Design and thermal-hydraulic analysis of multi-target system with 100 MeV proton linear accelerator for the production of 67Cu and 68Ge radioisotopes.

Radioisotopes are widely used in the fields of medicine, science, and industry. The growing demand for medical radioisotopes has driven research on alternative production methods. In particular, both isotopes of 67Cu and 68Ge play vital roles in the medical environment in many countries to be used in the radio-immunotherapy and the positron emission tomography imaging, respectively. This study designed a multi-target system consisting of two Zn and one Ga2O3 plates to enable simultaneous production of the medical radioisotopes 67Cu and 68Ge using 100 MeV proton beams. To understand the thermal effect on the multi-targets, we examined the distribution of energy absorbed in each solid plate target when exposed to an accelerated proton beam through the thermal-fluid analysis based on ANSYS simulation. For confirming thermal stability for two Zn targets and one Ga2O3 target, the modified water flow path inside the multi-target system was designed effectively with the controlled distribution of multiple sub-holes between main inlet and the following four channels. It was confirmed that the newly designed multi-target system of Zn and Ga2O3 solid plates shows higher thermal stability than the case of uniform distribution of water inlet, which means it could be exposed to a higher current beam of 7.57% to decrease the processing time.

Prominent transcriptomic changes in Mycobacterium intracellulare under acidic and oxidative stress.

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), including Mycobacterium intracellulare is a member of slow-growing mycobacteria and contributes to a substantial proportion of nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease in humans affecting immunocompromised and elderly populations. Adaptation of pathogens in hostile environments is crucial in establishing infection and persistence within the host. However, the sophisticated cellular and molecular mechanisms of stress response in M. intracellulare still need to be fully explored. We aimed to elucidate the transcriptional response of M. intracellulare under acidic and oxidative stress conditions. RESULTS: At the transcriptome level, 80 genes were shown [FC] ≥ 2.0 and p < 0.05 under oxidative stress with 10 mM hydrogen peroxide. Specifically, 77 genes were upregulated, while 3 genes were downregulated. In functional analysis, oxidative stress conditions activate DNA replication, nucleotide excision repair, mismatch repair, homologous recombination, and tuberculosis pathways. Additionally, our results demonstrate that DNA replication and repair system genes, such as dnaB, dinG, urvB, uvrD2, and recA, are indispensable for resistance to oxidative stress. On the contrary, 878 genes were shown [FC] ≥ 2.0 and p < 0.05 under acidic stress with pH 4.5. Among these genes, 339 were upregulated, while 539 were downregulated. Functional analysis highlighted nitrogen and sulfur metabolism pathways as the primary responses to acidic stress. Our findings provide evidence of the critical role played by nitrogen and sulfur metabolism genes in the response to acidic stress, including narGHIJ, nirBD, narU, narK3, cysND, cysC, cysH, ferredoxin 1 and 2, and formate dehydrogenase. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest the activation of several pathways potentially critical for the survival of M. intracellulare under a hostile microenvironment within the host. This study indicates the importance of stress responses in M. intracellulare infection and identifies promising therapeutic targets.

Cross-section measurements for 68Zn(p,2p)67Cu and 68Zn(p,2n)67Ga reactions using a newly developed separation method for the superposed [Formula: see text]-ray spectra.

We have developed a new analytical peak separation analysis for superposed [Formula: see text]-ray peaks on [Formula: see text]Cu and [Formula: see text]Ga to measure the [Formula: see text]Zn(p,2p)[Formula: see text]Cu and [Formula: see text]Zn(p,2n)[Formula: see text]Ga reactions, unlike in most previous works that were employing a radiochemical separation to measure them. Based on the nuclear data such as the [Formula: see text]-ray intensity and the half-life for each nuclide, we may develop a new analytical method that enables us to estimate the respective counts arising from each nuclide, thereby obtaining the nuclear reactions. The newly developed analytical method can universally be applied to separate the superposed [Formula: see text]-ray spectra of any two nuclides, especially superior in separating the nuclides with different half-lives. In comparison with the data in the literature, the two reactions in the present work are in good agreement with those of some previous works. In addition, we compared the present [Formula: see text]Zn(p,2n)[Formula: see text]Ga reaction without the peak separation to the data in the literature without the chemical separation, and find that a good agreement is evident, enhancing the reliability of the [Formula: see text]Zn(p,x)[Formula: see text]Zn and [Formula: see text]Zn(p,3n)[Formula: see text]Ga reactions, which are further measured in the present work.

Chelator-Free Copper-64-Incorporated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for PET/MR Imaging: Improved Radiocopper Stability and Cell Viability.

We have developed chelator-free copper-64-incorporated iron oxide (IO) nanoparticle (NPs) which have both magnetic and radioactive properties being applied to positron emission tomography (PET)-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We have found that the IO nanoparticles composed of radioactive isotope 64Cu may act as a contrast agent being a diagnostic tool for PET as well as a good T2 MRI nanoprobe due to their good r2/r1 ratio. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the 64Cu incorporation at the core of core-shell-structured IO NPs exhibits a good in vivo stability, giving us an insightful strategy for the design of a contrast agent for the PET-MRI system.

Genetic variation in the cag pathogenicity island of Helicobacter pylori strains detected from gastroduodenal patients in Thailand.

There is a lack of evidence of genetic variation in the Helicobacter pylori cag-PAI in Thailand, a region with the low incidence of gastric cancer. To clarify this issue, variation in the H. pylori cag-PAI in strains detected in Thailand was characterized and simultaneously compared with strains isolated from a high-risk population in Korea. The presence of ten gene clusters within cag-PAI (cagA, cagE, cagG, cagH, cagL, cagM, cagT, orf13, virB11, and orf10) and IS605 was characterized in H. pylori strains detected from these two countries. The cagA genotypes and EPIYA motifs were analyzed by DNA sequencing. The overall proportion of the ten cag-PAI genes that were detected ranged between 66 and 79%; additionally, approximately 48% of the strains from Thai patients contained an intact cag-PAI structure, while a significantly higher proportion (80%) of the strains from Korean patients had an intact cag-PAI. A significantly higher proportion of IS605 was detected in strains from Thai patients (55%). Analysis of cagA genotypes and EPIYA motifs revealed a higher frequency of Western-type cagA in Thai patients (87%) relative to Korean patients (8%) who were predominately associated with the East Asian-type cagA (92%). Variations in the Western-type cagA in the Thai population, such as EPIYA-BC patterns and EPIYA-like sequences (EPIYT), were mainly detected as compared with the Korean population (p < 0.05). In summary, H. pylori strains that colonize the Thai population tend to be associated with low virulence due to distinctive cag-PAI variation, which may partially explain the Asian paradox phenomenon in Thailand.

Optimized enzymatic dual functions of PaPrx protein by proton irradiation.

We investigated the effects of proton irradiation on the function and structure of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa peroxiredoxin (PaPrx). Polyacrylamide gel demonstrated that PaPrx proteins exposed to proton irradiation at several doses exhibited simultaneous formation of high molecular weight (HMW) complexes and fragmentation. Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) analysis revealed that the number of fragments and very low molecular weight (LMW) structures increased as the proton irradiation dose increased. The peroxidase activity of irradiated PaPrx was preserved, and its chaperone activity was significantly increased by increasing the proton irradiation dose. The chaperone activity increased about 3-4 fold after 2.5 kGy proton irradiation, compared with that of non-irradiated PaPrx, and increased to almost the maximum activity after 10 kGy proton irradiation. We previously obtained functional switching in PaPrx proteins, by using gamma rays and electron beams as radiation sources, and found that the proteins exhibited increased chaperone activity but decreased peroxidase activity. Interestingly, in this study we newly found that proton irradiation could enhance both peroxidase and chaperone activities. Therefore, we can suggest proton irradiation as a novel protocol for conserved 2-Cys protein engineering.

Early transcriptional responses of internalization defective Brucella abortus mutants in professional phagocytes, RAW 264.7.

BACKGROUND: Brucella abortus is an intracellular zoonotic pathogen which causes undulant fever, endocarditis, arthritis and osteomyelitis in human and abortion and infertility in cattle. This bacterium is able to invade and replicate in host macrophage instead of getting removed by this defense mechanism. Therefore, understanding the interaction between virulence of the bacteria and the host cell is important to control brucellosis. Previously, we generated internalization defective mutants and analyzed the envelope proteins. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the changes in early transcriptional responses between wild type and internalization defective mutants infected mouse macrophage, RAW 264.7. RESULTS: Both of the wild type and mutant infected macrophages showed increased expression levels in proinflammatory cytokines, chemokines, apoptosis and G-protein coupled receptors (Gpr84, Gpr109a and Adora2b) while the genes related with small GTPase which mediate intracellular trafficking was decreased. Moreover, cytohesin 1 interacting protein (Cytip) and genes related to ubiquitination (Arrdc3 and Fbxo21) were down-regulated, suggesting the survival strategy of this bacterium. However, we could not detect any significant changes in the mutant infected groups compared to the wild type infected group. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, it was very difficult to clarify the alterations in host cellular transcription in response to infection with internalization defective mutants. However, we found several novel gene changes related to the GPCR system, ubiquitin-proteosome system, and growth arrest and DNA damages in response to B. abortus infection. These findings may contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying host-pathogen interactions and need to be studied further.

Oral immunization of mice with Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing a neutralizing epitope of ApxIIA exotoxin from Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae induces systemic and mucosal immune responses.

An oral delivery system based on ApxIIA#5-expressed on Saccharomyces cerevisiae was studied for its potential to induce immune responses in mice. Murine bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (DCs) stimulated in vitro with ApxIIA#5-expressed on S. cerevisiae upregulated the expression of maturation and activation markers, leading to production of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-12p70 and IL-10. Presentation of these activated DCs to cluster of differentiation CD4+ T cells collected from mice that had been orally immunized with the ApxIIA#5-expressed on S. cerevisiae elicited specific T-cell proliferation. In addition, the orally immunized mice had stronger antigen-specific serum IgG and IgA antibody responses and larger numbers of antigen-specific IgG and IgA antibody-secreting cells in their spleens, Peyer's patches and lamina propria than did those immunized with vector-only S. cerevisiae or those not immunized. Furthermore, oral immunization induced T helper 1-type immune responses mediated via increased serum concentrations of IgG2a and an increase predominantly of IFN-γ-producing cells in their spleens and lamina propria. Our findings suggest that surface-displayed ApxIIA#5-expressed on S. cerevisiae may be a promising candidate for an oral vaccine delivery system for eliciting systemic and mucosal immunity.

Induction of protective immune responses against challenge of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae by oral administration with Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing Apx toxins in pigs.

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is a causative agent of porcine pleuropneumonia, a highly contagious endemic disease of pigs worldwide, inducing significant economic losses worldwide. Apx toxins, which are correlated with the virulence of A. pleuropneumoniae, were expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its possible use as an oral vaccine has been confirmed in our previous studies using a murine model. The present study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that oral immunization using S. cerevisiae expressing either ApxI or ApxII could protect pigs against A. pleuropneumoniae as an effective way of inducing both mucosal and systemic immune responses. The surface-displayed ApxIIA#5 expressing S. cerevisiae was selected as an oral vaccine candidate by finding on induction of higher immune responses in mice after oral vaccination. The surface-displayed ApxIIA#5 expressing S. cerevisiae and the ApxIA expressing S. cerevisiae were developed to serve as an oral vaccine in pigs. The vaccinated pigs showed higher specific IgG- and IgA-related antibody activities than the non-treated control and vector control pigs. Additionally, the induced immune responses were found to protect pigs infected with A. pleuropneumoniae according to the analysis of clinical signs and the gross and microscopic pulmonary lesions. These results suggested that the surface-displayed ApxIIA#5 and ApxIA in S. cerevisiae might be a potential oral vaccine to protect pigs against porcine pleuropneumonia. Thus the present study is expected to contribute to the development of a live oral vaccine against porcine pleuropneumonia as an alternative to current conventional vaccines.

Effect of bacteriophage in enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) infected pigs.

We evaluated effect of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) specific lytic phage CJ12 in ETEC infected pigs. Phage was mixed with feed at a ratio of 1:1,000 (0.1%). One week after initially providing phage mixed feed, pigs were challenged orally with 10(11) CFU of ETEC and body weight, diarrhea score, bacterial CFU and phage PFU in the feces were measured. Pigs of phage treated groups C (10(6) PFU/g) and D (10(8) PFU/g) showed more resistance to diarrhea due to ETEC infection compared to positive control group B on the third day after the initial challenge. Moreover, during the quantitation of ETEC in feces, both groups C and D showed approximately 63.92 and 60.73% reduced ETEC compared to positive control group B. Phages were successfully isolated from feces in both groups C and D during the experiment without any adverse effects, suggesting the possibility of using CJ12 as a feed additive.

Generation and envelope protein analysis of internalization defective Brucella abortus mutants in professional phagocytes, RAW 264.7.

Brucella abortus is a facultative intracellular bacteria that replicates within a macrophage without producing any classical virulence factors. It can become internalized to cells by zipper-like and/or swimming internalization mechanisms. However, the bacterial proteins involved in internalization remain unclear. To define these bacterial proteins, random insertion mutants of B. abortus were generated by the Tn5 transposome complexes. In all, 132 mutants were screened, cellular internalization-defective mutants were selected, and these genomic and envelope proteomic features were identified. The transposon insertion sites were ccmC,ppk and BruAb2_0168 for the mutant C10, C29 and D7, respectively. Mutant C10 showed a deficiency in internalization without any changes in expression of the cell envelope proteins; however, mutant C29 showed a reduced expression of OMP25, and a mutant D7 also showed reduced expression of OMP25, OMP28 and Porin2b. These results suggest OMP25 is not an essential factor, but might be involved in host cellular internalization. We identified the ppk gene and BruAb2_0168 locus which are associated to expression of OMP25, OMP28 and Porin2b as well as pleiotropic effects of ccmC gene.

Generation of transgenic corn-derived Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae ApxIIA fused with the cholera toxin B subunit as a vaccine candidate.

Corn, one of the most important forage crops worldwide, has proven to be a useful expression vehicle due to the availability of established transformation procedures for this well-studied plant. The exotoxin Apx, a major virulence factor, is recognized as a common antigen of Actinobacillus (A.) pleuropneumoniae, the causative agent of porcine pleuropneumonia. In this study, a cholera toxin B (CTB)-ApxIIA#5 fusion protein and full-size ApxIIA expressed in corn seed, as a subunit vaccine candidate, were observed to induce Apx-specific immune responses in mice. These results suggest that transgenic corn-derived ApxIIA and CTB-ApxIIA#5 proteins are potential vaccine candidates against A. pleuropneumoniae infection.

Neuropilin2 expressed in gastric cancer endothelial cells increases the proliferation and migration of endothelial cells in response to VEGF.

The structure and characteristics of the tumor vasculature are known to be different from those of normal vessels. Neuropilin2 (Nrp2), which is expressed in non-endothelial cell types, such as neuronal or cancer cells, functions as a receptor for both semaphorin and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). After isolating tumor and normal endothelial cells from advanced gastric cancer tissue and normal gastric mucosa tissues, respectively, we identified genes that were differentially expressed in gastric tumor endothelial (TEC) and normal endothelial cells (NEC) using DNA oligomer chips. Using reverse transcriptase-PCR, we confirmed the chip results by showing that Nrp2 gene expression is significantly up-regulated in TEC. Genes that were found to be up-regulated in TEC were also observed to be up-regulated in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) that were co-cultured with gastric cancer cells. In addition, HUVECs co-cultured with gastric cancer cells showed an increased reactivity to VEGF-induced proliferation and migration. Moreover, overexpression of Nrp2 in HUVECs significantly enhanced the proliferation and migration induced by VEGF. Observation of an immunohistochemical analysis of various human tumor tissue arrays revealed that Nrp2 is highly expressed in the tumor vessel lining and to a lesser extent in normal tissue microvessels. From these results, we suggest that Nrp2 may function to increase the response to VEGF, which is more significant in TEC than in NEC given the differential expression, leading to gastric TEC with aggressive angiogenesis phenotypes.

Decursin and decursinol angelate inhibit VEGF-induced angiogenesis via suppression of the VEGFR-2-signaling pathway.

Inhibition of angiogenesis is an attractive approach for the treatment of angiogenic diseases, such as cancer. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is one of the most important activators of angiogenesis and interacts with the high-affinity tyrosine kinase receptors, VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2. The pyranocoumarin compounds decursin and decursinol angelate isolated from the herb, Angelica gigas, are known to possess potent anti-inflammatory activities. However, little is known about their antiangiogenic activity or their underlying mechanisms. Here, we show the antiangiogenic effects of decursin and decursinol angelate using in vitro assays and in vivo animal experiments. Decursin and decursinol angelate inhibited VEGF-induced angiogenic processes in vitro, including proliferation, migration and tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Decursin and decursinol angelate significantly suppressed neovessel formation in chick chorioallantoic membrane and tumor growth in a mouse model. The microvessel density in tumors treated with decursin for 14 days was significantly decreased compared with a vehicle control group. Decursin and decursinol angelate inhibited VEGF-induced phosphorylation of VEGFR-2, extracellular signal-regulated kinases and c-Jun N-terminal kinase mitogen-activated protein kinases. Taken together, these results demonstrate that decursin and decursinol angelate are novel candidates for inhibition of VEGF-induced angiogenesis.