Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Polysorbate 80 Inhibition Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilm Formation And Its Cleavage By The Secreted Lipase Lipa, C M. Toutain-Kidd, S C. Kadivar, C T. Bramante, S A. Bobin, Michael E. Zegans

Dartmouth Scholarship

Surface-associated bacterial communities known as biofilms are an important source of nosocomial infections. Microorganisms such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa can colonize the abiotic surfaces of medical implants, leading to chronic infections that are difficult to eradicate. Our study demonstrates that polysorbate 80 (PS80), a surfactant commonly added to food and medicines, is able to inhibit biofilm formation by P. aeruginosa on a variety of surfaces, including contact lenses.

Pancreatic Cancer Cells Resistance To Gemcitabine: The Role Of Muc4 Mucin., S. Bafna, Sukhwinder Kaur, N. Momi, Surinder K. Batra

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

BACKGROUND: A major obstacle to the successful management of pancreatic cancer is to acquire resistance to the existing chemotherapeutic agents. Resistance to gemcitabine, the standard first-line chemotherapeutic agent for advanced and metastatic pancreatic cancer, is mainly attributed to an altered apoptotic threshold in the pancreatic cancer. The MUC4 transmembrane glycoprotein is aberrantly overexpressed in the pancreatic cancer and recently, has been shown to increase pancreatic tumour cell growth by the inhibition of apoptosis.

METHODS: Effect of MUC4 on pancreatic cancer cells resistance to gemcitabine was studied in MUC4-expressing and MUC4-knocked down pancreatic cancer cell lines after treatment with gemcitabine by …

Therapeutic Targeting Of Atp7b In Ovarian Carcinoma., Lingegowda S Mangala, Vesna Zuzel, Rosemarie Schmandt, Erik S Leshane, Jyotsna B Halder, Guillermo N Armaiz-Pena, Whitney A Spannuth, Takemi Tanaka, Mian M K Shahzad, Yvonne G Lin, Alpa M Nick, Christopher G Danes, Jeong-Won Lee, Nicholas B Jennings, Pablo E Vivas-Mejia, Judith K Wolf, Robert L Coleman, Zahid H Siddik, Gabriel Lopez-Berestein, Svetlana Lutsenko, Anil K Sood

Journal Articles

PURPOSE: Resistance to platinum chemotherapy remains a significant problem in ovarian carcinoma. Here, we examined the biological mechanisms and therapeutic potential of targeting a critical platinum resistance gene, ATP7B, using both in vitro and in vivo models.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Expression of ATP7A and ATP7B was examined in ovarian cancer cell lines by real-time reverse transcription-PCR and Western blot analysis. ATP7A and ATP7B gene silencing was achieved with targeted small interfering RNA (siRNA) and its effects on cell viability and DNA adduct formation were examined. For in vivo therapy experiments, siRNA was incorporated into the neutral nanoliposome 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC).

RESULTS: ATP7A …

Antibiotic Resistance In Staphylococcus Aureus-Containing Cutaneous Abscesses Of Patients With Hiv, Gus W Krucke, Deanna E Grimes, Richard M Grimes, Thai D Dang

Journal Articles

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to document the resistance patterns found in exudates from cutaneous abscesses of HIV-infected persons.

BASIC PROCEDURES: Patient records were reviewed on 93 culture and sensitivity tests performed on exudates taken from incised and drained abscesses of HIV-infected persons.

MAIN FINDINGS: Of the specimens, 84.6% were Staphylococcus aureus. Of these, 93.5% were penicillin resistant, 87% oxacillin resistant, 84.4% cephazolin resistant, 84.4% erythromycin resistant, 52.2% ciprofloxacin resistant, and 15.6% tetracycline resistant. Fifty-eight specimens were tested for clindamycin with 29.3% found resistant; 85.7% were methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA) (defined as resistant to both penicillin G and …