Brucellosis remains an endemic zoonotic disease in many developing countries, causing great harm to public health and devastating losses to livestock. One of the main reasons for the low effectiveness of anti-brucellosis measures is the lack of reliable methods for diagnosing infected animals throughout their lifespan. Classical serological tests, such as the tube agglutination test, rose Bengal plate test, and complement fixation test, as well as commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits, are based on the detection of antibodies to the cell wall polysaccharide antigens of Brucella spp. smooth strains. As a result, they do not exclude cross-reactions with related bacteria and fail to differentiate between infected and vaccinated animals. Over the past decades, many attempts have been made to identify immunoreactive and pathogen-specific protein antigens. To date, several studies have investigated Brucella spp. recombinant proteins, including cell wall proteins, as the best antigens for diagnosing brucellosis in animals and humans. However, the available results on the specificity and sensitivity of serological tests based on cell wall proteins are ambiguous and sometimes contradictory. This review aims to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge of the diagnostic value of outer membrane and/or periplasmic proteins of Brucella spp. The goal is to identify future developments that may lead to reliable antigens for serological tests. Keywords: Brucella, diagnostics, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, outer membrane protein, periplasmic protein.

Pericytes, as perivascular cells, are present in all vascularized organs and tissues, and they actively interact with endothelial cells in capillaries and microvessels. Their involvement includes functions like blood pressure regulation, tissue regeneration, and scarring. Studies have confirmed that pericytes play a crucial role in bone tissue regeneration through direct osteodifferentiation processes, paracrine actions, and vascularization. Recent preclinical and clinical experiments have shown that combining perivascular cells with osteogenic factors and tissue-engineered scaffolds can be therapeutically effective in restoring bone defects. This approach holds promise for addressing bone-related medical conditions. In this review, we have emphasized the characteristics of pericytes and their involvement in angiogenesis and osteogenesis. Furthermore, we have explored recent advancements in the use of pericytes in preclinical and clinical investigations, indicating their potential as a therapeutic resource in clinical applications.

Pericytes, as perivascular cells, are present in all vascularized organs and tissues, and they actively interact with endothelial cells in capillaries and microvessels. Their involvement includes functions like blood pressure regulation, tissue regeneration, and scarring. Studies have confirmed that pericytes play a crucial role in bone tissue regeneration through direct osteodifferentiation processes, paracrine actions, and vascularization. Recent pre-clinical and clinical experiments have shown that combining perivascular cells with osteogenic factors and tissue-engineered scaffolds can be therapeutically effective in restoring bone defects. This approach holds promise for addressing bone-related medical conditions. In this review, we have emphasized the characteristics of pericytes and their involvement in angiogenesis and osteogenesis. Furthermore, we have explored recent advancements in the use of pericytes in preclinical and clinical investigations, indicating their potential as a therapeutic resource in clinical applications.

BACKGROUND: Active proliferation is specific property of a tumor cells. However, the cost of the analysis is high due to commercial anti-Ki-67 mAbs used as the main immunoreagent for reliable identification of proliferating cells. In this study, recombinant protein was used to obtain specific mAbs for Ki-67 biomarker immunodetection. METHODS: Codon optimized fragment of ki-67 gene was cloned into the pET28c(+)vector. The recombinant protein was purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) and confirmed by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS)/MS. Hybridoma cells were obtained by fusing myeloma cells with mouse spleen cells immunized with recombinant antigen. The specificity and activity of mAbs was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Western blot and immunocytochemistry. RESULTS: The pET-28c(+)/ki-67 plasmid, which encodes 355 amino acid protein, was obtained. Analysis by LC-MS/MS of the recombinant antigen showed that 77.5% of the amino-acid sequence belonged to Ki-67 protein. Recombinant fragment of Ki-67 protein was used to obtain specific hybridoma strains. ELISA and Western blot demonstrated high affinity and the specificity of obtained mAbs against Ki-67 protein. Newly generated anti-Ki67 mAbs detected target protein in proliferating cells of MCF-7 cell line by immunocytochemistry. CONCLUSION: Newly developed mAbs are potentially useful as an immunodiagnostic tool for assessing the proliferative activity of breast tumor cells using immunocytochemistry. KEYWORDS: breast cancer, Ki-67, monoclonal antibodies, nuclear antigen, recombinant antigen, tumor cells

Listeriosis is an infectious disease that affects both humans and animals and is caused by Listeria monocytogenes. It is characterized by multiple sources of pathogen entry, a wide range of transmission routes and factors, polymorphic clinical manifestations, and high mortality rates. L. monocytogenes is considered a unique foodborne pathogen due to its intracellular lifecycle and remarkable adaptive capabilities. The pathogenesis of listeriosis is largely driven by the virulence factors of L. monocytogenes, which enable incomplete phagocytosis, intracellular parasitism, rapid host cell invasion, and the development of antibiotic resistance. These virulence determinants act at various stages of the host infection cycle, enhancing the pathogen’s ability to evade immune responses and establish persistent infections. Given the pronounced polymorphism of clinical manifestations and the unique biology of the pathogen, improving laboratory diagnostic methods and developing targeted immunoprophylactic strategies are of paramount importance. This article reviews recent advances in the epizootiology, epidemiology, and pathogenesis of listeriosis. It also highlights key pathogenicity and virulence factors of L. monocytogenes as critical targets for the development of rapid identification techniques in food products. The implementation of modern rapid detection methods significantly reduces analysis time and increases the accuracy of results, even when the pathogen is present in low concentrations within the tested samples.