Identifying the formation of de novo HLA-directed antibodies following heart transplantation may predict allograft outcome. This, in turn, may serve as a tool for individualization of immunosuppression protocols in heart transplant recipients.
Metastatic Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC-LN7) cells have increased protein kinase A (PKA) activity and are more invasive in vitro than are non-metastatic (LLC-C8) cells. To determine whether PKA mediates the in vitro invasiveness and in vivo metastatic capabilities of these tumor cells, the LLC variants were stably transfected to over-express the C alpha subunit of PKA, and thus to have increased PKA activity, or to express a mutant cAMP-resistant PKA R1 alpha subunit which blocks PKA activation. Wild-type LLC-LN7 tumor cells were invasive in vitro and in vivo, recurred after tumor excision and metastasized to the lungs. However, they lost these properties after transfection to express the mutant R1 alpha that blocks PKA activation. The non-invasive, non-recurring and non-metastatic LLC-C8 cells gained the capacity to invade, to recur following tumor excision and to metastasize when transfected to express the PKA C alpha subunit.
The authors describe a case of prosthetic valve infective endocarditis (IE) caused by Gemella morbillorum (GM), a gram‐positive coccus that grows slowly in culture and occasionally causes a subacute to chronic form of IE. To the author's knowledge, this is the third case of GM prosthetic valve IE to be reported. Subacute to chronic IE caused by slow‐growing organisms can be subtle in presentation and should be suspected in patients who have prosthetic valves presenting with worsening heart failure.
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