Patient-Derived Multiple Myeloma 3D Models for Personalized Medicine—Are We There Yet?

Despite the wide variety of existing therapies, multiple myeloma (MM) remains a disease with dismal prognosis. Choosing the right treatment for each patient remains one of the major challenges. A new approach being explored is the use of ex vivo models for personalized medicine. Two-dimensional culture or animal models often fail to predict clinical outcomes. Three-dimensional ex vivo models using patients’ bone marrow (BM) cells may better reproduce the complexity and heterogeneity of the BM microenvironment. Here, we review the strengths and limitations of currently existing patient-derived ex vivo three-dimensional MM models. We analyze their biochemical and biophysical properties, molecular and cellular characteristics, as well as their potential for drug testing and identification of disease biomarkers. Furthermore, we discuss the remaining challenges and give some insight on how to achieve a more biomimetic and accurate MM BM model. Overall, there is still a need for standardized culture methods and refined readout techniques. Including both myeloma and other cells of the BM microenvironment in a simple and reproducible three-dimensional scaffold is the key to faithfully mapping and examining the relationship between these players in MM. This will allow a patient-personalized profile, providing a powerful tool for clinical and research applications.     

IL-17A in Human Liver: Significant Source of Inflammation and Trigger of Liver Fibrosis Initiation

IL-17A is considered to guide liver inflammation and fibrosis. From twenty-two human liver samples of different fibrosis stages (F0 to F4), IL-17A, IL-22, and TGFβ1 protein expression in liver tissue lysates were analyzed. Ten paired samples of liver tissue (F0–F1 stage) and blood from the same patient were used to analyze intrahepatic and blood T-lymphoid IL-17A⁺ cells by flow cytometry. The analyses have been performed regardless of pathology, considering the stage of fibrosis. Human liver tissue was used for the primary human liver slice cultures, followed by subsequent cytokine stimulation and fibrotic markers’ analysis by ELISA. IL-17A production in human liver tissue was significantly higher in the early fibrotic stage compared with the advanced stage. Th17 T cells and, to a lesser extent, MAIT cells were the main sources of IL-17A in both compartments, the liver and the blood. Moreover, the presence of liver Th17IL-17A⁺INFγ⁺ cells was detected in the liver. IL-17A stimulation of human liver slice culture increased the expression of profibrotic and pro-inflammatory markers. IL-17A, secreted by Th17 and MAIT cells in the liver, triggered fibrosis by inducing the expression of IL-6 and profibrotic markers and could be a target for antifibrotic treatment. Further amplitude studies are needed to confirm the current results.     

先秦台型建筑(连载七)

该文对中国先秦台型建筑的渊源及其演变通过对相关文献研究中的引得作了系统的疏理。     

创伤弧菌的优化培养及快速检测

研究了创伤弧菌优化培养的方案,用以提高该菌的检出率。利用Design-Expert软件中的Box-Behnken中心组合实验原理,设计一组3因素3水平实验,通过响应曲面分析,得到优化培养参数为:含盐量3.65%,pH6.75,培养温度37.00℃,在该条件下培养液的OD595nm为0.520。利用创伤弧菌优化培养条件对市售海产样品进行了培养,并通过聚合酶链式反应（Polymerase Chain Reaction,PCR）对样品进行快速检测,且该菌的检出率高达23.3%。结果表明:应用本实验的优化培养方案、PCR法能快速有效检测水产品中存在的创伤弧菌。      

粘质沙雷氏菌的分离鉴定及产红色素培养基的优化

为确定KMR-3菌株的分类地位,对其进行了分类鉴定;为了提高其红色素产量,对发酵培养基进行了优化。以分离到的KMR-3菌株为供试材料,通过形态学、生理生化特征和16S rRNA基因序列分析对其进行了生物学分类鉴定。以LB液体培养基作为基础培养基,通过优化其不同组分（蛋白胨,酵母膏和NaCl）及含量以提高红色素产量。结果表明:KMR-3菌株归属为粘质沙雷氏菌,该菌株产红色素的最佳培养基为5g/L胰蛋白胨和1%甘油,pH5.0,温度28℃;该条件下,色素产量是基础培养基的13.4倍。该培养基蛋白用量少,促进粘质沙雷氏菌产生大量红色素,为其大规模生产提供依据。      

Host Cell Binding Mediated by Leptospira interrogans Adhesins

Leptospirosis is a neglected infectious disease with global impact on both humans and animals. The increase in urban development without sanitation planning is one of the main reasons for the disease spreading. The symptoms are similar to those of flu-like diseases, such as dengue, yellow fever, and malaria, which can result in a misleading clinical diagnosis. The characterization of host–pathogen interactions is important in the development of new vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics. However, the pathogenesis of leptospirosis is not well understood, and many gaps remain to be addressed. Here, we aimed to determine if Leptospira strains, virulent, culture-attenuated, and saprophytic, and the major outer membrane proteins OmpL37, OmpL1, LipL21, LipL41, and LipL46 are able to adhere to different endothelial, epithelial and fibroblast cell lines in vitro. We showed that virulent leptospires robustly bind to all cells compared to the culture-attenuated and saprophytic lines. The recombinant proteins exhibited certain adhesion, but only OmpL1 and LipL41 were able to bind to several cell lines, either in monolayer or in cell suspension. Blocking OmpL1 with polyclonal antibodies caused a decrease in bacterial binding to cells, contrasting with an increase observed when anti-LipL41 antibodies were used. The adhesion of OmpL1 to HMEC-1 and EA.hy926 was inhibited when cells were pre-incubated with collagen IV, suggesting that both compete for the same cell receptor. We present here for the first time the interaction of five leptospiral outer membrane proteins with several cell lines, and we conclude that LipL41 and OmpL1 may have an impact on leptospiral adhesion to mammalian cells and may mediate the colonization process in leptospiral pathogenesis.     

田口设计优化解脂耶罗维亚酵母产油发酵培养基

本研究以粗甘油为碳源通过田口设计对解脂耶罗维亚酵母产油脂的培养基进行优化。首先通过单因素实验得到对结果影响最显著的因素,在单因素实验的基础上利用Minitab 17设计田口式正交实验,对实验中各因素水平的均值和信噪比进行分析。结果表明培养基中的C/N和MgSO₄·7H₂O的浓度对油脂产量有极显著影响,CaCl₂的浓度有显著影响。最佳培养基组成为C/N为100∶1（粗甘油50 g/L,硫酸铵1.08 g/L）,MgSO₄·7H₂O 3 g/L,CaCl₂ 0.2 g/L,KH₂PO₄ 4 g/L。使用最佳培养基配方在28℃180 r/min条件下培养4 d,油脂产量达到1.859 g/L,与田口设计的预测结果 1.782 g/L接近,相对于未优化时油脂产量提高了48.5%。      

酸性体系下不同成因黄铁矿的浸出行为与电化学性质差异

以同沉积型黄铁矿和中温热液型黄铁矿为研究对象,考察了酸性培养基体系下2种不同成因黄铁矿的浸出行为和电化学性质.浸出试验结果表明:同沉积型黄铁矿浸出率为7.59％,而中温热液型黄铁矿浸出率仅为3.68％,同沉积型黄铁矿的浸出活性高于中温热液型黄铁矿.电化学试验结果表明:黄铁矿的矿物学成因不改变它的电化学溶解机制;同沉积型...     

Toward Xeno-Free Differentiation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Small Intestinal Epithelial Cells

The small intestinal epithelium has an important role in nutrition, but also in drug absorption and metabolism. There are a few two-dimensional (2D) patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based intestinal models enabling easy evaluation of transcellular transport. It is known that animal-derived components induce variation in the experimental outcomes. Therefore, we aimed to refine the differentiation protocol by using animal-free components. More specifically, we compared maturation of 2D-cultured iPCSs toward small intestinal epithelial cells when cultured either with or without serum, and either on Geltrex or on animal-free, recombinant laminin-based substrata. Differentiation status was characterized by qPCR, immunofluorescence imaging, and functionality assays. Our data suggest that differentiation toward definitive endoderm is more efficient without serum. Both collagen- and recombinant laminin-based coating supported differentiation of definitive endoderm, posterior definitive endoderm, and small intestinal epithelial cells from iPS-cells equally well. Small intestinal epithelial cells differentiated on recombinant laminin exhibited slightly more enterocyte specific cellular functionality than cells differentiated on Geltrex. Our data suggest that functional small intestinal epithelial cells can be generated from iPSCs in serum-free method on xeno-free substrata. This method is easily converted to an entirely xeno-free method.     

Looking at Developmental Neurotoxicity Testing from the Perspective of an Invertebrate Embryo

Developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) of chemical compounds disrupts the formation of a normal brain. There is impressive progress in the development of alternative testing methods for DNT potential in chemicals, some of which also incorporate invertebrate animals. This review briefly touches upon studies on the genetically tractable model organisms of Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster about the action of specific developmental neurotoxicants. The formation of a functional nervous system requires precisely timed axonal pathfinding to the correct cellular targets. To address this complex key event, our lab developed an alternative assay using a serum-free culture of intact locust embryos. The first neural pathways in the leg of embryonic locusts are established by a pair of afferent pioneer neurons which use guidance cues from membrane-bound and diffusible semaphorin proteins. In a systematic approach according to recommendations for alternative testing, the embryo assay quantifies defects in pioneer navigation after exposure to a panel of recognized test compounds for DNT. The outcome indicates a high predictability for test-compound classification. Since the pyramidal neurons of the mammalian cortex also use a semaphorin gradient for neurite guidance, the assay is based on evolutionary conserved cellular mechanisms, supporting its relevance for cortical development.