor drug delivery.Intramural Research Program (IRP) of the NIHNational Cancer InstituteCenter for Cancer Research (ZIA BC 011267

Bimetallic MOFs (H3O)x[Cu(MF6)(pyrazine)2]·(4 − x)H2O (M = V4+, x = 0; M = Ga3+, x = 1): co-existence of ordered and disordered quantum spins in the V4+ system

The title compounds are bimetallic MOFs containing [Cu(pyz)2]2+ square lattices linked by MF6n− octahedra. In each, only the Cu2+ spins exhibit long-range magnetic order below 3.5 K (M = V4+) and 2.6 K (M = Ga3+). The V4+ spins remain disordered down to 0.5 K

Capric Acid Secreted by S. boulardii Inhibits C. albicans Filamentous Growth, Adhesion and Biofilm Formation

Candidiasis are life-threatening systemic fungal diseases, especially of gastro intestinal track, skin and mucous membranes lining various body cavities like the nostrils, the mouth, the lips, the eyelids, the ears or the genital area. Due to increasing resistance of candidiasis to existing drugs, it is very important to look for new strategies helping the treatment of such fungal diseases. One promising strategy is the use of the probiotic microorganisms, which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit. Such a probiotic microorganism is yeast Saccharomyces boulardii, a close relative of baker yeast. Saccharomyces boulardii cells and their extract affect the virulence factors of the important human fungal pathogen C. albicans, its hyphae formation, adhesion and biofilm development. Extract prepared from S. boulardii culture filtrate was fractionated and GC-MS analysis showed that the active fraction contained, apart from 2-phenylethanol, caproic, caprylic and capric acid whose presence was confirmed by ESI-MS analysis. Biological activity was tested on C. albicans using extract and pure identified compounds. Our study demonstrated that this probiotic yeast secretes into the medium active compounds reducing candidal virulence factors. The chief compound inhibiting filamentous C. albicans growth comparably to S. boulardii extract was capric acid, which is thus responsible for inhibition of hyphae formation. It also reduced candidal adhesion and biofilm formation, though three times less than the extract, which thus contains other factors suppressing C. albicans adherence. The expression profile of selected genes associated with C. albicans virulence by real-time PCR showed a reduced expression of HWP1, INO1 and CSH1 genes in C. albicans cells treated with capric acid and S. boulardii extract. Hence capric acid secreted by S. boulardii is responsible for inhibition of C. albicans filamentation and partially also adhesion and biofilm formation

Why Don't We Ask? A Complementary Method for Assessing the Status of Great Apes

Species conservation is difficult. Threats to species are typically high and immediate. Effective solutions for counteracting these threats, however, require synthesis of high quality evidence, appropriately targeted activities, typically costly implementation, and rapid re-evaluation and adaptation. Conservation management can be ineffective if there is insufficient understanding of the complex ecological, political, socio-cultural, and economic factors that underlie conservation threats. When information about these factors is incomplete, conservation managers may be unaware of the most urgent threats or unable to envision all consequences of potential management strategies. Conservation research aims to address the gap between what is known and what knowledge is needed for effective conservation. Such research, however, generally addresses a subset of the factors that underlie conservation threats, producing a limited, simplistic, and often biased view of complex, real world situations. A combination of approaches is required to provide the complete picture necessary to engage in effective conservation. Orangutan conservation (Pongo spp.) offers an example: standard conservation assessments employ survey methods that focus on ecological variables, but do not usually address the socio-cultural factors that underlie threats. Here, we evaluate a complementary survey method based on interviews of nearly 7,000 people in 687 villages in Kalimantan, Indonesia. We address areas of potential methodological weakness in such surveys, including sampling and questionnaire design, respondent biases, statistical analyses, and sensitivity of resultant inferences. We show that interview-based surveys can provide cost-effective and statistically robust methods to better understand poorly known populations of species that are relatively easily identified by local people. Such surveys provide reasonably reliable estimates of relative presence and relative encounter rates of such species, as well as quantifying the main factors that threaten them. We recommend more extensive use of carefully designed and implemented interview surveys, in conjunction with more traditional field methods

Comprehensive genetic dissection of wood properties in a widely-grown tropical tree: Eucalyptus

Background: Eucalyptus is an important genus in industrial plantations throughout the world and is grown for use as timber, pulp, paper and charcoal. Several breeding programmes have been launched worldwide to concomitantly improve growth performance and wood properties (WPs). In this study, an interspecific cross between Eucalyptus urophylla and E. grandis was used to identify major genomic regions (Quantitative Trait Loci, QTL) controlling the variability of WPs. Results: Linkage maps were generated for both parent species. A total of 117 QTLs were detected for a series of wood and end-use related traits, including chemical, technological, physical, mechanical and anatomical properties. The QTLs were mainly clustered into five linkage groups. In terms of distribution of QTL effects, our result agrees with the typical L-shape reported in most QTL studies, i.e. most WP QTLs had limited effects and only a few (13) had major effects (phenotypic variance explained > 15%). The co-locations of QTLs for different WPs as well as QTLs and candidate genes are discussed in terms of phenotypic correlations between traits, and of the function of the candidate genes. The major wood property QTL harbours a gene encoding a Cinnamoyl CoA reductase (CCR), a structural enzyme of the monolignol-specific biosynthesis pathway. Conclusions: Given the number of traits analysed, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the genetic architecture of wood properties in this Eucalyptus full-sib pedigree. At the dawn of Eucalyptus genome sequence, it will provide a framework to identify the nature of genes underlying these important quantitative traits. (Résumé d'auteur

Unexpected Ecological Resilience in Bornean Orangutans and Implications for Pulp and Paper Plantation Management

Ecological studies of orangutans have almost exclusively focused on populations living in primary or selectively logged rainforest. The response of orangutans to severe habitat degradation remains therefore poorly understood. Most experts assume that viable populations cannot survive outside undisturbed or slightly disturbed forests. This is a concern because nearly 75% of all orangutans live outside protected areas, where degradation of natural forests is likely to occur, or where these are replaced by planted forests. To improve our understanding of orangutan survival in highly altered forest habitats, we conducted population density surveys in two pulp and paper plantation concessions in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. These plantations consist of areas planted with fast-growing exotics intermixed with stands of highly degraded forests and scrublands. Our rapid surveys indicate unexpectedly high orangutan densities in plantation landscapes dominated by Acacia spp., although it remains unclear whether such landscapes can maintain long-term viable populations. These findings indicate the need to better understand how plantation-dominated landscapes can potentially be incorporated into orangutan conservation planning. Although we emphasize that plantations have less value for overall biodiversity conservation than natural forests, they could potentially boost the chances of orangutan survival. Our findings are based on a relatively short study and various methodological issues need to be addressed, but they suggest that orangutans may be more ecologically flexible than previously thought

The Prevalence and Risk Factors for Pneumococcal Colonization of the Nasopharynx among Children in Kilifi District, Kenya

BACKGROUND: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) reduce nasopharyngeal carriage of vaccine-serotype pneumococci but increase in the carriage of non-vaccine serotypes. We studied the epidemiology of carriage among children 3-59 months old before vaccine introduction in Kilifi, Kenya. METHODS: In a rolling cross-sectional study from October 2006 to December 2008 we approached 3570 healthy children selected at random from the population register of the Kilifi Health and Demographic Surveillance System and 134 HIV-infected children registered at a specialist clinic. A single nasopharyngeal swab was transported in STGG and cultured on gentamicin blood agar. A single colony of pneumococcus was serotyped by Quellung reaction. RESULTS: Families of 2840 children in the population-based sample and 99 in the HIV-infected sample consented to participate; carriage prevalence was 65.8% (95% CI, 64.0-67.5%) and 76% (95% CI, 66-84%) in the two samples, respectively. Carriage prevalence declined progressively with age from 79% at 6-11 months to 51% at 54-59 months (p<0.0005). Carriage was positively associated with coryza (Odds ratio 2.63, 95%CI 2.12-3.25) and cough (1.55, 95%CI 1.26-1.91) and negatively associated with recent antibiotic use (0.53 95%CI 0.34-0.81). 53 different serotypes were identified and 42% of isolates were of serotypes contained in the 10-valent PCV. Common serotypes declined in prevalence with age while less common serotypes did not. CONCLUSION: Carriage prevalence in children was high, serotypes were diverse, and the majority of strains were of serotypes not represented in the 10-valent PCV. Vaccine introduction in Kenya will provide a natural test of virulence for the many circulating non-vaccine serotypes

Declining Orangutan Encounter Rates from Wallace to the Present Suggest the Species Was Once More Abundant

BACKGROUND: Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) currently occur at low densities and seeing a wild one is a rare event. Compared to present low encounter rates of orangutans, it is striking how many orangutan each day historic collectors like Alfred Russel Wallace were able to shoot continuously over weeks or even months. Does that indicate that some 150 years ago encounter rates with orangutans, or their densities, were higher than now? METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We test this hypothesis by quantifying encounter rates obtained from hunting accounts, museum collections, and recent field studies, and analysing whether there is a declining trend over time. Logistic regression analyses of our data support such a decline on Borneo between the mid-19th century and the present. Even when controlled for variation in the size of survey and hunting teams and the durations of expeditions, mean daily encounter rates appear to have declined about 6-fold in areas with little or no forest disturbance. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This finding has potential consequences for our understanding of orangutans, because it suggests that Bornean orangutans once occurred at higher densities. We explore potential explanations-habitat loss and degradation, hunting, and disease-and conclude that hunting fits the observed patterns best. This suggests that hunting has been underestimated as a key causal factor of orangutan density and distribution, and that species population declines have been more severe than previously estimated based on habitat loss only. Our findings may require us to rethink the biology of orangutans, with much of our ecological understanding possibly being based on field studies of animals living at lower densities than they did historically. Our approach of quantifying species encounter rates from historic data demonstrates that this method can yield valuable information about the ecology and population density of species in the past, providing new insight into species' conservation needs

Incidence of Respiratory Virus-Associated Pneumonia in Urban Poor Young Children of Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2009–2011

Pneumonia is the leading cause of childhood death in Bangladesh. We conducted a longitudinal study to estimate the incidence of virus-associated pneumonia in children aged <2 years in a low-income urban community in Dhaka, Bangladesh.We followed a cohort of children for two years. We collected nasal washes when children presented with respiratory symptoms. Study physicians diagnosed children with cough and age-specific tachypnea and positive lung findings as pneumonia case-patients. We tested respiratory samples for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rhinoviruses, human metapneumovirus (HMPV), influenza viruses, human parainfluenza viruses (HPIV 1, 2, 3), and adenoviruses using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays.Between April 2009-March 2011, we followed 515 children for 730 child-years. We identified a total of 378 pneumonia episodes, 77% of the episodes were associated with a respiratory viral pathogen. The overall incidence of pneumonia associated with a respiratory virus infection was 40/100 child-years. The annual incidence of pneumonia/100 child-years associated with a specific respiratory virus in children aged < 2 years was 12.5 for RSV, 6 for rhinoviruses, 6 for HMPV, 4 for influenza viruses, 3 for HPIV and 2 for adenoviruses.Young children in Dhaka are at high risk of childhood pneumonia and the majority of these episodes are associated with viral pathogens. Developing effective low-cost strategies for prevention are a high priority

Pneumococcal Capsular Polysaccharide Structure Predicts Serotype Prevalence

There are 91 known capsular serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae. The nasopharyngeal carriage prevalence of particular serotypes is relatively stable worldwide, but the host and bacterial factors that maintain these patterns are poorly understood. Given the possibility of serotype replacement following vaccination against seven clinically important serotypes, it is increasingly important to understand these factors. We hypothesized that the biochemical structure of the capsular polysaccharides could influence the degree of encapsulation of different serotypes, their susceptibility to killing by neutrophils, and ultimately their success during nasopharyngeal carriage. We sought to measure biological differences among capsular serotypes that may account for epidemiological patterns. Using an in vitro assay with both isogenic capsule-switch variants and clinical carriage isolates, we found an association between increased carriage prevalence and resistance to non-opsonic neutrophil-mediated killing, and serotypes that were resistant to neutrophil-mediated killing tended to be more heavily encapsulated, as determined by FITC-dextran exclusion. Next, we identified a link between polysaccharide structure and carriage prevalence. Significantly, non-vaccine serotypes that have become common in vaccinated populations tend to be those with fewer carbons per repeat unit and low energy expended per repeat unit, suggesting a novel biological principle to explain patterns of serotype replacement. More prevalent serotypes are more heavily encapsulated and more resistant to neutrophil-mediated killing, and these phenotypes are associated with the structure of the capsular polysaccharide, suggesting a direct relationship between polysaccharide biochemistry and the success of a serotype during nasopharyngeal carriage and potentially providing a method for predicting serotype replacement