http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcvetres/ The editor's pick of recent articles published by BMC Veterinary Research 2012-03-27T00:00:00Z Background: It is supposed that fibroblasts present in tumour microenvironment increase cancer invasiveness and its ability to metastasize but the mechanisms have not been clearly defined yet. Thus, the current study was designed to assess changes in gene expression in five various cancer cell lines grown as a co-culture with the carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in vitro. Results: A carcinoma-associated fibroblast cell line was isolated from a canine mammary cancer. Then, a co-culture of cancer cells with the CAFs was established and maintained for 72 hrs. Having sorted the cells, a global gene expression in cancer cells using DNA microarrays was examined. The analysis revealed an up-regulation of 100 genes and a down-regulation of 106 genes in the cancer cells grown as a co-culture with the CAFs in comparison to control conditions. The PANTHER binomial statistics tool was applied to determine statistically over-manifested pathways (p < 0.05). Bulk of the up-regulated genes are involved in the adhesion, the angiogenesis, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and generally take part in the developmental processes. These results were further confirmed using real-time qPCR. Moreover, a wound-healing assay and growth characteristics on Matrigel matrix showed that CAFs increase cancer cell migration and matrix invasion. Conclusion: The results of the current study showed that the co-culturing of cancer cells and the CAFs caused significant changes to the cancer gene expression. The presence of the CAFs in a microenvironment of cancer cells promotes adhesion, angiogenesis and EMT. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1746-6148/8/35 Magdalena Król Karol M Pawłowski Katarzyna Szyszko Henryk Maciejewski Izabella Dolka Elisabetta Manuali Michał Jank Tomasz Motyl BMC Veterinary Research 2012, 8:35 2012-03-27T00:00:00Z 10.1186/1746-6148-8-35 Fibroblasts alter cancer cell gene expression Carcinoma-associated fibroblasts modulate the gene expression of co-cultured canine mammary cancer cells, affecting adhesion, angiogenesis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in these cells which may reflect an involvement in tumorigenesis in vivo. /content/figures/1746-6148-8-35-toc.gif BMC Veterinary Research 1746-6148 8 35 2012-03-27T00:00:00Z XML Background: In veterinary medicine and animal husbandry, there is a need for tools allowing the early warning of diseases. Preferably, tests should be available that warn farmers and veterinarians during the incubation periods of disease and before the onset of clinical signs. The objective of this study was to explore the potential of serum protein profiles as an early biomarker for infectious disease status. Serum samples were obtained from an experimental pig model for porcine circovirus-associated disease (PCVAD), consisting of Porcine Circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infection in combination with either Porcine Parvovirus (PPV) or Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus (PRRSV). Sera were collected before and after onset of clinical signs at day 0, 5 and 19 post infection. Serum protein profiles were evaluated against sera from non-infected control animals. Results: Protein profiles were generated by SELDI-TOF mass spectrometry in combination with the Proteominer™ technology to enrich for low-abundance proteins. Based on these protein profiles, the experimentally infected pigs could be classified according to their infectious disease status. Before the onset of clinical signs 88% of the infected animals could be classified correctly, after the onset of clinical sigs 93%. The sensitivity of the classification appeared to be high. The protein profiles could distinguish between separate infection models, although specificity was moderate to low. Classification of PCV2/PRRSV infected animals was superior compared to PCV2/PPV infected animals. Limiting the number of proteins in the profiles (ranging from 568 to 10) had only minor effects on the classification performance. Conclusions: This study shows that serum protein profiles have potential for detection and identification of viral infections in pigs before clinical signs of the disease become visible. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1746-6148/8/32 Miriam GJ Koene Han A Mulder Norbert Stockhofe-Zurwieden Leo Kruijt Mari A Smits BMC Veterinary Research 2012, 8:32 2012-03-22T00:00:00Z 10.1186/1746-6148-8-32 Biomarkers for early disease detection Serum from pigs experimentally infected with a combination of porcine circovirus-associated diseases indicate that SELDI-TOF protein profiles have potential for detection of viral infection in pigs before clinical signs of the disease become visible. /content/figures/1746-6148-8-32-toc.gif BMC Veterinary Research 1746-6148 8 32 2012-03-22T00:00:00Z XML Background: The impact of food animals as a possible reservoir for extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Enterobacteriaceae, and the dissemination of such strains into the food production chain need to be assessed. In this study 334 fecal samples from pigs, cattle, chicken and sheep were investigated at slaughter. Additionally, 100 raw milk samples, representing bulk tank milk of 100 different dairy farms, 104 minced meat (pork and beef) samples and 67 E. coli isolates from cattle E. coli mastitis were analyzed. Results: As many as 15.3% of the porcine, 13.7% of the bovine, 8.6% of the sheep and 63.4% of the chicken fecal samples yielded ESBL producers after an enrichment step. In contrast, none of the minced meat, none of the bulk tank milk samples and only one of the mastitis milk samples contained ESBL producing strains. Of the total of 91 isolates, 89 were E. coli, one was Citrobacter youngae and one was Enterobacter cloacae. PCR analysis revealed that 78 isolates (85.7%) produced CTX-M group 1 ESBLs while six isolates (6.6%) produced CTX-M group 9 enzymes. Five detected ESBLs (5.5%) belonged to the SHV group and 2 isolates (2.2%) contained a TEM-type enzyme. A total of 27 CTX-M producers were additionally PCR-positive for TEM-beta-lactamase. The ESBL-encoding genes of 53 isolates were sequenced of which 34 produced CTX-M-1, 6 produced CTX-M-14, 5 produced CTX-M-15 and also 5 produced SHV-12. Two isolates produced TEM-52 and one isolate expressed a novel CTX-M group 1 ESBL, CTX-M-117. One isolate--aside from a CTX-M ESBL-- contained an additional novel TEM-type broad-spectrum beta-lactamase, TEM-186. Conclusions: The relatively high rates of ESBL producers in food animals and the high genetic diversity among these isolates are worrisome and indicate an established reservoir in farm animals. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1746-6148/8/21 Nadine Geser Roger Stephan Herbert Hächler BMC Veterinary Research 2012, 8:21 2012-03-07T00:00:00Z 10.1186/1746-6148-8-21 ESBL-producing bacteria in food chain The fecal microflora of Swiss farm animals reveals a much higher prevalence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Enterobacteriaceae, including novel variants, than is found in meat and milk samples, indicating an established reservoir in farm animals. /content/figures/1746-6148-8-21-toc.gif BMC Veterinary Research 1746-6148 8 21 2012-03-07T00:00:00Z XML