Multicenter comparison of different real-time PCR assays for quantitative detection of Epstein-Barr virus.

Quantification of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in peripheral blood is important for the diagnosis and management of serious EBV diseases, including posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder. A variety of PCR-based methods are currently in use; however, there is little information on their comparability. This study assessed the relative performance of different quantitative assays. A multicenter comparative study was performed at eight sites using three panels consisting of serial dilutions of quantified EBV DNA and extracts from a total of 19 whole-blood specimens. Samples were distributed and tested blindly. Instrumentation, probe chemistries, amplification targets, and other test-related aspects varied considerably between laboratories. Each laboratory's calibration curve indicated strong evidence of a consistent log-linear relationship between viral load and cycle threshold, suggesting that intralaboratory tracking of a given patient would yield similar relative quantitative trends among the participating test sites. There was strong concordance among laboratories with respect to qualitative test results; however, marked quantitative discordance was seen. For most samples, the across-laboratory interquartile range of the reported viral load (in copies/microl) was roughly 0.6 log-units, and for one sample the overall range was approximately 4.2 log-units. While intralaboratory tracking of patients may yield similar results, these data indicate a need for caution when attempting to compare clinical results obtained at different institutions and suggest the potential value to be gained by more standardized testing methodology.

Primary retinal and cortical glial cell cultures: effects of medium and serum on attachment and growth.

Glial cells of the retina are anatomically distinctive and are thought to contribute importantly to retinal electrophysiology. However, no adequate preparation exists for studying them in isolation, in vitro. This report provides guidelines for primary retinal glial cultures (RET) and compares basal tissue culture features with those for neocortical glia (CX) and the well-studied rat glial line, C6. Cell attachment and growth of RET, CX, and C6 are unique. These differences are explored by the use of specific media and sera. RET attachment, unlike that for CX or C6, was far more sensitive to medium than serum. RET cells attached least quickly, CX most quickly; 4 hr after plating 20% of RET remained unattached. RET growth was poor and relatively insensitive to medium. In contrast, growth of CX or C6 was medium dependent. Serum had substantial effects on the growth of all three glial lines. Pig, goat, horse, and dog sera were particularly effective, often comparing favorably to fetal calf serum. Medium or serum optimal for cell attachment, typically, was not optimal for growth and serum effects were more dramatic than those of medium. By all measures, CX and C6, both derived from brain, were more alike than were the two rabbit primaries, CX and RET. The data reveal substantial differences between presumably similar cells and indicate a need for an empirically based choice of both basal-salt media and serum to optimize specific aspects of cell development in culture.

Molecular basis of an inherited retinal defect in Drosophila.

Fruitflies carrying the autosomal recessive mutation transient receptor potential (trp) are blind in bright light because the receptor potential of such a mutant decays almost completely during an intense stimulus. The trp gene has been localized and a set of partially overlapping genomic clones that include the trp gene has been isolated. The stretch of DNA represented by these genomic clones is found to contain genes that encode for four RNA species. Two of these RNA species are missing in the mutant. This observation is consistent with the notion that the mutation alters the DNA sequence in a region containing signals necessary for the expression of the gene. Accordingly, the molecular basis of the mutant phenotype may be due to the lack of a protein(s) that is/are important for normal visual transduction.

Use of 1,2:5,6-dianhydrogalactitol in studies on cell kinetics-directed chemotherapy schedules in human tumors in vivo.

Recently, it has been shown that 1,2:5,6-dianhydrogalactitol (DAG) can cause reversible alterations in cell cycle kinetics. Following treatment of CHO cells in vitro and Ehrlich ascites tumor cells in vivo, significant increases in the fraction of cells in S phase were observed to occur, and this was followed by an increase in the fractions of cells in G2 and mitosis. Treatments with S or G2-M phase-specific drugs at the peak enrichment times after DAG was given resulted in greater cell kills than when given by any other schedule. We have extended these kinetics-directed drug schedule studies to human tumors in vivo. The first phase was to determine whether DAG could be used to perturb cell kinetics in vivo as effectively in patients as it was in vitro. In 14 of 17 tumors studied, increases in the S-phase fractions were observed (ranging from 30 to 240% increases). The hr at which the S-phase peaks were observed (post-DAG treatment) was variable among the patients and among the tumors studied. However, this points out the value of obtaining actual cell kinetics data from serially biopsied tumors growing on the body surface and illustrates the importance that these data may have in helping to select an optimal time at which to give an S phase-specific drug. If such tumor cell kinetics-directed scheduling is ultimately shown to be effective, it will represent a means of individualizing therapy for a large fraction of tumor patients whose tumors are growing on or near the surface of the body. The tumors utilized in these studies were squamous carcinomas of the head and neck, skin, anus, and cervix; adenocarcinomas of the breast and rectum; and malignant melanoma. The second phase of this study will be to determine the tumor responses in patients treated with such kinetics-directed schedules.

Enhanced cell killing through the use of cell kinetics-directed treatment schedules for two-drug combinations in vitro.

Kinetics-directed drug treatment schedules were tested in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Ten hr after treatment with 1,2:5,6-dianhydrogalactitol (DAG) (at a dose lethal to less than 5% of the cells), a 150% enrichment of cells into the S phase of the cell cycle was observed. This blockade in S phase was reversible and was followed at 18 hr after an exposure to DAG by a 200% increase in the fraction of cells in the G2-M phases of the cell cycle. Bleomycin, known to be most effective against G2 + M cells, had the greatest effect on cell killing when administered at that time. Rapid analysis by flow microfluorometry techniques was used to determine the DAG-induced kinetics changes, thus allowing treatment with the second drugs at the most opportune time. The DAG-induced kinetics changes were also demonstrated in a line of human adenocarcinoma of the stomach in vitro and in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells in vivo. In all cases, the enrichment of cells into S phase was reversible at the doses used and was followed by a reversible blockade in G2-M.