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Inflammation has been recognized as a medical condition dating back to the ancient Egyptian and Greek cultures. In the 5th century B.C.E. Hippocrates described inflammation as an early component of the healing process after tissue injury. Since then the definition of inflammation has changed but the foundation remains the same—inflammation is the body’s defense in response to environmental insult. In recent years, a deeper understanding of inflammation underlying Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) has come from the intersection of molecular biology and immunological discoveries. Advancements in genomics and proteomics have proven instrumental in the dissection of molecular mechanisms of inflammation; recognition of the signaling pathway crossroads has become a guiding light to the development of novel immune therapies in many inflammation-induced diseases. An in-depth look at one potential therapeutic agent, lactoferrin (LTF), demonstrates how an immune modulator may hold potential to control the inflammatory response. The clinical impact of this knowledge is enormous and holds promise on further development of new technologies for multiple clinical applications.

Lactoferrin, an iron-binding protein found in high concentrations in mammalian exocrine secretions, is an important component of the host defense system. It is also a major protein of the secondary granules of neutrophils from which is released upon activation. Due to its potential clinical utility, recombinant human lactoferrin (rhLF) has been produced in various eukaryotic expression systems; however, none of these are fully compatible with humans. Most of the biopharmaceuticals approved by the FDA for use in humans are produced in mammalian expression systems. The Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO) have become the system of choice for proteins that require post-translational modifications, such as glycoproteins. The aim of this study was to scale-up expression and purification of rhLF in a CHO expression system, verify its glycan primary structure, and assess its biological properties in cell culture models. A stable CHO cell line producing >200mg/L of rhLF was developed and established. rhLF was purified by a single-step cation-exchange chromatography procedure. The highly homogenous rhLF has a molecular weight of approximately 80 kDa. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric analysis revealed N-linked, partially sialylated glycans at two glycosylation sites, typical for human milk LF. This novel rhLF showed a protective effect against oxidative stress in a similar manner to its natural counterpart. In addition, rhLF revealed a modulatory effect on cellular redox via upregulation of key antioxidant enzymes. These data imply that the CHO-derived rhLF is fully compatible with the native molecule, thus it has promise for human therapeutic applications.

The pathomechanism of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is multifactorial although the most popular hypotheses are centered on the effects of the misfolded, aggregated protein, amyloid beta (Abeta) and on Tau hyperphosphorylation.Double blinded clinical trials were planned to demonstrate the effect of Colostrinin (CLN) on instrumental daily activities of AD patients. The potential molecular mechanisms by which CLN mediates its effects were investigated by gene expression profiling.RNAs isolated from CLN-treated cells were analyzed by high-density oligonucleotide arrays. Network and pathway analyses were performed using the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software.The Full Sample Analysis at week 15 showed a stabilizing effect of CLN on cognitive function in ADAS-cog (p = 0.02) and on daily function in IADL (p = 0.02). The overall patient response was also in favor of CLN (p = 0.03). Patients graded as mild on entry also showed a superior response of ADAS-cog compared to more advanced cases (p = 0.01). Data derived from microarray network analysis show that CLN elicits highly complex and multiphasic changes in the cells' transcriptome. Importantly, transcriptomal analysis showed that CLN alters gene expression of molecular networks implicated in Abeta precursor protein synthesis, Tau phosphorylation and increased levels of enzymes that proteolitically eliminate Abeta. In addition, CLN enhanced the defense against oxidative stress and decreased expression of inflammatory chemokines and cytokines, thereby attenuating inflammatory processes that precede Alzheimer's and other neurological diseases.Together these data suggest that CLN has promising potential for clinical use in prevention and therapy of Alzheimer's and other age-associated central nervous system diseases.

Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadenisis) is a native American medicinal plant used as an immune stimulant. Astragalus (Astragalus membranaceus) is a widely used herbal product in China, other Asian countries, and the United States as an immune stimulant to be taken on first clinical signs of infection. In this study, the innate effects of goldenseal and Astragalus on pro-inflammatory cytokines produced by cultured macrophages were examined using two different commercial preparations of goldenseal and Astragalus. Both goldenseal and Astragalus were found to exhibit little to no direct effect on stimulation of mouse macrophages (J774A.1 cells), with only Astragalus able to affect production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha when used in high concentrations. However, both goldenseal and Astragalus were able to modify responses from lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages, with identified immunomodulatory effects to reduce production of TNF-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and IL-12 in a dose-dependent manner. The results obtained indicate that both goldenseal and Astragalus exhibit abilities to modulate macrophage responses during stimulation. Therefore, it is hypothesized that their historical use as therapeutic agents may be due to reduction in the pro-inflammatory response that indirectly leads to limiting of clinical symptoms during infection. Both products differ in their immune stimulatory patterns, offering insight into differential use and therapeutic potential of these products to regulate macrophage immune responses and activation events.

We read with great interest the article by Shelburne et al. ([4][1]) describing two different clones of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii with distinct clinical outcomes. In that report, carried out in a university hospital in Texas, the authors detected the presence of two major