Natural killer (NK) cells rely on surface receptors to distinguish healthy cells from cancer cells. We designed a receptor termed NKG2D-DAP10-CD3z that is composed of the NK cell activating molecule NKG2D plus 2 key signaling molecules, DAP10 and CD3z, and evaluated its capacity to promote cancer cell killing. Retroviral transduction of NKG2D-DAP10-CD3z markedly increased NKG2D surface expression in NK cells, which became consistently more cytotoxic than mock-transduced cells against leukemia and solid tumor cell lines. In contrast, there was no increase in cytotoxicity against nontransformed blood and mesenchymal cells. NKG2D blockade abrogated gains in cytotoxicity to cancer cells. Receptor stimulation triggered signal transduction, secretion of IFN-g, GM-CSF, IL-13, MIP-1a, MIP-1b, CCL5, and TNF-a, and massive release of cytotoxic granules, which persisted after 48 hours of continuous stimulation. NKG2D-DAP10-CD3z-expressing NK cells had considerable antitumor activity in a mouse model of osteosarcoma, whereas activated NK cells were ineffective. Thus, the cytotoxic potential of NK cells against a wide spectrum of tumor subtypes could be markedly enhanced by expression of NKG2D-DAP10-CD3z receptors. The development of an electroporation method that permits rapid expression of the receptor in a large number of human NK cells facilitates clinical translation of this NK-based strategy for a generalized cellular therapy that may be useful to treat a wide range of cancers. Cancer Res; 73(6);

A family of genes coding for proteins homologous to the a subunit of the muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor has been identified in the rat genome. These genes are transcribed in the central and peripheral nervous systems in areas known to contain functional nicotinic receptors. In this paper, we demonstrate that three of these genes, which we call alpha3, alpha4, and beta2, encode proteins that form functional nicotinic acetylcholine receptors when expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Oocytes expressing either alpha3 or alpha4 protein in combination with the beta2 protein produced a strong response to acetylcholine. Oocytes expressing only the alpha4 protein gave a weak response to acetylcholine. These receptors are activated by acetylcholine and nicotine and are blocked by Bungarus toxin 3.1. They are not blocked by a-bungarotoxin, which blocks the muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. Thus, the receptors formed by the alpha3, alpha4, and beta2 subunits are pharmacologically similar to the ganglionic-type neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. These results indicate that the alpha3, alpha4, and beta2 genes encode functional nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits that are expressed in the brain and peripheral nervous system. It seems likely that complex brain functions, such as learning and memory, involve changes in the efficiency of synaptic transmission. One way in which synaptic efficiency might be modified is through a change in the availability or properties of neurotransmitter receptors in the postsynaptic membrane. Testing this idea, and understanding mechanisms that might accomplish such a modification, requires means of detecting and quantifying receptors at synapses in the central nervous system. However, the low abundance and great diversity of neurotransmitter receptors in the central nervous system have made their analysis difficult.We therefore chose first to study neurotransmitter receptors at the more accessible neuromuscular junction and were able to obtain and express cDNA clones encoding the subunits of the muscle-type nicotinic acetylcholine receptor of the rat. We subsequently used these cDNA clones to identify homologous genes that code for acetylcholine receptor a subunits found in the central nervous system. This approach led to the isolation of two new cDNA clones (1, 2) that represent gene transcripts found in different regions of the brain and that encode proteins with the general structural features of muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor a subunits. We proposed that these genes, called alpha3 and alpha4, code for the a subunits of functional nicotinic acetylcholine receptors expressed in the central and peripheral nervous systems. We have tested this hypothesis and in this paper report that RNA transcribed from either the clone derived from the alpha3 gene or the clone derived from the alpha4 gene, in concert with RNA transcribed from a new clone, PCX49, will direct the synthesis offunctional neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in Xenopus oocytes.

A new type of agonist-binding subunit of rat neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) was identified. Rat genomic DNA and complementary DNA encoding this subunit (alpha 2) were cloned and analyzed. Complementary DNA expression studies in Xenopus oocytes revealed that the injection of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) for alpha 2 and beta 2 (a neuronal nAChR subunit) led to the generation of a functional nAChR. In contrast to the other known neuronal nAChRs, the receptor produced by the injection of alpha 2 and beta 2 mRNAs was resistant to the alpha-neurotoxin Bgt3.1. In situ hybridization histochemistry showed that alpha 2 mRNA was expressed in a small number of regions, in contrast to the wide distribution of the other known agonist-binding subunits (alpha 3 and alpha 4) mRNAs. These results demonstrate that the alpha 2 subunit differs from other known agonist-binding alpha-subunits of nAChRs in its distribution in the brain and in its pharmacology.

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Patient and physician experience with insulin and diabetes/insulin education were associated with fewer perceived barriers to insulin progression. Future studies should use multilevel longitudinal designs to quantify the relative impact of potential patient, provider, and health system factors on progression and health outcomes.

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IMPORTANCE Previous observational studies have suggested that fluoroquinolones are associated with aortic aneurysm or dissection, but these studies may be subject to confounding by indication or surveillance bias.OBJECTIVE To assess the association of fluoroquinolones with risk of aortic aneurysm or aortic dissection (AA/AD) while accounting for potential confounding by fluoroquinolone indication and bias owing to differential surveillance. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSIn an observational cohort study using a US commercial claims database, 2 pairwise 1:1 propensity score-matched cohorts were identified: patients aged 50 years or older with a diagnosis of pneumonia 3 days or less before initiating treatment with a fluoroquinolone or azithromycin and patients aged 50 years or older with a urinary tract infection (UTI) diagnosis 3 days or less before initiating a fluoroquinolone or combined trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs were estimated controlling for 85 baseline confounders. In a secondary analysis, patients receiving fluoroquinolones were compared with those receiving amoxicillin, both with and without considering baseline aortic imaging, to address differences in detection of AA/AD before antibiotic use.