Complete genome sequence of CACC879 and its functional probiotic properties.

CACC879 originated from swine feces in Korea, and its probiotic properties have been analyzed. The complete genome of strain CACC879 contained one chromosome 1,398,247 bp in length and three circular plasmids, namely, pCACC879-1 (591,981 bp), pCACC879-2 (14,542 base pairs [bp]), and pCACC879-3 (45,393 bp). The complete genome encodes a total of 2,077 genes, including 25 rRNA genes and 90 tRNA genes.

Anti-inflammatory potential via the MAPK signaling pathway of Lactobacillus spp. isolated from canine feces.

Two probiotic candidates, Lactobacillus reuteri C1 (C1) and Lactobacillus acidophilus C5 (C5), which were previously isolated from canines, were evaluated in the present study. L. reuteri and L.

Assessing the Probiotic Effects of CACC616 in Weaned Piglets.

During weaning, piglets experience various stressor events that disrupt their gut microbiota and immune balance, decrease growth parameters, and increase mortality rates. In this study, we assessed the efficacy of CACC616 as a probiotic supplement. We characterized this strain and evaluated its effect on improving growth performance, modulating gut microbiota composition, and reducing noxious odor components in weaned piglets compared to a non-supplementary diet (control).

Supplemental Transmission Aided Attenuation Correction for Quantitative Cardiac PET.

Quantitative PET attenuation correction (AC) for cardiac PET/CT and PET/MR is a challenging problem. We propose and evaluate an AC approach that uses coincidences from a relatively weak and physically fixed sparse external source, in combination with that from the patient, to reconstruct μ -maps based on physics principles alone. The low 30 cm3 volume of the source makes it easy to fill and place, and the method does not use prior image data or attenuation map assumptions.

A Cell-Penetrant Peptide Disrupting the Transcription Factor CP2c Complexes Induces Cancer-Specific Synthetic Lethality.

Despite advances in precision oncology, cancer remains a global public health issue. In this report, proof-of-principle evidence is presented that a cell-penetrable peptide (ACP52C) dissociates transcription factor CP2c complexes and induces apoptosis in most CP2c oncogene-addicted cancer cells through transcription activity-independent mechanisms. CP2cs dissociated from complexes directly interact with and degrade YY1, leading to apoptosis via the MDM2-p53 pathway.

Feasibility of Simultaneous Quantification of Myocardial and Renal Perfusion With Cardiac Positron Emission Tomography.

Background: Given the central importance of cardiorenal interactions, mechanistic tools for evaluating cardiorenal physiology are needed. In the heart and kidneys, shared pathways of neurohormonal activation, hypertension, and vascular and interstitial fibrosis implicate the relevance of systemic vascular health. The availability of a long axial field of view positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) system enables simultaneous evaluation of cardiac and renal blood flow.

Visualizing reactive astrocyte-neuron interaction in Alzheimer's disease using 11C-acetate and 18F-FDG.

Reactive astrogliosis is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, a clinically validated neuroimaging probe to visualize the reactive astrogliosis is yet to be discovered. Here, we show that PET imaging with 11C-acetate and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) functionally visualizes the reactive astrocyte-mediated neuronal hypometabolism in the brains with neuroinflammation and AD.

SUMOylation-mediated PSME3-20 proteasomal degradation of transcription factor CP2c is crucial for cell cycle progression.

Transcription factor CP2c (also known as TFCP2, α-CP2, LSF, and LBP-1c) is involved in diverse ubiquitous and tissue/stage-specific cellular processes and in human malignancies such as cancer. Despite its importance, many fundamental regulatory mechanisms of CP2c are still unclear. Here, we uncover an unprecedented mechanism of CP2c degradation via a previously unidentified SUMO1/PSME3/20 proteasome pathway and its biological meaning.

Gut microbiome responses to dietary intervention with hypocholesterolemic vegetable oils.

Hypercholesterolemia is becoming a problem with increasing significance. Dietary vegetable oils may help to improve this condition due to presence of phytonutrients with potentially synergistic cholesterol-lowering effects. The objective of this 8-week double-blinded randomized clinical trial was to investigate the effects of consuming 30 g of two different blended cooking oils, rich in omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid and phytonutrients, or refined olive oil on the intestinal microbiota in 126 volunteers with borderline hypercholesterolemia.

Total Lesion Glycolysis on 18F-FDG PET/CT Is a Better Prognostic Factor Than Tumor Dose on 90Y PET/CT in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated With 90Y Transarterial Radioembolization.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of metabolic parameters on 18F-FDG PET/CT and tumor dose (TD) on posttreatment 90Y PET/CT in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who underwent 90Y transarterial radioembolization (TARE).

Patients And Methods: Forty-seven HCC patients treated with 90Y TARE were retrospectively enrolled between January 2013 and October 2018. 18F-FDG PET/CT was performed before treatment.

Generation of SIV-resistant T cells and macrophages from nonhuman primate induced pluripotent stem cells with edited CCR5 locus.

Adoptive therapies with genetically modified somatic T cells rendered HIV resistance have shown promise for AIDS therapy. A renewable source of HIV-resistant human T cells from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) would further facilitate and broaden the applicability of these therapies. Here, we report successful targeting of the CCR5 locus in iPSCs generated from T cells (T-iPSCs) or fibroblasts (fib-iPSCs) from Mauritian cynomolgus macaques (MCM), using CRISPR-Cas9 technology.

Cortical and Subcortical Dysmetabolism Are Dynamic Markers of Clinical Disability and Course in Anti-LGI1 Encephalitis.

Background And Objectives: This [F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET study evaluates the accuracy of semiquantitative measurement of putaminal hypermetabolism in identifying anti-leucine-rich, glioma-inactivated-1 (LGI1) protein autoimmune encephalitis (AE). In addition, the extent of brain dysmetabolism, their association with clinical outcomes, and longitudinal metabolic changes after immunotherapy in LGI1-AE are examined.

Methods: FDG-PET scans from 49 age-matched and sex-matched subjects (13 in LGI1-AE group, 15 in non-LGI1-AE group, 11 with Alzheimer disease [AD], and 10 negative controls [NCs]) and follow-up scans from 8 patients with LGI1 AE on a median 6 months after immunotherapy were analyzed.

AAPM Task Group Report 272: Comprehensive acceptance testing and evaluation of fluoroscopy imaging systems.

Modern fluoroscopes used for image guidance have become quite complex. Adding to this complexity are the many regulatory and accreditation requirements that must be fulfilled during acceptance testing of a new unit. Further, some of these acceptance tests have pass/fail criteria, whereas others do not, making acceptance testing a subjective and time-consuming task.

Long-Term Sex- and Genotype-Specific Effects of Fe Irradiation on Wild-Type and APPswe/PS1dE9 Transgenic Mice.

Space radiation presents a substantial threat to travel beyond Earth. Relatively low doses of high-energy particle radiation cause physiological and behavioral impairments in rodents and may pose risks to human spaceflight. There is evidence that Fe irradiation, a significant component of space radiation, may be more harmful to males than to females and worsen Alzheimer's disease pathology in genetically vulnerable models.

Generation of T cells from Human and Nonhuman Primate Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) have the potential to provide homogeneous cell populations of T cells that can be grown at a clinical scale and genetically engineered to meet specific clinical needs. OP9-DLL4, a stromal line ectopically expressing the Notch ligand Delta-like 4 (DLL4) is used to support differentiation of PSCs to T-lymphocytes. This article outlines several protocols related to generation of T cells from human and non-human primate (NHP) PSCs, including initial hematopoietic differentiation of PSC on OP9 feeders or defined conditions, followed by coculture of the OP9-DLL4 cells with the PSC-derived hematopoietic progenitors (HPs), leading to efficient differentiation to T lymphocytes.

SOX17 integrates HOXA and arterial programs in hemogenic endothelium to drive definitive lympho-myeloid hematopoiesis.

SOX17 has been implicated in arterial specification and the maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in the murine embryo. However, knowledge about molecular pathways and stage-specific effects of SOX17 in humans remains limited. Here, using SOX17-knockout and SOX17-inducible human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), paired with molecular profiling studies, we reveal that SOX17 is a master regulator of HOXA and arterial programs in hemogenic endothelium (HE) and is required for the specification of HE with robust lympho-myeloid potential and DLL4CXCR4 phenotype resembling arterial HE at the sites of HSC emergence.

PET/CT for Brain Amyloid: A Feasibility Study for Scan Time Reduction by Deep Learning.

Purpose: This study was to develop a convolutional neural network (CNN) model with a residual learning framework to predict the full-time 18F-florbetaben (18F-FBB) PET/CT images from corresponding short-time scans.

Methods: In this retrospective study, we enrolled 22 cognitively normal subjects, 20 patients with mild cognitive impairment, and 42 patients with Alzheimer disease. Twenty minutes of list-mode PET/CT data were acquired and reconstructed as the ground-truth images.

Genome editing of CCR5 by CRISPR-Cas9 in Mauritian cynomolgus macaque embryos.

The discovery that CCR5 serves as an R5-HIV-1 co-receptor, coupled with findings of protection from HIV infection in individuals lacking CCR5, led to the exploration of novel therapeutic strategies for HIV infection based on genome editing of CCR5. Advancing translation of CCR5-mutant-based cellular therapies for HIV requires development of novel physiologically relevant animal models. Mauritian cynomolgus macaques (MCMs), with high degree of MHC allele sharing, are valuable models for HIV-1 research and stem cell therapies.

Inter-observer reproducibility and intra-observer repeatability in Tc-pyrophosphate scan interpretation for diagnosis of transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the inter- and intra-observer variability in technetium-pyrophosphate (Tc-PYP) scan interpretation for diagnosis of transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR).

Methods And Results: Our study cohort comprised 100 consecutive subjects referred for Tc-PYP imaging based on clinical suspicion of ATTR cardiac amyloidosis. Myocardial Tc-PYP uptake was assessed by both visual (comparison of myocardial to rib uptake) and semi-quantitative (heart-to-contralateral lung uptake ratio, H:CL) methods.

Absolute Quantitation of Cardiac Tc-Pyrophosphate Using Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride-Based SPECT/CT.

The primary aims of this study were to determine the correlation between absolute quantitative Tc-pyrophosphate metrics and traditional measures of cardiac amyloid burden and to measure the intraobserver repeatability of the quantitative metrics. We studied 72 patients who underwent Tc-pyrophosphate SPECT/CT using a novel general-purpose cadmium-zinc-telluride-based SPECT/CT system. The clinical standard for these studies is visual grading (with grades of 0, 1, 2, and 3 indicating myocardial uptake absent, less than rib uptake, equal to rib uptake, or more than rib uptake, respectively).

Regional microglial activation in the substantia nigra is linked with fatigue in MS.

Objective: The goal of our study is to assess the role of microglial activation in MS-associated fatigue (MSAF) using [F-18]PBR06-PET.

Methods: Fatigue severity was measured using the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) in 12 subjects with MS (7 relapsing-remitting and 5 secondary progressive) and 10 healthy control participants who underwent [F-18]PBR06-PET. The MFIS provides a total fatigue score as well as physical, cognitive, and psychosocial fatigue subscale scores.