stilbenes and Escherichia-coli-Infections

A tetraphenylethylene based aggregation induced emission (AIE) probe, TPEPyE, bearing a positively charged pyridinium pendant was designed and synthesized. The positively charged TPEPyE can efficiently bind to the negatively charged lipopolysaccharide (LPS) through electrostatic interactions between the two oppositely charged species. As a result, upon the addition of LPS into the PBS solution of TPEPyE, this probe aggregated immediately onto the surface of LPS and resulted over 22-fold of fluorescence enhancement. TPEPyE exhibited good selectivity and high sensitivity toward LPS in PBS buffer solution and the detection limit was calculated to be 370 pM (3.7ng/mL). More notably, TPEPyE also retained good sensitivity and selectivity in artificial urine system (with much higher ionic strength) with the detection limit down to nanomolar. Moreover, this probe can also make a distinction between gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli), making it a promising sensor for clinical monitoring of urinary tract infections.

Topics: Biosensing Techniques; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli Infections; Fluorescent Dyes; Humans; Limit of Detection; Lipopolysaccharides; Pyridinium Compounds; Spectrometry, Fluorescence; Staphylococcal Infections; Staphylococcus aureus; Stilbenes

Sepsis-induced suppression in T-cell proliferation follows deranged Ca(2+) signaling in adult rats. In preliminary studies, we observed suppression in T-cell proliferation in septic neonatal rats as well. In this study, we assessed splenic T-cell cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration, [Ca(2+)](i), as its elevation plays an important role in T-cell proliferation. Also, we investigated the role of PGE(2) in sepsis-related changes in T-cell [Ca(2+)](i) in animals pretreated with cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) inhibitor (resveratrol) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor (NS-398). Sepsis was induced in 15-day-old rat pups by intraperitoneal implantation of fecal pellets containing Escherichia coli and Bacteroides fragilis. The sham group consisted of pups implanted with sterile fecal pellets. Septic and sham pups were sacrificed 24 h after implantation and their spleens were removed. The spleens from sham and septic pups, along with spleens from unoperated control pups, were processed for single cell suspensions, and T cells were isolated using nylon wool columns. Fura-2 fluorophotometry was employed for the measurement of [Ca(2+)](i) (in nM units) in T cells stimulated with concanavalin A (ConA). Our results show that ConA-mediated T-cell [Ca(2+)](i) response is significantly suppressed in septic neonatal rats. Pretreatment of pups with COX-2, but not COX-1 inhibitor, prevented the decrease in the [Ca(2+)](i) response. These findings suggest that PGE(2) might induce the attenuation in T-cell Ca(2+) signaling during sepsis in neonatal rats.

Topics: Animals; Animals, Newborn; Bacteroides Infections; Calcium; Concanavalin A; Cyclooxygenase 1; Cyclooxygenase 2; Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors; Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors; Dinoprostone; Escherichia coli Infections; Isoenzymes; Lymphocyte Activation; Membrane Proteins; Nitrobenzenes; Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Resveratrol; Sepsis; Signal Transduction; Spleen; Stilbenes; Sulfonamides; T-Lymphocytes