Antilisterial Properties of Selected Strains from the Autochthonous Microbiota of a Swiss Artisan Soft Smear Cheese.

High incidences of the foodborne pathogen have been reported on smear cheeses, and despite increased hygiene efforts, this incidence has remained stable in recent years. Applying antilisterial strains may increase the safety of smear cheeses. To find and test antilisterial strains, we inoculated fresh soft cheeses from nine dairies with the surrogate species and assessed its growth under standardized ripening conditions.

NLRP3 Deficiency in Nonimmune Cells Averts Obesity-Induced Fatty Liver Disease.

Obesity predisposes to metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. Accumulating evidence suggests a complex role of NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome function in multiple manifestations of the metabolic syndrome, with contradictory results. Its broad expression and pleiotropic functions during obesity led us to investigate the contribution of its expression in nonimmune versus immune cells to the development of obesity and MAFLD.

Comparing the efficacy of antimicrobial pocket-irrigation protocols in an in vivo breast implant infection model.

Background: Breast implant infection and biofilm formation are major concerns in reconstructive and esthetic breast surgery, with significant medical and economic consequences. Staphylococcus is the common pathogen, with rapidly increasing rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). There is no consensus on prevention practices.

Long-Term Survival and Functional Recovery of Cryopreserved Vascularized Groin Flap and Below-the-Knee Rat Limb Transplants.

Effective cryopreservation of large tissues, limbs, and organs has the potential to revolutionize medical post-trauma reconstruction options and organ preservation and transplantation procedures. To date, vitrification and directional freezing are the only viable methods for long-term organ or tissue preservation, but are of limited clinical relevance. This work aimed to develop a vitrification-based approach that will enable the long-term survival and functional recovery of large tissues and limbs following transplantation.

A Closed-system Technology for Mechanical Isolation of High Quantities of Stromal Vascular Fraction from Fat for Immediate Clinical Use.

Unlabelled: Adipose tissue stromal vascular fraction (SVF) is increasingly used in the clinic. SVF separation from fat by enzymatic disruption is currently the gold standard for SVF isolation. However, enzymatic SVF isolation is time-consuming (~1.

OpenGenomeBrowser: a versatile, dataset-independent and scalable web platform for genome data management and comparative genomics.

Background: As the amount of genomic data continues to grow, there is an increasing need for systematic ways to organize, explore, compare, analyze and share this data. Despite this, there is a lack of suitable platforms to meet this need.

Results: OpenGenomeBrowser is a self-hostable, open-source platform to manage access to genomic data and drastically simplifying comparative genomics analyses.

High-throughput qPCR and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing as complementary methods for the investigation of the cheese microbiota.

Background: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods and especially 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing have become indispensable tools in microbial ecology. While they have opened up new possibilities for studying microbial communities, they also have one drawback, namely providing only relative abundances and thus compositional data. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) has been used for years for the quantification of bacteria.

Antimicrobial Susceptibility of subsp. from Milk Products and Other Habitats.

As components of many cheese starter cultures, strains of subsp. () must be tested for their antimicrobial susceptibility to avoid the potential horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance (ABR) determinants in the human body or in the environment. To this end, a phenotypic test, as well as a screening for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in genome sequences, is commonly performed.

Development of a High-Throughput Microfluidic qPCR System for the Quantitative Determination of Quality-Relevant Bacteria in Cheese.

The composition of the cheese microbiome has an important impact on the sensorial quality and safety of cheese. Therefore, much effort has been made to investigate the microbial community composition of cheese. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is a well-established method for detecting and quantifying bacteria.

Evaluation of a new culture medium for the enumeration and isolation of Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus from cheese.

Enumeration and isolation of Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus from cheese is challenging, due to the relatively high number of species it may host. We describe medium SPY9.

Antibiotic Susceptibility Profiles of Pediococcus pentosaceus from Various Origins and Their Implications for the Safety Assessment of Strains with Food-Technology Applications.

Abstract: In the fight against the spread of antibiotic resistance, authorities usually require that strains "intentionally added into the food chain" be tested for their antibiotic susceptibility. This applies to strains used in starter or adjunct cultures for the production of fermented foods, such as many strains of Pediococcus pentosaceus. The European Food Safety Authority recommends testing strains for their antibiotic susceptibility based on both genomic and phenotypic approaches.

SpeciesPrimer: a bioinformatics pipeline dedicated to the design of qPCR primers for the quantification of bacterial species.

Background: Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) is a well-established method for detecting and quantifying bacteria, and it is progressively replacing culture-based diagnostic methods in food microbiology. High-throughput qPCR using microfluidics brings further advantages by providing faster results, decreasing the costs per sample and reducing errors due to automatic distribution of samples and reagents. In order to develop a high-throughput qPCR approach for the rapid and cost-efficient quantification of microbial species in complex systems such as fermented foods (for instance, cheese), the preliminary setup of qPCR assays working efficiently under identical PCR conditions is required.

Reduced culture temperature attenuates oxidative stress and inflammatory response facilitating expansion and differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells.

Background: Adipose-derived stem cell (ASC) expansion under atmospheric oxygen levels (21%) was previously shown to cause increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and genetic instability compared to cells cultured under physiological oxygen levels (2-8%). However, since culture under physiological oxygen levels is costly and complicated, a simpler method to reduce ROS accumulation is desirable. The current study aimed to determine whether lower culture temperature can reduce ROS production in ASCs without impairing their culture expansion.

Cryopreservation of Stromal Vascular Fraction Cells Reduces Their Counts but Not Their Stem Cell Potency.

Unlabelled: Adipose-derived stem cells are derived from the nonfat component of adipose tissue termed the stromal vascular fraction (SVF). The use of freshly isolated autologous SVF cells as an alternative to adult stem cells is becoming more common. Repeated SVF administration for improved clinical outcomes is complicated by the need for repeated liposuction.

Toxicology and Pharmacokinetic Studies in Mice and Nonhuman Primates of the Nontoxic, Efficient, Targeted Hexameric FasL: CTLA4-FasL.

Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA4)-FasL, a homo-hexameric signal converter protein, is capable of inducing robust apoptosis in malignant cells of the B-cell lineage expressing its cognate B7 and Fas targets, while sparing nonmalignant ones. This fusion protein's striking proapoptotic efficacy stems from its complementary abilities to coordinately activate apoptotic signals and abrogate antiapoptotic ones. A limiting factor in translating FasL or Fas receptor agonists into the clinic has been lethal hepatotoxicity.

DAIRYdb: a manually curated reference database for improved taxonomy annotation of 16S rRNA gene sequences from dairy products.

Background: Reads assignment to taxonomic units is a key step in microbiome analysis pipelines. To date, accurate taxonomy annotation of 16S reads, particularly at species rank, is still challenging due to the short size of read sequences and differently curated classification databases. The close phylogenetic relationship between species encountered in dairy products, however, makes it crucial to annotate species accurately to achieve sufficient phylogenetic resolution for further downstream ecological studies or for food diagnostics.

Cryopreservation and Transplantation of Vascularized Composite Transplants: Unique Challenges and Opportunities.

Vascularized composite allotransplantation is the ultimate reconstructive tool when no other means of reconstruction are available. Despite its immense potential, the applicability of vascularized composite allotransplantation is hampered by high rejection rates and the requirement for high doses of immunosuppressive drugs that are associated with severe adverse effects and death. Because this is a non-life-saving procedure, widespread use of vascularized composite allotransplantation demands methods that will allow the reduction or elimination of immunosuppressive therapy.

Epicutaneous Exposure to Peanut Oil Induces Systemic and Pulmonary Allergic Reaction in Mice.

Background: The prevalence of peanut allergy (PA) is constantly on the rise. Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a major risk factor for developing food allergy. Some bath oils and skin creams used for treating AD contain peanut oil, and it has been suggested that exposure to peanut allergens through a disrupted skin barrier is a potential cause of PA.

Update on Tetracycline Susceptibility of Pediococcus acidilactici Based on Strains Isolated from Swiss Cheese and Whey.

Bacterial strains used as starter cultures in the production of fermented foods may act as reservoirs for antibiotic resistance (AbR) genes. To avoid the introduction of such genes into the food chain, the presence of acquired AbR in bacterial strains added to food must be tested. Standard protocols and microbiological cut-off values have been defined to provide practitioners with a basis for evaluating whether their bacterial isolates harbor an acquired resistance to a given antibiotic.

Fas-L promotes the stem cell potency of adipose-derived mesenchymal cells.

Fas-L is a TNF family member known to trigger cell death. It has recently become evident that Fas-L can transduce also non-apoptotic signals. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells that are derived from various adult tissues.

Immunological and inflammatory mapping of vascularized composite allograft rejection processes in a rat model.

Background: Hand and face vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) is an evolving and challenging field with great opportunities. During VCA, massive surgical damage is inflicted on both donor and recipient tissues, which may contribute to the high VCA rejection rates. To segregate between the damage-induced and rejection phase of post-VCA responses, we compared responses occurring up to 5 days following syngeneic versus allogeneic vascularized groin flap transplantations, culminating in transplant acceptance or rejection, respectively.

Aging leads to impaired epicutaneous sensitization that causes attenuated allergy and pulmonary inflammation in mice.

Aging is associated with altered decreased barrier function in the skin, which can lead to different types of immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated sensitization to environmental allergens. Yet, allergen-specific respiratory sensitization among the elderly is not well described. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of aging on allergic pulmonary inflammation induced by epicutaneous sensitization of mechanically irritated skin in mice.

Fn14·TRAIL fusion protein is oligomerized by TWEAK into a superefficient TRAIL analog.

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) demonstrates specific anti-cancer activity, but insufficient efficacy in patients. A fusion protein Fn14·TRAIL, that combines soluble TRAIL molecule with a specific TWEAK receptor Fn14, is a better apoptosis-inducer for hepatocellular carcinomas than soluble TRAIL. However, Fn14·TRAIL does not effectively induce apoptosis in tumors of the lymphoid origin.

Rat Hindlimb Cryopreservation and Transplantation: A Step Toward "Organ Banking".

In 2016, over 5 million reconstructive procedures were performed in the United States. The recent successes of clinical vascularized composite allotransplantations, hand and face transplantations included, established the tremendous potential of these life-enhancing reconstructions. Nevertheless, due to limited availability and lifelong immunosuppression, application is limited.