Use of serum-free media for peripheral blood mononuclear cell culture and the impact on T and B cell readouts.

Introduction: As part of a wider programme of work developing next-generation risk assessment approaches (NGRA) using non-animal methods (NAMs) for safety assessment of materials, Unilever SEAC is exploring the use of a peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) system to investigate how cells from different arms of the human immune system are impacted by different treatments. To maximise human relevance, the cell cultures are supported by human serum, but this came with some challenges, including an inability to measure induced levels of immunoglobulins due to high background levels. Therefore, a study comparing use of human sera containing media with three different chemically defined serum-free media was undertaken.

A replication and development of the Short Cognitive Mediation Beliefs Questionnaire (CMBQ-S).

The Cognitive Mediation Beliefs Questionnaire is a 15-item tool that assesses individuals' emotion beliefs about the cognitive mediation of emotions. It measures two emotion beliefs: stimulus-response generation beliefs and cognitive mediation change beliefs. This study aimed to reduce the number of items and test the validity of a briefer version of the Cognitive Mediation Beliefs Questionnaire.

The utility of Streptococcus mutans undecaprenol kinase for the chemoenzymatic synthesis of diverse non-natural isoprenoids.

Isoprene chemoenzymatic cascades (ICCs) overcome the complexity of natural pathways by leveraging a streamlined two-enzyme cascade, facilitating efficient synthesis of C5-isoprene diphosphate precursors from readily available alcohol derivatives. Despite the documented promiscuity of enzymes in ICCs, exploration of their potential for accessing novel compounds remains limited, and existing methods require additional enzymes for generating longer-chain diphosphates. In this study, we present the utility of Streptococcus mutans undecaprenol kinase (SmUdpK) for the chemoenzymatic synthesis of diverse non-natural isoprenoids.

Effectiveness of creative arts therapy for adult patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the effectiveness of creative arts therapy (CAT) interventions on the health outcomes of adult patients with cancer.

Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in six databases from their inception to June 10, 2023, with no restrictions on sex, age, cancer type, cancer stage, or treatment type. The Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB2) tool for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and the equivalent tool for non-RCTs (ROBINS-I) were used to assess the risk of bias.

Impact of a varied set of stimuli on a suite of immunological parameters within peripheral blood mononuclear cells: toward a non-animal approach for assessing immune modulation by materials intended for human use.

In toxicology, steps are being taken towards more mechanism-focused and human relevant approaches to risk assessment, requiring new approaches and methods. Additionally, there is increasing emphasis by regulators on risk assessment of immunotoxicity. Here we present data from a peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) system whereby a varied set of stimuli, including those against the TCR and Toll-like receptors, enable readouts of cytokine and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production with monocyte, T cell and B cell viability, proliferation, and associated activation markers.