Public involvement in participatory research: the experiences of peer interviewers from Roma, Gypsy and Traveller communities.

Background: A vital component of research is patient and public involvement (PPI). The challenges of PPI increase when conducting cross-cultural research into sensitive subjects with marginalised ethnic minority groups.

Aim: To present the authors' reflections on conducting peer interviews with members of Roma, Gypsy and Traveller communities.

Malignant transformation of multipotent muscle-derived cells by concurrent differentiation signals.

Recent studies have shown that germ-line determination occurs early in development and that extracellular signaling can alter this fate. This denial of a cell's fate by counteracting its intrinsic signaling pathways through extrinsic stimulation is believed to be associated with oncogenesis. Using specific populations of multipotent skeletal muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs), we have been able to generate tumors by subjecting cells with specific lineage predilections to concomitant differentiation signals.

Comparative analysis of antitumor activity of CD40L, RANKL, and 4-1BBL in vivo following intratumoral administration of viral vectors or transduced dendritic cells.

The tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family comprises a group of ligands that regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, activation, maturation and apoptosis through interaction with the corresponding TNF receptor family members. In this study, we have evaluated whether adenovirus-mediated intratumoral gene transfer of CD40L, RANKL, or 4-1BBL elicits an immune response to established murine MC38 and TS/A tumors. Intratumoral administration of the recombinant adenoviral vectors expressing CD40L, RANKL or 4-1BBL 7 days post-tumor cell inoculation resulted in significant inhibition of MC38 tumor growth for all three ligands when compared with control groups treated with either saline or control adenovirus.