Interleukin-6-controlled, mesenchymal stem cell-based sodium/iodide symporter gene therapy improves survival of glioblastoma-bearing mice.

New treatment strategies are urgently needed for glioblastoma (GBM)-a tumor resistant to standard-of-care treatment with a high risk of recurrence and extremely poor prognosis. Based on their intrinsic tumor tropism, adoptively applied mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be harnessed to deliver the theranostic sodium/iodide symporter () deep into the tumor microenvironment. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a multifunctional, highly expressed cytokine in the GBM microenvironment including recruited MSCs.

Comparison of software tools for kinetic evaluation of chemical degradation data.

Background: For evaluating the fate of xenobiotics in the environment, a variety of degradation or environmental metabolism experiments are routinely conducted. The data generated in such experiments are evaluated by optimizing the parameters of kinetic models in a way that the model simulation fits the data. No comparison of the main software tools currently in use has been published to date.

A vector platform for the rapid and efficient engineering of stable complex transgenes.

We describe the generation of a set of plasmid vector tools that allow the rapid generation of complex-interacting stable transgenes in immortalized and primary cells. Of particular importance is inclusion of a mechanism to monitor the activation status of regulatory pathways via a reporter cassette (using Gaussia Luciferase), with control of additional transgene expression through doxycycline de-repression. The resulting vectors can be used to assess regulatory pathway activation and are well suited for regulatory pathway crosstalk studies.

Quantitative analysis of molecular interaction potentials of ionic liquid anions using multi-functionalized stationary phases in HPLC.

The molecular interaction potentials, including S (dipolarity/polarizability), A (hydrogen bonding acidity), and B (hydrogen bonding basicity), of anions are experimentally determined using multi-functionalized stationary phases in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) systems. We employ three different multi-functionalized stationary phase columns (Obelisc R, Obelisc N, and Acclaim Trinity-P1) combined with two ingredients, namely, acetonitrile (ACN) and methanol (MeOH). These conditions can cause neutral, cationic, and anionic compounds to be retained.

In silico modelling for predicting the cationic hydrophobicity and cytotoxicity of ionic liquids towards the Leukemia rat cell line, Vibrio fischeri and Scenedesmus vacuolatus based on molecular interaction potentials of ions.

In this study we present prediction models for estimating in silico the cationic hydrophobicity and the cytotoxicity (log [1/EC50]) of ionic liquids (ILs) towards the Leukemia rat cell line (IPC-81), the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri and the limnic green algae Scenedesmus vacuolatus using linear free energy relationship (LFER) descriptors computed by COSMO calculations. The LFER descriptors used for the prediction model (i.e.