Collaborating for the Successful Retirement and End-of-Life Care of Non-Human Primates in Biomedical Research.

Research facilities have established animal adoption programs for laboratory animals. However, adoption to private owners is not an option for non-human primates (NHPs), so their post-research life presents a unique challenge. Here, we describe a collaborative effort between laboratory animal veterinarians and behavioral management staff in retiring NHPs in place to ensure their quality of life after the completion of research projects.

Therapeutic DNA Vaccine Targeting Persisters Shortens Curative Tuberculosis Treatment.

Unlabelled: Mtb) is one of the leading infectious causes of death worldwide. There is no available licensed therapeutic vaccine that shortens active tuberculosis (TB) disease drug treatment and prevents relapse, despite the World Health Organization's calls. Here, we show that an intranasal DNA vaccine containing a fusion of the stringent response gene with the gene encoding the immature dendritic cell-targeting chemokine, MIP-3α/CCL20, shortens the duration of curative TB treatment in immunocompetent mice.

MIP3α-Rel intranasal DNA vaccination induces reactive T-cell infiltration into the lungs in mice and macaques.

(Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), is the leading cause of mortality due to a single infectious organism. While generally curable, TB requires a lengthy and complex antibiotic regimen, due in large part to bacteria that can shift to a persistent state in the presence of antibiotic pressure. Rel is the primary enzyme regulating the stringent response, which contributes to the metabolic shift of Mtb to a persistent state.

Determination of an Acclimation Period for Swine in Biomedical Research.

Swine are widely used models in biomedical research due to their physiologic and anatomic similarities to humans. During transport from vendors to research facilities, pigs are subject to a number of stressors, including environmental, social, and stress as a result of deprivation from food and water. As stress can have a number of adverse psychologic and physiologic effects, an acclimation period, defined as the period of time that an animal has to adjust and stabilize in a new environment, is recommended.

Combined islet and kidney xenotransplantation for diabetic nephropathy: an update in ongoing research for a clinically relevant application of porcine islet transplantation.

Combined islet and kidney xenotransplantation for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy represents a compelling and increasingly relevant therapeutic possibility for an ever-growing number of patients who would benefit from both durable renal replacement and cure of the underlying cause of their renal insufficiency: diabetes. Here we briefly review immune barriers to islet transplantation, highlight preclinical progress in the field, and summarize our experience with combined islet and kidney xenotransplantation, including both challenges with islet-kidney composite grafts as well as our recent success with sequential kidney followed by islet xenotransplantation in a pig-to-baboon model.

An ex vivo model of interactions between extracellular vesicles and peripheral mononuclear blood cells in whole blood.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can be loaded with therapeutic cargo and engineered for retention by specific body sites; therefore, they have great potential for targeted delivery of biomolecules to treat diseases. However, the pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of EVs in large animals remain relatively unknown, especially in primates. We recently reported that when cell culture-derived EVs are administered intravenously to Macaca nemestrina (pig-tailed macaques), they differentially associate with specific subsets of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).

Integrated cognitive behavioral intervention for functional tics (I-CBiT): case reports and treatment formulation.

Introduction: The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a global surge in functional tic-like behaviors (FTLBs). FTLBs are unique from primary tic disorders. They are thought to manifest through a complex interplay between environmental and personal factors, including the stress-arousal system, and are characterized by their sudden and explosive onset.

A comparison of different antibiotic regimens for the treatment of naturally acquired shigellosis in rhesus and pigtailed macaques (Macaca mulatta and nemestrina).

Background: Shigella spp. are common enteric pathogens in captive non-human primates. Treatment of symptomatic infections involves supportive care and antibiotic therapy, typically with an empirical choice of antibiotic.

Gelation, Phase Separation, and Fibril Formation in Aqueous Hydroxypropylmethylcellulose Solutions.

The thermoresponsive behavior of a hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) sample in aqueous solutions has been studied by a powerful combination of characterization tools, including rheology, turbidimetry, cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryoTEM), light scattering, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Consistent with prior literature, solutions with concentrations ranging from 0.3 to 3 wt % exhibit a sharp drop in the dynamic viscoelastic moduli G' and G″ upon heating near 57 °C.

Common Brain Structure Findings Across Children with Varied Reading Disability Profiles.

Dyslexia is a developmental disorder in reading that exhibits varied patterns of expression across children. Here we examined the degree to which different kinds of reading disabilities (defined as profiles or patterns of reading problems) contribute to brain morphology results in Jacobian determinant images that represent local brain shape and volume. A matched-pair brain morphometry approach was used to control for confounding from brain size and research site effects in this retrospective multi-site study of 134 children from eight different research sites.

Echocardiographic Characterization of a Murine Model of Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy Induced by Cardiac-specific Overexpression of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2.

Although rare, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) with midventricular obstruction is often associated with severe symptoms and complications. None of the existing HCM animal models display this particular phenotype. Our group developed a mouse line that overexpresses the ErbB2 receptor (ErbB2(tg)) in cardiomyocytes; we previously showed that the ErbB2 receptor induces cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, myocyte disarray, and fibrosis compatible with HCM.