PubMed

Related Articles Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics for tuberculosis meningitis. Clin Chim Acta. 2018 Apr 17;: Authors: Zhang P, Zhang W, Lang Y, Qu Y, Chu F, Chen J, Cui L Abstract Tuberculosis meningitis (TBM) is a prevalent form of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis that causes substantial morbidity and mortality. Diagnosis of TBM is difficult because of the limited sensitivity of existing laboratory techniques. A metabolomics approach can be used to investigate the sets of metabolites of both bacteria and host, and has been used to clarify the mechanisms underlying disease development, and identify metabolic changes, leadings to improved methods for diagnosis, treatment, and prognostication. Mass spectrometry (MS) is a major analysis platform used in metabolomics, and MS-based metabolomics provides wide metabolite coverage, because of its high sensitivity, and is useful for the investigation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and related diseases. It has been used to investigate TBM diagnosis; however, the processes involved in the MS-based metabolomics approach are complex and flexible, and often consist of several steps, and small changes in the methods used can have a huge impact on the final results. Here, the process of MS-based metabolomics is summarized and its applications in Mtb and Mtb-related diseases discussed. Moreover, the current status of TBM metabolomics is described. PMID: 29678632 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles Clinical and Inflammatory Phenotyping: Can Electronic Nose and NMR-based Metabolomics Work at the Bedside? Arch Med Res. 2018 Apr 17;: Authors: Maniscalco M, Motta A Abstract Electronic nose (eNose) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics seem to be able to identify metabolic and inflammatory profiles in patients with chronic obstructive diseases. The hypothesis arises from three recent studies using two different methods in patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), opening promising diagnostic perspectives. The possibility that the use of eNose and NMR-based metabolomics might provide clinical/inflammatory characteristics is intriguing. This might classify specific phenotypes of chronic airway disease regardless of the diagnosis asthma or COPD, therefore suggesting therapeutical targets for a personalized respiratory medicine through more efficient "tailored" strategies. PMID: 29678351 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles Metabolic retroconversion of trimethylamine N-oxide and the gut microbiota. Microbiome. 2018 Apr 20;6(1):73 Authors: Hoyles L, Jiménez-Pranteda ML, Chilloux J, Brial F, Myridakis A, Aranias T, Magnan C, Gibson GR, Sanderson JD, Nicholson JK, Gauguier D, McCartney AL, Dumas ME Abstract BACKGROUND: The dietary methylamines choline, carnitine, and phosphatidylcholine are used by the gut microbiota to produce a range of metabolites, including trimethylamine (TMA). However, little is known about the use of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) by this consortium of microbes. RESULTS: A feeding study using deuterated TMAO in C57BL6/J mice demonstrated microbial conversion of TMAO to TMA, with uptake of TMA into the bloodstream and its conversion to TMAO. Microbial activity necessary to convert TMAO to TMA was suppressed in antibiotic-treated mice, with deuterated TMAO being taken up directly into the bloodstream. In batch-culture fermentation systems inoculated with human faeces, growth of Enterobacteriaceae was stimulated in the presence of TMAO. Human-derived faecal and caecal bacteria (n = 66 isolates) were screened on solid and liquid media for their ability to use TMAO, with metabolites in spent media analysed by 1H-NMR. As with the in vitro fermentation experiments, TMAO stimulated the growth of Enterobacteriaceae; these bacteria produced most TMA from TMAO. Caecal/small intestinal isolates of Escherichia coli produced more TMA from TMAO than their faecal counterparts. Lactic acid bacteria produced increased amounts of lactate when grown in the presence of TMAO but did not produce large amounts of TMA. Clostridia (sensu stricto), bifidobacteria, and coriobacteria were significantly correlated with TMA production in the mixed fermentation system but did not produce notable quantities of TMA from TMAO in pure culture. CONCLUSIONS: Reduction of TMAO by the gut microbiota (predominantly Enterobacteriaceae) to TMA followed by host uptake of TMA into the bloodstream from the intestine and its conversion back to TMAO by host hepatic enzymes is an example of metabolic retroconversion. TMAO influences microbial metabolism depending on isolation source and taxon of gut bacterium. Correlation of metabolomic and abundance data from mixed microbiota fermentation systems did not give a true picture of which members of the gut microbiota were responsible for converting TMAO to TMA; only by supplementing the study with pure culture work and additional metabolomics was it possible to increase our understanding of TMAO bioconversions by the human gut microbiota. PMID: 29678198 [PubMed - in process]

Related Articles A randomized controlled cross-over trial investigating the effect of anti-inflammatory diet on disease activity and quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis: the Anti-inflammatory Diet In Rheumatoid Arthritis (ADIRA) study protocol. Nutr J. 2018 Apr 20;17(1):44 Authors: Winkvist A, Bärebring L, Gjertsson I, Ellegård L, Lindqvist HM Abstract BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects 0.5-1.0% of the population, and where many patients in spite of modern pharmacological treatment fail to reach remission. This affects physical as well as mental wellbeing and leads to severely reduced quality of life and reduced work capacity, thus yielding high individual as well as societal costs. As a complement to modern pharmacological treatment, lifestyle intervention should be evaluated as a treatment option. Scientific evidence exists for anti-inflammatory effects by single foods on RA, but no study exists where these foods have been combined to obtain maximum effect and thus offer a substantial improvement in patient life quality. The main goal of the randomized cross-over trial ADIRA (Anti-inflammatory Diet In Rheumatoid Arthritis) is to test the hypothesis that an anti-inflammatory diet intervention, compared to a regular diet, will decrease disease activity and improve quality of life in patients with stable established RA. METHODS: In total, 50 RA patients with moderate disease activity are randomized to receive initially either a portfolio diet based on several food items with suggested anti-inflammatory effects or a control diet during 2 × 10 weeks with 3 months wash-out between diets. Food bags are delivered weekly by a home food delivery chain and referred to as the fiber bag and the protein bag, respectively, to partially blind participants. Both groups continue with regular pharmacological treatment. Known food biomarkers will be analyzed to measure intervention compliance. Impact on disease severity (measured by DAS28, a composite score which predicts disability and progression of RA), risk markers for cardiovascular disease and quality of life are evaluated after each diet regimen. Metabolomics will be used to evaluate the potential to predict responders to dietary treatment. A health economic evaluation is also included. DISCUSSION: The nutritional status of patients with RA often is poor and many ask their physician for diet advice. No evidence-based dietary guidelines for patients with RA exist because of the paucity of well-conducted sufficiently large diet intervention trials. ADIRA is an efficacy study and will provide evidence as to whether dietary treatment of RA can reduce disease activity and improve quality of life as well as reduce individual and societal costs. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Registration Number: NCT02941055 . PMID: 29678183 [PubMed - in process]

Related Articles SECIMTools: a suite of metabolomics data analysis tools. BMC Bioinformatics. 2018 Apr 20;19(1):151 Authors: Kirpich AS, Ibarra M, Moskalenko O, Fear JM, Gerken J, Mi X, Ashrafi A, Morse AM, McIntyre LM Abstract BACKGROUND: Metabolomics has the promise to transform the area of personalized medicine with the rapid development of high throughput technology for untargeted analysis of metabolites. Open access, easy to use, analytic tools that are broadly accessible to the biological community need to be developed. While technology used in metabolomics varies, most metabolomics studies have a set of features identified. Galaxy is an open access platform that enables scientists at all levels to interact with big data. Galaxy promotes reproducibility by saving histories and enabling the sharing workflows among scientists. RESULTS: SECIMTools (SouthEast Center for Integrated Metabolomics) is a set of Python applications that are available both as standalone tools and wrapped for use in Galaxy. The suite includes a comprehensive set of quality control metrics (retention time window evaluation and various peak evaluation tools), visualization techniques (hierarchical cluster heatmap, principal component analysis, modular modularity clustering), basic statistical analysis methods (partial least squares - discriminant analysis, analysis of variance, t-test, Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test), advanced classification methods (random forest, support vector machines), and advanced variable selection tools (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator LASSO and Elastic Net). CONCLUSIONS: SECIMTools leverages the Galaxy platform and enables integrated workflows for metabolomics data analysis made from building blocks designed for easy use and interpretability. Standard data formats and a set of utilities allow arbitrary linkages between tools to encourage novel workflow designs. The Galaxy framework enables future data integration for metabolomics studies with other omics data. PMID: 29678131 [PubMed - in process]

16 new pubmed citations were retrieved for your search. Click on the search hyperlink below to display the complete search results: metabolomics These pubmed results were generated on 2018/04/21PubMed comprises more than millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.

17 new pubmed citations were retrieved for your search. Click on the search hyperlink below to display the complete search results: metabolomics These pubmed results were generated on 2018/04/20PubMed comprises more than millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.

Metabolomics on preadolescent children with high urinary Bisphenol A: response to Dr. Williams. Toxicol Sci. 2018 Apr 14;: Authors: Khan A, Park YH PMID: 29669048 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Dectin-1/2-induced autocrine PGE2 signaling licenses dendritic cells to prime Th2 responses. PLoS Biol. 2018 Apr 18;16(4):e2005504 Authors: Kaisar MMM, Ritter M, Del Fresno C, Jónasdóttir HS, van der Ham AJ, Pelgrom LR, Schramm G, Layland LE, Sancho D, Prazeres da Costa C, Giera M, Yazdanbakhsh M, Everts B Abstract The molecular mechanisms through which dendritic cells (DCs) prime T helper 2 (Th2) responses, including those elicited by parasitic helminths, remain incompletely understood. Here, we report that soluble egg antigen (SEA) from Schistosoma mansoni, which is well known to drive potent Th2 responses, triggers DCs to produce prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), which subsequently-in an autocrine manner-induces OX40 ligand (OX40L) expression to license these DCs to drive Th2 responses. Mechanistically, SEA was found to promote PGE2 synthesis through Dectin-1 and Dectin-2, and via a downstream signaling cascade involving spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2), and cyclooxygenase 1 and 2 (COX-1 and COX-2). In addition, this pathway was activated independently of the actions of omega-1 (ω-1), a previously described Th2-priming glycoprotein present in SEA. These findings were supported by in vivo murine data showing that ω-1-independent Th2 priming by SEA was mediated by Dectin-2 and Syk signaling in DCs. Finally, we found that Dectin-2-/-, and to a lesser extent Dectin-1-/- mice, displayed impaired Th2 responses and reduced egg-driven granuloma formation following S. mansoni infection, highlighting the physiological importance of this pathway in Th2 polarization during a helminth infection. In summary, we identified a novel pathway in DCs involving Dectin-1/2-Syk-PGE2-OX40L through which Th2 immune responses are induced. PMID: 29668708 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

A longitudinal 1H-NMR metabolomics analysis of urine from newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy undergoing hypothermia therapy. Clinical and medical legal insights. PLoS One. 2018;13(4):e0194267 Authors: Locci E, Noto A, Puddu M, Pomero G, Demontis R, Dalmazzo C, Delogu A, Fanos V, d'Aloja E, Gancia P Abstract Perinatal asphyxia is an event affecting around four million newborns worldwide. The 0.5 to 2 per 1000 of full term asphyxiated newborns suffer from hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), which is a frequent cause of death or severe disability and, as consequence, the most common birth injury claim for obstetrics, gynaecologists, and paediatricians. Perinatal asphyxia results from a compromised gas exchange that leads to hypoxemia, hypercapnia, and metabolic acidosis. In this work, we applied a metabolomics approach to investigate the metabolic profiles of urine samples collected from full term asphyxiated newborns with HIE undergoing therapeutic hypothermia (TH), with the aim of identifying a pattern of metabolites associated with HIE and to follow their modifications over time. Urine samples were collected from 10 HIE newborns at birth, during hypothermia (48 hours), at the end of the therapeutic treatment (72 hours), at 1 month of life, and compared with a matched control population of 16 healthy full term newborns. The metabolic profiles were investigated by 1H NMR spectroscopy coupled with multivariate statistical methods such as principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis. Multivariate analysis indicated significant differences between the urine samples of HIE and healthy newborns at birth. The altered metabolic patterns, mainly originated from the depletion of cellular energy and homeostasis, seem to constitute a characteristic of perinatal asphyxia. The HIE urine metabolome changes over time reflected either the effects of TH and the physiological growth of the newborns. Of interest, the urine metabolic profiles of the HIE non-surviving babies, characterized by the increased excretion of lactate, resulted significantly different from the rest of HIE population. PMID: 29668681 [PubMed - in process]

Correlated metabolomic, genomic, and histologic phenotypes in histologically normal breast tissue. PLoS One. 2018;13(4):e0193792 Authors: Sun X, Stewart DA, Sandhu R, Kirk EL, Pathmasiri WW, McRitchie SL, Clark RF, Troester MA, Sumner SJ Abstract Breast carcinogenesis is a multistep process accompanied by widespread molecular and genomic alterations, both in tumor and in surrounding microenvironment. It is known that tumors have altered metabolism, but the metabolic changes in normal or cancer-adjacent, nonmalignant normal tissues and how these changes relate to alterations in gene expression and histological composition are not well understood. Normal or cancer-adjacent normal breast tissues from 99 women of the Normal Breast Study (NBS) were evaluated. Data of metabolomics, gene expression and histological composition was collected by mass spectrometry, whole genome microarray, and digital image, respectively. Unsupervised clustering analysis determined metabolomics-derived subtypes. Their association with genomic and histological features, as well as other breast cancer risk factors, genomic and histological features were evaluated using logistic regression. Unsupervised clustering of metabolites resulted in two main clusters. The metabolite differences between the two clusters suggested enrichment of pathways involved in lipid metabolism, cell growth and proliferation, and migration. Compared with Cluster 1, subjects in Cluster 2 were more likely to be obese (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2, p<0.05), have increased adipose proportion (p<0.01) and associated with a previously defined Active genomic subtype (p<0.01). By the integrated analyses of histological, metabolomics and transcriptional data, we characterized two distinct subtypes of non-malignant breast tissue. Further research is needed to validate our findings, and understand the potential role of these alternations in breast cancer initiation, progression and recurrence. PMID: 29668675 [PubMed - in process]

New Markers for Predicting Fertility of the Male Gametes in the Post Genomic Age. Protein Pept Lett. 2018 Apr 18;: Authors: Dipresa S, De Toni L, Foresta C, Garolla A Abstract A number of test have been proposed to assess male fertility potential, ranging from routine testing by light microscopic method for evaluating semen samples, to screening test for DNA integrity aimed to look at sperm chromatin abnormalities. Spermatozoa are an extremely differentiated cell, they have critical functions for embryo development and heredity, in addiction to delivering a haploid paternal genome to the oocyte. Towards this goal certain requirements must always be met. The ability of spermatozoa to perform its reproductive function taking place in the spermatogenesis, a highly specialized process depending on multiple factors with effect on male fertility. In the past 30 years, large-scale analyses of transcriptomic and genome expression in mammals have generated a large amount of informations on numberless biomolecules involved in spermatogenesis and male germ cell reproductive function. Sperm proteome represents the protein content that spermatozoa needs to survive and work correctly and modifications of sperm proteome play a role in determining functional changes leading to a decrease of reproductive competence into affected spermatozoa. The post-genomic approach consists of different methodologies for concurrently testicular transcriptome studies, protein compositional analysis and metabolomics findings of the spermatozoa in humans. PMID: 29667547 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles Exploring the Sea Urchin Neuropeptide Landscape by Mass Spectrometry. J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2018 Apr 17;: Authors: Monroe EB, Annangudi SP, Wadhams AA, Richmond TA, Yang N, Southey BR, Romanova EV, Schoofs L, Baggerman G, Sweedler JV Abstract Neuropeptides are essential cell-to-cell signaling messengers and serve important regulatory roles in animals. Although remarkable progress has been made in peptide identification across the Metazoa, for some phyla such as Echinodermata, limited neuropeptides are known and even fewer have been verified on the protein level. We employed peptidomic approaches using bioinformatics and mass spectrometry (MS) to experimentally confirm 23 prohormones and to characterize a new prohormone in nervous system tissue from Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, the purple sea urchin. Ninety-three distinct peptides from known and novel prohormones were detected with MS from extracts of the radial nerves, many of which are reported or experimentally confirmed here for the first time, representing a large-scale study of neuropeptides from the phylum Echinodermata. Many of the identified peptides and their precursor proteins have low homology to known prohormones from other species/phyla and are unique to the sea urchin. By pairing bioinformatics with MS, the capacity to characterize novel peptides and annotate prohormone genes is enhanced. Graphical Abstract. PMID: 29667164 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles Diversity of Neuropeptide Cell-Cell Signaling Molecules Generated by Proteolytic Processing Revealed by Neuropeptidomics Mass Spectrometry. J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2018 Apr 17;: Authors: Hook V, Lietz CB, Podvin S, Cajka T, Fiehn O Abstract Neuropeptides are short peptides in the range of 3-40 residues that are secreted for cell-cell communication in neuroendocrine systems. In the nervous system, neuropeptides comprise the largest group of neurotransmitters. In the endocrine system, neuropeptides function as peptide hormones to coordinate intercellular signaling among target physiological systems. The diversity of neuropeptide functions is defined by their distinct primary sequences, peptide lengths, proteolytic processing of pro-neuropeptide precursors, and covalent modifications. Global, untargeted neuropeptidomics mass spectrometry is advantageous for defining the structural features of the thousands to tens of thousands of neuropeptides present in biological systems. Defining neuropeptide structures is the basis for defining the proteolytic processing pathways that convert pro-neuropeptides into active peptides. Neuropeptidomics has revealed that processing of pro-neuropeptides occurs at paired basic residues sites, and at non-basic residue sites. Processing results in neuropeptides with known functions and generates novel peptides representing intervening peptide domains flanked by dibasic residue processing sites, identified by neuropeptidomics. While very short peptide products of 2-4 residues are predicted from pro-neuropeptide dibasic processing sites, such peptides have not been readily identified; therefore, it will be logical to utilize metabolomics to identify very short peptides with neuropeptidomics in future studies. Proteolytic processing is accompanied by covalent post-translational modifications (PTMs) of neuropeptides comprising C-terminal amidation, N-terminal pyroglutamate, disulfide bonds, phosphorylation, sulfation, acetylation, glycosylation, and others. Neuropeptidomics can define PTM features of neuropeptides. In summary, neuropeptidomics for untargeted, global analyses of neuropeptides is essential for elucidation of proteases that generate diverse neuropeptides for cell-cell signaling. Graphical Abstract ᅟ. PMID: 29667161 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles Drought delays development of the sorghum root microbiome and enriches for monoderm bacteria. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Apr 16;: Authors: Xu L, Naylor D, Dong Z, Simmons T, Pierroz G, Hixson KK, Kim YM, Zink EM, Engbrecht KM, Wang Y, Gao C, DeGraaf S, Madera MA, Sievert JA, Hollingsworth J, Birdseye D, Scheller HV, Hutmacher R, Dahlberg J, Jansson C, Taylor JW, Lemaux PG, Coleman-Derr D Abstract Drought stress is a major obstacle to crop productivity, and the severity and frequency of drought are expected to increase in the coming century. Certain root-associated bacteria have been shown to mitigate the negative effects of drought stress on plant growth, and manipulation of the crop microbiome is an emerging strategy for overcoming drought stress in agricultural systems, yet the effect of drought on the development of the root microbiome is poorly understood. Through 16S rRNA amplicon and metatranscriptome sequencing, as well as root metabolomics, we demonstrate that drought delays the development of the early sorghum root microbiome and causes increased abundance and activity of monoderm bacteria, which lack an outer cell membrane and contain thick cell walls. Our data suggest that altered plant metabolism and increased activity of bacterial ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter genes are correlated with these shifts in community composition. Finally, inoculation experiments with monoderm isolates indicate that increased colonization of the root during drought can positively impact plant growth. Collectively, these results demonstrate the role that drought plays in restructuring the root microbiome and highlight the importance of temporal sampling when studying plant-associated microbiomes. PMID: 29666229 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles Synergistic anti-proliferative effect of mTOR inhibitor (rad001) plus gemcitabine on cholangiocarcinoma by decreasing choline kinase activity. Dis Model Mech. 2018 Apr 12;: Authors: Lin G, Lin KJ, Wang F, Chen TC, Yen TC, Yeh TS Abstract Although gemcitabine plus cisplatin is the gold standard chemotherapy regimen for advanced cholangiocarcinoma, the response rate has been disappointing. This study aims to investigate a novel therapeutic regimen (gemcitabine plus rad001, an mTOR inhibitor) for cholangiocarcinoma. Gemcitabine, oxaliplatin, cetuximab, and rad001 in various combinations were first evaluated in vitro using six cholangiocarcinoma cell lines. In vivo therapeutic efficacies of gemcitabine, rad001 alone and combination were further evaluated using a xenograft mouse model and a chemically induced orthotopic cholangiocarcinoma rat model. In the in vitro study, gemcitabine plus rad001 exhibited a synergistic therapeutic effect on the cholangiocarcinoma cells irrespective of the k-ras status. In the xenograft study, gemcitabine plus rad001 showed the best therapeutic effect on tumor volume change, which was associated with an increased caspase-3 expression, a decreased eIF4E expression, as well as overexpression of both death receptor and mitochondrial apoptotic pathway-related genes. In a chemically-induced cholangiocarcinoma-afflicted rat model, the gemcitabine plus rad001 treatment suppressed tumor glycolysis as measured by 18F FDG micro-PET (positron emission tomography). Also, an increased intra-tumoral free choline, a decreased glycerophosphocholine and nearly undetectable phosphocholine levels were demonstrated by proton NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), supported by a decreased choline kinase expression on Western blotting. We concluded that gemcitabine plus rad001 has a synergistic anti-proliferative effect on the cholangiocarcinoma irrespective of the k-ras status. The antitumor effect is associated with the flare-ups of both death receptor and mitochondrial pathways, as well as the down-regulation of the choline kinase activity, resulting in a characteristic change of choline metabolism. PMID: 29666220 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles Metabolic abnormalities in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a mini-review. Biochem Soc Trans. 2018 Apr 17;: Authors: Tomas C, Newton J Abstract Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), commonly known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), is a debilitating disease of unknown etiology. CFS/ME is a heterogeneous disease associated with a myriad of symptoms but with severe, prolonged fatigue as the core symptom associated with the disease. There are currently no known biomarkers for the disease, largely due to the lack of knowledge surrounding the eitopathogenesis of CFS/ME. Numerous studies have been conducted in an attempt to identify potential biomarkers for the disease. This mini-review offers a brief summary of current research into the identification of metabolic abnormalities in CFS/ME which may represent potential biomarkers for the disease. The progress of research into key areas including immune dysregulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, 5'-adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase activation, skeletal muscle cell acidosis, and metabolomics are presented here. Studies outlined in this mini-review show many potential causes for the pathogenesis of CFS/ME and identify many potential metabolic biomarkers for the disease from the aforementioned research areas. The future of CFS/ME research should focus on building on the potential biomarkers for the disease using multi-disciplinary techniques at multiple research sites in order to produce robust data sets. Whether the metabolic changes identified in this mini-review occur as a cause or a consequence of the disease must also be established. PMID: 29666214 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles A flexible MHC class I multimer loading system for large-scale detection of antigen-specific T cells. J Exp Med. 2018 Apr 17;: Authors: Luimstra JJ, Garstka MA, Roex MCJ, Redeker A, Janssen GMC, van Veelen PA, Arens R, Falkenburg JHF, Neefjes J, Ovaa H Abstract Adaptive immunity is initiated by T cell recognition of specific antigens presented by major histocompatibility complexes (MHCs). MHC multimer technology has been developed for the detection, isolation, and characterization of T cells in infection, autoimmunity, and cancer. Here, we present a simple, fast, flexible, and efficient method to generate many different MHC class I (MHC I) multimers in parallel using temperature-mediated peptide exchange. We designed conditional peptides for HLA-A*02:01 and H-2Kb that form stable peptide-MHC I complexes at low temperatures, but dissociate when exposed to a defined elevated temperature. The resulting conditional MHC I complexes, either alone or prepared as ready-to-use multimers, can swiftly be loaded with peptides of choice without additional handling and within a short time frame. We demonstrate the ease and flexibility of this approach by monitoring the antiviral immune constitution in an allogeneic stem cell transplant recipient and by analyzing CD8+ T cell responses to viral epitopes in mice infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus or cytomegalovirus. PMID: 29666167 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles Prevention and Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes: A Pathophysiological-Based Approach. Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2018 Apr 14;: Authors: Samocha-Bonet D, Debs S, Greenfield JR Abstract Prediabetes affects approximately 40% of American adults. Randomized trials report that a proportion of individuals with prediabetes develop diabetes despite caloric restriction, physical activity, and/or when treated with metformin, the first-line medication for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Currently, there are no valid predictors of the effectiveness of these measures in determining who will and who will not progress to the T2DM state. Few studies have examined the clinical and phenotypic predictors of better and worse glycemic response to lifestyle interventions and metformin in prediabetes and diabetes. Further studies incorporating 'omic' approaches to discover novel markers of phenotypes and treatment effectiveness may pave the way to personalizing the treatment of prediabetes and diabetes. PMID: 29665986 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles Gut Microbiota as a Target for Preventive and Therapeutic Intervention against Food Allergy. Nutrients. 2017 Jun 28;9(7): Authors: Aitoro R, Paparo L, Amoroso A, Di Costanzo M, Cosenza L, Granata V, Di Scala C, Nocerino R, Trinchese G, Montella M, Ercolini D, Berni Canani R Abstract The gut microbiota plays a pivotal role in immune system development and function. Modification in the gut microbiota composition (dysbiosis) early in life is a critical factor affecting the development of food allergy. Many environmental factors including caesarean delivery, lack of breast milk, drugs, antiseptic agents, and a low-fiber/high-fat diet can induce gut microbiota dysbiosis, and have been associated with the occurrence of food allergy. New technologies and experimental tools have provided information regarding the importance of select bacteria on immune tolerance mechanisms. Short-chain fatty acids are crucial metabolic products of gut microbiota responsible for many protective effects against food allergy. These compounds are involved in epigenetic regulation of the immune system. These evidences provide a foundation for developing innovative strategies to prevent and treat food allergy. Here, we present an overview on the potential role of gut microbiota as the target of intervention against food allergy. PMID: 28657607 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]