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Irish Veterinary Journal Feb 2024Globally, Mastitis is a disease commonly affecting dairy cattle which leads to the use of antimicrobials. The majority of mastitis etiological agents are bacterial... (Review)
Review
Globally, Mastitis is a disease commonly affecting dairy cattle which leads to the use of antimicrobials. The majority of mastitis etiological agents are bacterial pathogens and Staphylococcus aureus is the predominant causative agent. Antimicrobial treatment is administered mainly via intramammary and intramuscular routes. Due to increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) often associated with antimicrobial misuse, the treatment of mastitis is becoming challenging with less alternative treatment options. Besides, biofilms formation and ability of mastitis-causing bacteria to enter and adhere within the cells of the mammary epithelium complicate the treatment of bovine mastitis. In this review article, we address the challenges in treating mastitis through conventional antibiotic treatment because of the rising AMR, biofilms formation, and the intracellular survival of bacteria. This review article describes different alternative treatments including phytochemical compounds, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), phage therapy, and Graphene Nanomaterial-Based Therapy that can potentially be further developed to complement existing antimicrobial therapy and overcome the growing threat of AMR in etiologies of mastitis.
PubMed: 38418988
DOI: 10.1186/s13620-024-00264-1 -
Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and... Feb 2024The three-dimensional (3D) structure of the ductal epithelium and the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM) are integral aspects of the breast tissue, and they have...
The three-dimensional (3D) structure of the ductal epithelium and the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM) are integral aspects of the breast tissue, and they have important roles during mammary gland development, function and malignancy. However, the architecture of the branched mammary epithelial network is poorly recapitulated in the current in vitro models. 3D bioprinting is an emerging approach to improve tissue-mimicry in cell culture. Here, we developed and optimized a protocol for 3D bioprinting of normal and cancerous mammary epithelial cells into a branched Y-shape to study the role of cell positioning in the regulation of cell proliferation and invasion. Non-cancerous cells formed continuous 3D cell networks with several organotypic features, whereas the ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) -like cancer cells exhibited aberrant basal polarization and defective formation of the basement membrane (BM). Quantitative analysis over time demonstrated that both normal and cancerous cells proliferate more at the branch tips compared to the trunk region of the 3D-bioprinted cultures, and particularly at the tip further away from the branch point. The location-specific rate of proliferation was independent of TGFβ signaling but invasion of the DCIS-like breast cancer cells was reduced upon the inhibition of TGFβ. Thus, our data demonstrate that the 3D-bioprinted cells can sense their position in the branched network of cells and proliferate at the tips, thus recapitulating this feature of mammary epithelial branching morphogenesis. In all, our results demonstrate the capacity of the developed 3D bioprinting method for quantitative analysis of the relationships between tissue structure and cell behavior in breast morphogenesis and cancer.
Topics: Humans; Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating; Bioprinting; Epithelial Cells; Epithelium; Transforming Growth Factor beta
PubMed: 38416267
DOI: 10.1007/s10911-024-09557-1 -
ISME Communications Jan 2024The human milk (HM) microbiota, a highly diverse microbial ecosystem, is thought to contribute to the health benefits associated with breast-feeding, notably through its...
The human milk (HM) microbiota, a highly diverse microbial ecosystem, is thought to contribute to the health benefits associated with breast-feeding, notably through its impact on infant gut microbiota. Our objective was to further explore the role of HM bacteria on gut homeostasis through a "disassembly/reassembly" strategy. HM strains covering the diversity of HM cultivable microbiota were first characterized individually and then assembled in synthetic bacterial communities (SynComs) using two human cellular models, peripheral blood mononuclear cells and a quadricellular model mimicking intestinal epithelium. Selected HM bacteria displayed a large range of immunomodulatory properties and had variable effects on epithelial barrier, allowing their classification in functional groups. This multispecies characterization of HM bacteria showed no clear association between taxonomy and HM bacteria impacts on epithelial immune and barrier functions, revealing the entirety and complexity of HM bacteria potential. More importantly, the assembly of HM strains into two SynComs of similar taxonomic composition but with strains exhibiting distinct individual properties, resulted in contrasting impacts on the epithelium. These impacts of SynComs partially diverged from the predicted ones based on individual bacteria. Overall, our results indicate that the functional properties of the HM bacterial community rather than the taxonomic composition itself could play a crucial role in intestinal homeostasis of infants.
PubMed: 38415201
DOI: 10.1093/ismeco/ycad019 -
Journal For Immunotherapy of Cancer Feb 2024Targeting of solid cancers with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells is limited by the lack of suitable tumor-specific antigens and the immunosuppressive,...
BACKGROUND
Targeting of solid cancers with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells is limited by the lack of suitable tumor-specific antigens and the immunosuppressive, desmoplastic tumor microenvironment that impedes CAR-T cell infiltration, activity and persistence. We hypothesized that targeting the endosialin (CD248) receptor, strongly expressed by tumor-associated pericytes and perivascular cancer-associated fibroblasts, would circumvent these challenges and offer an exciting antigen for CAR-T cell therapy due to the close proximity of target cells to the tumor vasculature, the limited endosialin expression in normal tissues and the lack of phenotype observed in endosialin knockout mice.
METHODS
We generated endosialin-directed E3K CAR-T cells from three immunocompetent mouse strains, BALB/c, FVB/N and C57BL/6. E3K CAR-T cell composition (CD4/CD8 ratio), activity in vitro against endosialin and endosialin cells, and expansion and activity in vivo in syngeneic tumor models as well as in tumor-naive healthy and wounded mice and tumor-bearing endosialin knockout mice was assessed.
RESULTS
E3K CAR-T cells were active in vitro against both mouse and human endosialin, but not endosialin, cells. Adoptively transferred E3K CAR-T cells exhibited no activity in endosialin knockout mice, tumor-naive endosialin wildtype mice or in wound healing models, demonstrating an absence of off-target and on-target/off-tumor activity. By contrast, adoptive transfer of E3K CAR-T cells into BALB/c, FVB/N or C57BL/6 mice bearing syngeneic breast or lung cancer lines depleted target cells in the tumor stroma resulting in increased tumor necrosis, reduced tumor growth and a substantial impairment in metastatic outgrowth.
CONCLUSIONS
Together these data highlight endosialin as a viable antigen for CAR-T cell therapy and that targeting stromal cells closely associated with the tumor vasculature avoids CAR-T cells having to navigate the harsh immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Further, the ability of E3K CAR-T cells to recognize and target both mouse and human endosialin cells makes a humanized and optimized E3K CAR a promising candidate for clinical development applicable to a broad range of solid tumor types.
Topics: Humans; Mice; Animals; Pericytes; Receptors, Chimeric Antigen; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Neoplasms; T-Lymphocytes; Mice, Knockout; Tumor Microenvironment; Antigens, Neoplasm; Antigens, CD
PubMed: 38413223
DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2023-008608 -
Tierarztliche Praxis. Ausgabe G,... Feb 2024s an acute-phase protein Haptoglobin (HP) is part of the non-specific immune response and represents a strong indicator for inflammatory conditions in cattle. The...
s an acute-phase protein Haptoglobin (HP) is part of the non-specific immune response and represents a strong indicator for inflammatory conditions in cattle. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of previous study results on serum and milk HP related to diseases in early lactation with special consideration of udder health. During inflammatory diseases of the reproductive tract, metabolism and musculoskeletal system, HP increases in the serum and may serve as a non-specific indicator for diseases during early lactation. Threshold values are available for the differentiation of healthy from diseased animals. A correlation exists between HP in blood and milk. The HP concentration in milk is not only influenced by systemic disorders, as the udder epithelium is also independently capable of synthesizing HP in case of an infection. In mastitis, HP concentration may be used to estimate the severity of the disease. In addition, HP may provide certain suspicions regarding the causative pathogen. Threshold values for milk HP are available for the differentiation of healthy individuals from subclinically resp. clinically affected animals.
Topics: Humans; Female; Cattle; Animals; Haptoglobins; Mammary Glands, Animal; Lactation; Milk; Mastitis, Bovine; Cattle Diseases
PubMed: 38412949
DOI: 10.1055/a-2241-7556 -
BioRxiv : the Preprint Server For... Feb 2024Excessive R-loops, a DNA-RNA hybrid structure, are associated with genome instability and mutation-related breast cancer. Yet the causality of R-loops in tumorigenesis...
Excessive R-loops, a DNA-RNA hybrid structure, are associated with genome instability and mutation-related breast cancer. Yet the causality of R-loops in tumorigenesis remains unclear. Here we show that R-loop removal by overexpression (Rh1-OE) in -knockout (BKO) mouse mammary epithelium exacerbates DNA replication stress without affecting homology-directed DNA repair. R-loop removal also diminishes luminal progenitors, the cell of origin for estrogen receptor α (ERα)-negative BKO tumors. However, R-loop reduction does not dampen spontaneous BKO tumor incidence. Rather, it gives rise to a significant percentage of ERα-expressing BKO tumors. Thus, R-loops reshape mammary tumor subtype rather than promoting tumorigenesis.
PubMed: 38405919
DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.14.580374 -
BioRxiv : the Preprint Server For... Feb 2024Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer affecting women in the United States. Ductal carcinoma (DCIS) is the earliest identifiable pre-invasive BC lesion....
Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer affecting women in the United States. Ductal carcinoma (DCIS) is the earliest identifiable pre-invasive BC lesion. Estimates show that 14 to 50% of DCIS cases progress to invasive BC. Our objective was to identify nuclear matrix proteins (NMP) with specifically altered expression in DCIS and later stages of BC compared to non-diseased breast reduction mammoplasty and a contralateral breast explant using mass spectrometry and RNA sequencing to accurately identify aggressive DCIS. Sixty NMPs were significantly differentially expressed between the DCIS and non-diseased breast epithelium in an isogenic contralateral pair of patient-derived extended explants. Ten of the sixty showed significant mRNA expression level differences that matched the protein expression. These 10 proteins were similarly expressed in non-diseased breast reduction cells. Three NMPs (RPL7A, RPL11, RPL31) were significantly upregulated in DCIS and all other BC stages compared to the matching contralateral breast culture and an unrelated non-diseased breast reduction culture. RNA sequencing analyses showed that these three genes were upregulated increasingly with BC progression. Finally, we identified three NMPs (AHNAK, CDC37 and DNAJB1) that were significantly downregulated in DCIS and all other BC stages compared to the isogenically matched contralateral culture and the non-diseased breast reduction culture using both proteomics and RNA sequencing techniques.
PubMed: 38405693
DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.13.580215 -
Biomedicines Feb 2024RNA binding proteins (RBPs) post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression by associating with regulatory sequences in the untranslated regions of mRNAs. Cold-inducible...
RNA binding proteins (RBPs) post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression by associating with regulatory sequences in the untranslated regions of mRNAs. Cold-inducible RBP (CIRP) is a stress-induced RBP that was recently shown to modulate inflammation in response to cellular stress, where it increases or decreases pro-tumorigenic (proinflammatory) cytokines in different contexts. CIRP expression is altered in several cancers, including breast cancer, but the effects of CIRP on inflammation in breast cancer is not known. Here, we investigate if CIRP alters growth and the inflammatory profile of breast tumors. Transgenic mice overexpressing CIRP in the mammary epithelium were crossed with the PyMT mouse model of breast cancer, and the effects on both early and late tumorigenesis and inflammation were assessed. The effects of CIRP knockdown were also assessed in Py2T cell grafts. Overexpression of CIRP led to decreased tumorigenesis in the PyMT mouse model. Conversely, the knockdown of CIRP in Py2T cell grafts led to increased tumor growth. Luminex cytokine assays assessed the effects on the inflammatory environment. CIRP/PyMT mammary glands/mammary tumors and serum had decreased cytokines that promote inflammation, angiogenesis, and metastasis compared to PyMT mammary glands and serum, documenting a shift towards an environment less supportive of tumorigenesis. CIRP overexpression also decreased CD4 helper T cells and increased CD8 cytotoxic T cells in mammary tumors. Overall, these data support a role for CIRP as a potent antitumor molecule that suppresses both local and systemic pro-tumorigenic inflammation.
PubMed: 38397942
DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines12020340 -
Fibroblast-Epithelium Co-culture Methods Using Epithelial Organoids and Cell Line-Derived Spheroids.Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton,... 2024Fibroblasts are an integral cell type of mammary gland stroma, which plays crucial roles in development, homeostasis, and tumorigenesis of mammary epithelium....
Fibroblasts are an integral cell type of mammary gland stroma, which plays crucial roles in development, homeostasis, and tumorigenesis of mammary epithelium. Fibroblasts produce and remodel extracellular matrix proteins and secrete a plethora of paracrine signals, which instruct both epithelial and other stromal cells of the mammary gland through mechanisms, which have not been fully understood. To enable deciphering of the intricate fibroblast-epithelial interactions, we developed several 3D co-culture methods. In this chapter, we describe methods for establishment of various types of embedded 3D co-cultures of mammary fibroblasts with mammary epithelial organoids, mammary tumor organoids, or breast cancer spheroids to investigate the role of fibroblasts in mammary epithelial development, morphogenesis, and tumorigenesis. The co-culture types include dispersed, aggregated, and transwell cultures.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Coculture Techniques; Epithelial Cells; Mammary Glands, Animal; Epithelium; Cell Line; Fibroblasts; Organoids; Carcinogenesis
PubMed: 38393591
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3674-9_8