Implementation and use of cloud-based electronic lab notebook in a bioprocess engineering teaching laboratory.

BACKGROUND: Electronic lab notebooks (ELNs) are better equipped than paper lab notebooks (PLNs) to handle present-day life science and engineering experiments that generate large data sets and require high levels of data integrity. But limited training and a lack of workforce with ELN knowledge have restricted the use of ELN in academic and industry research laboratories which still rely on cumbersome PLNs for recordkeeping. We used LabArchives, a cloud-based ELN in our bioprocess engineering lab course to train students in electronic record keeping, good documentation practices (GDPs), and data integrity. RESULTS: Implementation of ELN in the bioprocess engineering lab course, an analysis of user experiences, and our development actions to improve ELN training are presented here. ELN improved pedagogy and learning outcomes of the lab course through stream lined workflow, quick data recording and archiving, and enhanced data sharing and collaboration. It also enabled superior data integrity, simplified information exchange, and allowed real-time and remote monitoring of experiments. Several attributes related to positive user experiences of ELN improved between the two subsequent years in which ELN was offered. Student responses also indicate that ELN is better than PLN for compliance. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that ELN can be successfully implemented in a lab course with significant benefits to pedagogy, GDP training, and data integrity. The methods and processes presented here for ELN implementation can be adapted to many types of laboratory experiments.

Slug inhibits pancreatic cancer initiation by blocking Kras-induced acinar-ductal metaplasia.

Cells in the pancreas that have undergone acinar-ductal metaplasia (ADM) can transform into premalignant cells that can eventually become cancerous. Although the epithelial-mesenchymal transition regulator Snail (Snai1) can cooperate with Kras in acinar cells to enhance ADM development, the contribution of Snail-related protein Slug (Snai2) to ADM development is not known. Thus, transgenic mice expressing Slug and Kras in acinar cells were generated. Surprisingly, Slug attenuated Kras-induced ADM development, ERK1/2 phosphorylation and proliferation. Co-expression of Slug with Kras also attenuated chronic pancreatitis-induced changes in ADM development and fibrosis. In addition, Slug attenuated TGF-α-induced acinar cell metaplasia to ductal structures and TGF-α-induced expression of ductal markers in ex vivo acinar explant cultures. Significantly, blocking the Rho-associated protein kinase ROCK1/2 in the ex vivo cultures induced expression of ductal markers and reversed the effects of Slug by inducing ductal structures. In addition, blocking ROCK1/2 activity in Slug-expressing Kras mice reversed the inhibitory effects of Slug on ADM, ERK1/2 phosphorylation, proliferation and fibrosis. Overall, these results increase our understanding of the role of Slug in ADM, an early event that can eventually lead to pancreatic cancer development.

Vaginal challenge with an SIV-based dual reporter system reveals that infection can occur throughout the upper and lower female reproductive tract.

The majority of new HIV infections occur in women as a result of heterosexual intercourse, overcoming multiple innate barriers to infection within the mucosa. However, the avenues through which infection is established, and the nature of bottlenecks to transmission, have been the source of considerable investigation and contention. Using a high dose of a single round non-replicating SIV-based vector containing a novel dual reporter system, we determined the sites of infection by the inoculum using the rhesus macaque vaginal transmission model. Here we show that the entire female reproductive tract (FRT), including the vagina, ecto- and endocervix, along with ovaries and local draining lymph nodes can contain transduced cells only 48 hours after inoculation. The distribution of infection shows that virions quickly disseminate after exposure and can access target cells throughout the FRT, with an apparent preference for infection in squamous vaginal and ectocervical mucosa. JRFL enveloped virions infect diverse CD4 expressing cell types, with T cells resident throughout the FRT representing the primary target. These findings establish a new perspective that the entire FRT is susceptible and virus can reach as far as the ovary and local draining lymph nodes. Based on these findings, it is essential that protective mechanisms for prevention of HIV acquisition must be present at protective levels throughout the entire FRT to provide complete protection.