Journal: iScience

Article Title: Bacterial pore-forming toxin pneumolysin drives pathogenicity through host extracellular vesicles released during infection

doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110589

Figure Lengend Snippet: PLY-EVs induce dendritic cell maturation and inflammatory cytokine release upon internalization (A) Confocal microscopy images showing the internalization of CFSE-labelled PLY (0.1) and naive EVs (green) by THP-1-monocyte-derived DCs at 24 h post-treatment. Scale bars, 25 μm. (B) Flow cytometry histograms ( N = 3) to quantify the DC uptake of CFSE-labeled PLY(0.5)EVs and naive EVs. (C) Dose-dependent uptake of PLY (0.1, 0.5) EVs by DCs. (D) Phase-contrast microscopy images of immature day 5 DCs coincubated with PLY (0.1, 0.5) EVs and naive EVs for 24 h. Arrows indicate matured DCs (magnified in inset). Scale bars, 50 μm. Images are representative of three independent experiments. (E–G) Flow cytometry histograms ( N = 3) to quantify the expression levels of (E) CD80, (F) CD86, and (G) CD83 on THP-1-monocyte-derived DCs treated with PLY(0.5) and naive EVs. (H and I) Flow cytometry histograms ( N = 2) showing the expression levels of DC maturation marker CD83 at 96 h post-incubation of primary human monocytes with (H) PLY(0.5) and naive EVs and (I) naive EVs pre-treated with recombinant PLY protein (naive EVs+rPLY). (J and K) Cytokine ELISA showing the levels of secreted TNF-α from (J) DCs treated with PLY (0.1) EVs or naive EVs alone ( N = 3) for 24 h and (K) DCs pre-treated with PLY (0.1,0.5) or naive EVs for 24 h followed by subsequent infection with S. pneumoniae , T4R strain ( N = 2). Recombinant PLY (0.5 μg/mL) was used as positive control. All data are represented as mean ± SEM. ∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗ p < 0.005, and ∗∗∗ p < 0.001 by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test. n.s., not significant. See also Figures S6–S9 .

Article Snippet: Mouse TNF-α DuoSet ELISA kit , R & D Systems , DY410-05.

Techniques: Confocal Microscopy, Derivative Assay, Flow Cytometry, Labeling, Microscopy, Expressing, Marker, Incubation, Recombinant, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Infection, Positive Control

Journal: iScience

Article Title: Bacterial pore-forming toxin pneumolysin drives pathogenicity through host extracellular vesicles released during infection

doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110589

Figure Lengend Snippet: Adoptive transfer of EVs from infected mice drives inflammation and pathology in a PLY-dependent manner (A) C57BL/6 mice were intranasally administered with 4 × 10 6 CFU of serotype 4 strain, T4 or the isogenic PLY mutant strain, T4Δply. At day 4 post-infection, EVs isolated from BALF were labeled and administered to healthy recipient mice at 35 μg/mice. The EV retention in murine respiratory tract was imaged by IVIS imaging and immune infiltration into lungs, and cytokine levels in BALF was measured. (B) Bacterial load in murine BALF ( N = 5 mice/group) upon infection with T4 and T4Δply strains was measured by CFU dilution assay. ∗∗ in (B) indicates p < 0.01 by Mann-Whitney test. (C) Quantification of relative total EV protein content from mice ( N = 3 mice/group) infected with T4 and T4Δply strains by BCA protein assay. PBS-treated mice served as control. ∗ and ∗∗ in (C) indicates p < 0.05 and p < 0.005, respectively, by unpaired t test. (D) IVIS imaging of mice intranasally administered with Nile-red-labeled EVs isolated from mice infected with T4 (EVs-T4) or T4Δply (EVs-T4Δply). EVs from PBS-treated mice (naive EVs) served as control. ROI intensity values indicate the total flux (photons/sec) recorded from the given region showing higher intensity of EVs from T4-infected mice in the respiratory tract. The color scale (photons/sec/cm 2 ) indicates the relative intensities of individual signals. (E and F) Flow cytometry analysis of inflammatory macrophages (F4/80 + ) and neutrophils (Ly6G + ) in BALF of mice ( N = 6 mice/group) administered with EVs from infected or untreated mice at 18 h. (G) TNF-α levels in the BALF of mice ( N = 5 mice/group) treated with EVs isolated from infected or untreated mice were measured post-sacrifice at 18 h by ELISA. ∗∗ and ∗∗∗ in (G) indicates p < 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively, by unpaired t test. (H) Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining of mouse lungs ( N = 6 mice/group) at 18 h post-administration of EVs from infected or PBS-treated mice. Mice treated with EVs from T4-infected mice showed tissue microlesions (MLEs) and immune cell infiltration in the alveolar interstitium indicative of PLY-induced tissue damage (magnified in the inset). BR, bronchiole; MLE, microlesions. Scale bars, 200 μm. Blind histopathological scoring was performed based on presence or absence of cellularity in alveolar interstitium and lesions. A score of “0” was given when no lesions were found, and a score of “1” was given to tissue showing increasing cellularity and lesions. Mouse BALF flow cytometry and histology data are representative of three independent experiments. All data are represented as mean ± SEM. See also Figure S12 .

Article Snippet: Mouse TNF-α DuoSet ELISA kit , R & D Systems , DY410-05.

Techniques: Adoptive Transfer Assay, Infection, Mutagenesis, Isolation, Labeling, Imaging, Dilution Assay, MANN-WHITNEY, Bicinchoninic Acid Protein Assay, Control, Flow Cytometry, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Staining

Journal: iScience

Article Title: Bacterial pore-forming toxin pneumolysin drives pathogenicity through host extracellular vesicles released during infection

doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110589

Figure Lengend Snippet:

Article Snippet: Mouse TNF-α DuoSet ELISA kit , R & D Systems , DY410-05.

Techniques: Virus, Mutagenesis, Isolation, Recombinant, Modification, Saline, Labeling, Staining, Electron Microscopy, Lysis, Western Blot, Buffer Exchange, Bicinchoninic Acid Protein Assay, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Clone Assay, Software, Membrane

Journal: BMC pharmacology & toxicology

Article Title: Narciclasine induces autophagy-mediated apoptosis in gastric cancer cells through the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

doi: 10.1186/s40360-021-00537-3

Figure Lengend Snippet: Fig. 4 Narciclasine promotes autophagy of gastric cancer cells. A-C, Laser confocal scanning microscopy was used to observe the formation of autolysosomes in gastric cancer cells treated with narciclasine (0.5 μM) for 24 h. D-F, Western blotting was used to detect the effect of narciclasine combined with autophagy inhibitor 3-MA (5 mM) and CQ (2.5 μM) on LC3-II and p62 protein after treatment of gastric cancer cells for 24 h. Data are shown as mean ± SD. NCS: narciclasine; 3-MA: 3-methyladenine; CQ: chloroquine

Article Snippet: The human gastric cancer cell lines BGC-823, MGC-803, GES-1, MKN28 and SGC-7901 were purchased from the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Shanghai, China); Roswell Park Memorial Institute 1640 (RPMI 1640), fetal bovine serum (FBS), penicillin and streptomycin from Gibco Life Technologies (NY, US); chloroquine (CQ) and 3-methyladenine (3-MA) from Selleck Chemicals (Texas, US); insulin from Sigma-Aldrich (CA, US); and AktiVIII from Macklin Inc. (Beijing, China).

Techniques: Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy, Western Blot

Journal: Cell death & disease

Article Title: Caspase-dependent cell death-associated release of nucleosome and damage-associated molecular patterns.

doi: 10.1038/cddis.2014.450

Figure Lengend Snippet: Figure 7 Calpain activity is a prerequisite for the release of nucleosomes and DAMPs in dying cells. HeLa cells were incubated in amino acid-depleted medium (HBSS) or staurosporine-containing medium (Stau) (1 μg/ml) for 24 or 8 h, respectively, in the presence of solvent control, BAPTA-AM (50 μM) or A23187 (1 μg/ml). Released DNA was quantified with PicoGreen (a). Amount of intracellular free Ca2+ was measured in cells treated with solvent control or staurosporine at the indicated time periods by eFluor 514 (b). Cells were treated with staurosporine for 8 h in the presence of control solvent, ALLN (20 μM), or PD150606 (20 μM), and released DNA or protein was detected by PicoGreen staining (c) or western blot for histones and DAMPs (d), respectively. Genomic DNA was separated in agarose gel electrophoresis from staurosporine-treated cells with or without PD150606 (e). The cells treated with staurosporine and PD150606 for 8 h, were stained for lamin A/C and histone H1, and examined by confocal microscopy; the arrows indicate nuclear fragmentations (f). Cells treated with control solvent, zVAD-fmk (20 μM), or PD150606 with or without staurosporine for 8 h were measured for viabilities with Calcein assay (g). Cells treated with staurosporine were measured for calpain activity, caspases 3 and 7 activity, or released DNAs at the indicated time periods (h). HeLa cells transfected with non- targeting shRNA (NT), calpastatin shRNA, calpain S1 shRNA, or overexpressing calpain 1, calpain 2, or calpastatin were incubated with staurosporine for 8 h and the released DNAs were measured by PicoGreen staining (i). Cells expressing calpain 1 or calpain 2 tagged with Flag at the N-terminus and HA at the C-terminus were treated with staurosporine and western-blotted with anti-Flag antibody or anti-HA antibody (j). HeLa cells expressing halide-sensitive YFP were treated with staurosporine and/or PD150606 for 4 h, and their chloride ion currents were measured by fluorometry by detecting quenching of YFP fluorescence (k). Data performed in triplicate are presented as mean± S.D. (a–c and g–i)

Article Snippet: Cl-amidine was purchased from Cayman Chemical (Ann Arbor, MI, USA). zVAD-fmk, zDEVD-fmk, Necrostatin-1, BAPTA-AM, diphenyliodonium, PD150606, ALLN and A23187 were purchased from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, CA, USA).

Techniques: Activity Assay, Incubation, Solvent, Control, Staining, Western Blot, Agarose Gel Electrophoresis, Confocal Microscopy, Transfection, shRNA, Expressing, Fluorescence