Imaging glial activation in patients with post-treatment Lyme disease symptoms: A pilot study using [ ¹¹ C]DPA-713 PET

The pathophysiology of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) may be linked to overactive immunity including aberrant activity of the brain's resident immune cells, microglia. Here we used [ 11 C]DPA-713 and positron emission tomography to quantify the 18 kDa translocator protein, a marker of activated microglia or reactive astrocytes, in the brains of patients with post-treatment Lyme disease symptoms of any duration compared to healthy controls. Genotyping for the TSPO rs6971 polymorphism was completed, and individuals with the rare, low affinity binding genotype were excluded. Data from eight brain regions demonstrated higher [ 11 C]DPA-713 binding in 12 patients relative to 19 controls. [ 11 C]DPA-713 PET is a promising tool to study cerebral glial activation in PTLDS and its link to cognitive symptoms

Single cell analysis of kynurenine and System L amino acid transport in T cells

Acknowledgements We thank Cantrell group members for their critical discussion of the data, the Biological Resources unit, Sarah Thomson (for rLM work) and the Flow Cytometry facility (A. Whigham and R. Clarke) at the University of Dundee. This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust (Principal Research Fellowship to D.A.C. 097418/Z/11/Z and 205023/Z/16/Z, and Wellcome Trust Equipment Award 202950/Z/16/Z).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Adhesive curing through low-voltage activation

Instant curing adhesives typically fall within three categories, being activated by either light (photocuring), heat (thermocuring) or chemical means. These curing strategies limit applications to specific substrates and can only be activated under certain conditions. Here we present the development of an instant curing adhesive through low-voltage activation. The electrocuring adhesive is synthesized by grafting carbene precursors on polyamidoamine dendrimers and dissolving in aqueous solvents to form viscous gels. The electrocuring adhesives are activated at 2V versus Ag/AgCl, allowing tunable crosslinking within the dendrimer matrix and on both electrode surfaces. As the applied voltage discontinued, crosslinking immediately terminated. Thus, crosslinking initiation and propagation are observed to be voltage and time dependent, enabling tuning of both material properties and adhesive strength. The electrocuring adhesive has immediate implications in manufacturing and development of implantable bioadhesives