Sialylation of campylobacter jejuni lipo-oligosaccharides: impact on phagocytosis and cytokine production in mice

<p>Background: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a post-infectious polyradiculoneuropathy, frequently associated with antecedent Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) infection. The presence of sialic acid on C. jejuni lipo-oligosaccharide (LOS) is considered a risk factor for development of GBS as it crucially determines the structural homology between LOS and gangliosides, explaining the induction of cross-reactive neurotoxic antibodies. Sialylated C. jejuni are recognised by TLR4 and sialoadhesin; however, the functional implications of these interactions in vivo are unknown.</p> <p>Methodology/Principal Findings: In this study we investigated the effects of bacterial sialylation on phagocytosis and cytokine secretion by mouse myeloid cells in vitro and in vivo. Using fluorescently labelled GM1a/GD1a ganglioside-mimicking C. jejuni strains and corresponding (Cst-II-mutant) control strains lacking sialic acid, we show that sialylated C. jejuni was more efficiently phagocytosed in vitro by BM-MΦ, but not by BM-DC. In addition, LOS sialylation increased the production of IL-10, IL-6 and IFN-β by both BM-MΦ and BM-DC. Subsequent in vivo experiments revealed that sialylation augmented the deposition of fluorescent bacteria in splenic DC, but not macrophages. In addition, sialylation significantly amplified the production of type I interferons, which was independent of pDC.</p> <p>Conclusions/Significance: These results identify novel immune stimulatory effects of C. jejuni sialylation, which may be important in inducing cross-reactive humoral responses that cause GBS</p&gt

The frontiers of participatory public engagement

Currently missing from critical literature on public engagement with academic research is a public-centric analysis of the wider contemporary context of developments in the field of public engagement and participation. Drawing on three differently useful strands of the existing theoretical literature on the public, this article compares a diverse sample of 100 participatory public engagement initiatives in order to first, analyse a selection of the myriad ways that the public is being constituted and supported across this contemporary field and second, identify what socio-cultural researchers might learn from these developments. Emerging from this research is a preliminary map of the field of public engagement and participation. This map highlights relationships and divergences that exist among diverse forms of practice and brings into clearer view a set of tensions between different contemporary approaches to public engagement and participation. Two ‘frontiers’ of participatory public engagement that socio-cultural researchers should attend are also identified. At the first, scholars need to be critical regarding the particular versions of the public that their preferred approach to engagement and participation supports and concerning how their specific identifications with the public relate to those being addressed across the wider field. At the second frontier, researchers need to consider the possibilities for political intervention that public engagement and participation practice could open out, both in the settings they are already working and also in the much broader, rapidly developing and increasingly complicated contemporary field of public engagement and participation that this article explores

Probing the Cytoadherence of Malaria Infected Red Blood Cells under Flow

Malaria is one of the most widespread and deadly human parasitic diseases caused by the Plasmodium (P.) species with the P.falciparum being the most deadly. The parasites are capable of invading red blood cells (RBCs) during infection. At the late stage of parasites’ development, the parasites export proteins to the infected RBCs (iRBC) membrane and bind to receptors of surface proteins on the endothelial cells that line microvasculature walls. Resulting adhesion of iRBCs to microvasculature is one of the main sources of most complications during malaria infection. Therefore, it is important to develop a versatile and simple experimental method to quantitatively investigate iRBCs cytoadhesion and binding kinetics. Here, we developed an advanced flow based adhesion assay to demonstrate that iRBC’s adhesion to endothelial CD36 receptor protein coated channels is a bistable process possessing a hysteresis loop. This finding confirms a recently developed model of cell adhesion which we used to fit our experimental data. We measured the contact area of iRBC under shear flow at different stages of infection using Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF), and also adhesion receptor and ligand binding kinetics using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). With these parameters, we reproduced in our model the experimentally observed changes in adhesion properties of iRBCs accompanying parasite maturation and investigated the main mechanisms responsible for these changes, which are the contact area during the shear flow as well as the rupture area size.Global Enterprise for Micro-Mechanics and Molecular MedicineUnited States. Dept. of Defense (DOD-ARO (W 911 NF-09-0480))Singapore–MIT Alliance for Research and Technology ((SMART) Fellowship)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF Grant No.1112825

Effects of Thyroxine Exposure on Osteogenesis in Mouse Calvarial Pre-Osteoblasts

The incidence of craniosynostosis is one in every 1,800-2500 births. The gene-environment model proposes that if a genetic predisposition is coupled with environmental exposures, the effects can be multiplicative resulting in severely abnormal phenotypes. At present, very little is known about the role of gene-environment interactions in modulating craniosynostosis phenotypes, but prior evidence suggests a role for endocrine factors. Here we provide a report of the effects of thyroid hormone exposure on murine calvaria cells. Murine derived calvaria cells were exposed to critical doses of pharmaceutical thyroxine and analyzed after 3 and 7 days of treatment. Endpoint assays were designed to determine the effects of the hormone exposure on markers of osteogenesis and included, proliferation assay, quantitative ALP activity assay, targeted qPCR for mRNA expression of Runx2, Alp, Ocn, and Twist1, genechip array for 28,853 targets, and targeted osteogenic microarray with qPCR confirmations. Exposure to thyroxine stimulated the cells to express ALP in a dose dependent manner. There were no patterns of difference observed for proliferation. Targeted RNA expression data confirmed expression increases for Alp and Ocn at 7 days in culture. The genechip array suggests substantive expression differences for 46 gene targets and the targeted osteogenesis microarray indicated 23 targets with substantive differences. 11 gene targets were chosen for qPCR confirmation because of their known association with bone or craniosynostosis (Col2a1, Dmp1, Fgf1, 2, Igf1, Mmp9, Phex, Tnf, Htra1, Por, and Dcn). We confirmed substantive increases in mRNA for Phex, FGF1, 2, Tnf, Dmp1, Htra1, Por, Igf1 and Mmp9, and substantive decreases for Dcn. It appears thyroid hormone may exert its effects through increasing osteogenesis. Targets isolated suggest a possible interaction for those gene products associated with calvarial suture growth and homeostasis as well as craniosynostosis. © 2013 Cray et al

Persistent inequalities in unplanned hospitalisation among colon cancer patients across critical phases of their care pathway, England, 2011-13.

BACKGROUND: Reducing hospital emergency admissions is a key target for all modern health systems. METHODS: We analysed colon cancer patients diagnosed in 2011-13 in England. We screened their individual Hospital Episode Statistics records in the 90 days pre-diagnosis, the 90 days post-diagnosis, and the 90 days pre-death (in the year following diagnosis), for the occurrence of hospital emergency admissions (HEAs). RESULTS: Between a quarter and two thirds of patients experience HEA in the three 90-day periods examined: pre-diagnosis, post-diagnosis and before death. Patients with tumour stage I-III from more deprived backgrounds had higher proportions of HEAs than less deprived patients during all studied periods. This remains even after adjusting for differing distributions of risk factors such as age, sex, comorbidity and stage at diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Although in some cases HEAs might be unavoidable or even appropriate, the proportion of HEAs varies by socioeconomic status, even after controlling for the usual patient factors, suggestive of remediable causes of excess emergency healthcare utilisation in patients belonging to higher deprivation groups. Future inquiries should address the potential role of clinical complications, sub-optimal healthcare administration, premature discharge or a lack of social support as potential explanations for these patterns of inequality

Diarrhoea in the critically ill is common, associated with poor outcome, and rarely due to Clostridium difficile

Diarrhoea is common in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients, with a reported prevalence of 15-38%. Many factors may cause diarrhoea, including Clostridium difficile, drugs (e.g. laxatives, antibiotics) and enteral feeds. Diarrhoea impacts on patient dignity, increases nursing workload and healthcare costs, and exacerbates morbidity through dermal injury, impaired enteral uptake and subsequent fluid imbalance. We analysed a cohort of 9331 consecutive patients admitted to a mixed general intensive care unit to establish the prevalence of diarrhoea in intensive care unit patients, and its relationship with infective aetiology and clinical outcomes. We provide evidence that diarrhoea is common (12.9% (1207/9331) prevalence) in critically ill patients, independently associated with increased intensive care unit length of stay (mean (standard error) 14.8 (0.26) vs 3.2 (0.09) days, p < 0.001) and mortality (22.0% (265/1207) vs 8.7% (705/8124), p < 0.001; adjusted hazard ratio 1.99 (95% CI 1.70-2.32), p < 0.001) compared to patients without diarrhoea even after adjusting for potential confounding factors, and infrequently caused by infective aetiology (112/1207 (9.2%)) such as Clostridium difficile (97/1048 (9.3%) tested) or virological causes (9/172 (5.7%) tested). Our findings suggest non-infective causes of diarrhoea in ICU predominate and pathophysiology of diarrhoea in critically ill patients warrants further investigation