Persistent enhancement of bacterial motility increases tumor penetration.

Motile bacteria can overcome the transport limitations that hinder many cancer therapies. Active bacteria can penetrate through tissue to deliver treatment to resistant tumor regions. Bacterial therapy has had limited success, however, because this motility is heterogeneous, and within a population many individuals are non-motile.

Ileo-ceco-rectal Intussusception Requiring Intestinal Resection and Anastomosis in a Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax).

A 23-year-old male tawny eagle (Aquila rapax) was examined because of sudden onset of lethargy, regurgitation, and hematochezia. An intestinal obstruction was suspected based on radiographic findings, and an ileo-ceco-rectal intussusception was confirmed by coelioscopy. A 14.

Evaluation of the phenol red thread tear test in falconiformes.

Falconiformes are active searchers and hunters that require visual precision to catch their prey and survive in the wild. Despite this, ocular disease is likely to be underdiagnosed in these species, at least in part because of limited proven diagnostic methods and lack of published scientific data. Tear film deficiency is recognized as an important ocular surface disease in dogs but has not been well evaluated in birds.

Potent and tumor specific: arming bacteria with therapeutic proteins.

Bacteria are perfect vessels for targeted cancer therapy. Conventional chemotherapy is limited by passive diffusion, and systemic administration causes severe side effects. Bacteria can overcome these obstacles by delivering therapeutic proteins specifically to tumors.

Microtubule disruption synergizes with oncolytic virotherapy by inhibiting interferon translation and potentiating bystander killing.

In this study, we show that several microtubule-destabilizing agents used for decades for treatment of cancer and other diseases also sensitize cancer cells to oncolytic rhabdoviruses and improve therapeutic outcomes in resistant murine cancer models. Drug-induced microtubule destabilization leads to superior viral spread in cancer cells by disrupting type I IFN mRNA translation, leading to decreased IFN protein expression and secretion. Furthermore, microtubule-destabilizing agents specifically promote cancer cell death following stimulation by a subset of infection-induced cytokines, thereby increasing viral bystander effects.

Quorum-sensing Salmonella selectively trigger protein expression within tumors.

Salmonella that secrete anticancer proteins have the potential to eliminate tumors, but nonspecific expression causes damage to healthy tissue. We hypothesize that Salmonella, integrated with a density-dependent switch, would only express proteins in tightly packed colonies within tumors. To test this hypothesis, we cloned the lux quorum-sensing (QS) system and a GFP reporter into nonpathogenic Salmonella.

Genetically modified bacteria as a tool to detect microscopic solid tumor masses with triggered release of a recombinant biomarker.

Current tomographic methods of cancer detection have limited sensitivity and are unable to detect malignant masses smaller than half a centimeter in diameter. Mortality from tumor recurrence and metastatic disease would be reduced if small lesions could be detected earlier. To overcome this limitation, we created a detection system that combines the specificity of tumor-targeting bacteria with the sensitivity of a synthetic biomarker.

Inside-outside self-assembly of light-activated fast-release liposomes.

Building additional functionality into both the membrane and the internal compartments of biocompatible liposomes by self-assembly can provide ways of enhancing colloidal stability and spatial and temporal control of contents release. An interdigitation-fusion process is used to encapsulate near infrared light absorbing copper sulfide nanoparticles in the interior compartments of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine and dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol liposomes. Once formed, the liposome membrane is modified to include lysolipids and polyethylene glycol lipids by partitioning from lysolipid and PEG-lipid micelles in solution.

Trg-deficient Salmonella colonize quiescent tumor regions by exclusively penetrating or proliferating.

Chemotherapeutics fail to effectively treat tumors because they cannot reach quiescent regions far from blood vessels. Motile Salmonella are an attractive delivery system that could break this therapeutic barrier. However, little is known about the dissemination and tissue penetration of individual bacteria in tumors after intravenous administration.

Rapid, Reversible Release from Thermosensitive Liposomes Triggered by Near-Infra-Red Light.

We present a novel drug carrier consisting of plasmonic hollow gold nanoshells (HGN) chemically tethered to liposomes made temperature sensitive with lysolipids (LTSL). Continuous-wave irradiation by physiologically friendly near infra-red light at 800 nm for 2.5 minutes at laser intensities an order of magnitude below that known to damage skin generates heating localized to the liposome membrane.

Pharmacological modulation of anti-tumor immunity induced by oncolytic viruses.

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) not only kill cancer cells by direct lysis but also generate a significant anti-tumor immune response that allows for prolonged cancer control and in some cases cures. How to best stimulate this effect is a subject of intense investigation in the OV field. While pharmacological manipulation of the cellular innate anti-viral immune response has been shown by several groups to improve viral oncolysis and spread, it is increasingly clear that pharmacological agents can also impact the anti-tumor immune response generated by OVs and related tumor vaccination strategies.

Mucocele in a spectacled owl (Pusilatrix perspicillata).

A 6-year-old breeding female spectacled owl (Pusilatrix perspicillata) was presented for a soft, fluid-filled, spherical mass under the neck that had been increasing in size over the previous 3 days. Results of a fine-needle aspirate of the mass showed clear, pale-yellow fluid with a total protein of 12.6 g/L.

Use of an esophagostomy tube as a method of nutritional management in raptors: a case series.

We determined if esophagostomy tube placement is feasible for nutritional support in raptors. The clinical data were reviewed from 18 raptors admitted between 2006 and 2012, and in which esophagostomy tubes were placed. Indications for tube placement, complications associated with its placement and management, duration of treatment, and changes in patient body weight were evaluated.

Bacterial delivery of Staphylococcus aureus α-hemolysin causes regression and necrosis in murine tumors.

Bacterial therapies, designed to manufacture therapeutic proteins directly within tumors, could eliminate cancers that are resistant to other therapies. To be effective, a payload protein must be secreted, diffuse through tissue, and efficiently kill cancer cells. To date, these properties have not been shown for a single protein.

Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome.

Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome (KTS) is a rare congenital, vascular disorder affecting one or more limbs. The syndrome is characterized by capillary malformations, soft tissue or bony hypertrophy and varicose veins or venous malformations. We present a case of this disorder in a twelve-year old boy who had an enlarged right lower limb with varicosities.

Evidence for synergistic effects of PRNP and ATP7B mutations in severe neuropsychiatric deterioration.

Background: Wilson's disease (WD), a rare cause of neuropsychiatric deterioration, is associated with mutations in the ATP7B gene. Prion diseases are also rare causes of neuropsychiatric deterioration that can occur sporadically without an identifiable cause, or can be attributed to mutations in the PRNP gene.

Case Presentation: Here we describe a biological "experiment of nature" in which a patient presented with severe neuropsychiatric decline and strong biochemical evidence of WD.

Rapid uptake of glucose and lactate, and not hypoxia, induces apoptosis in three-dimensional tumor tissue culture.

The spatial arrangement of cellular metabolism in tumor tissue critically affects the treatment of cancer. However, little is known about how diffusion and cellular uptake relate to intracellular metabolism and cell death in three dimensions. To quantify these mechanisms, fluorescent microscopy and multicellular tumor cylindroids were used to measure pH and oxygen profiles, and quantify the distribution of viable, apoptotic and necrotic cells.

Identification of Staphylococcus aureus α-hemolysin as a protein drug that is secreted by anticancer bacteria and rapidly kills cancer cells.

Targeted bacterial delivery of anticancer proteins has the ability to overcome therapeutic resistance in tumors that limits the efficacy of chemotherapeutics. The ability of bacteria to specifically target tumors allows for delivery of aggressive proteins that directly kill cancer cells and cannot be administered systemically. However, few proteins have been tested for this purpose.

Lipid A controls the robustness of intratumoral accumulation of attenuated Salmonella in mice.

Engineered Salmonella have the potential to treat cancers that are not responsive to standard molecular therapies. This potential has not been realized because colonization in human tumors is insufficient and variable as shown in preliminary phase I trials. Recent studies have shown that Salmonella colonization is associated with an inflammatory response mediated by tumor necrosis factor (TNF).

Does tight glycemic control improve outcomes in pediatric patients undergoing surgery and/or those with critical illness?

This literature review examines the current evidence regarding the potential usefulness of tight glycemic control in pediatric surgical patients. In adults, fluctuations in glucose levels and/or prolonged hyperglycemia have been shown to be associated with poor outcomes with respect to morbidity and mortality. This review begins by summarizing the findings of key papers in adult patients and continues by investigating whether or not similar results have been seen in pediatric patients by performing a comprehensive literature review using Medline (OVID).