The use of silver to control infections was common in ancient civilizations. In recent years, this material has resurfaced as a therapeutic option due to the increasing prevalence of bacterial resistance to antimicrobials. This renewed interest has prompted researchers to investigate how the antimicrobial properties of silver might be enhanced, thus broadening the possibilities for antimicrobial applications. This review presents a compilation of patented products utilizing any forms of silver for its bactericidal actions in the decade 2007–2017. It analyses the trends in patent applications related to different forms of silver and their use for antimicrobial purposes. Based on the retrospective view of registered patents, statements of prognosis are also presented with a view to heightening awareness of potential industrial and health care applications.

We describe the use of four monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to the rabbit liver growth hormone (GH) receptor and one raised against purified rat liver GH receptor to characterize liver receptor subtypes which differ in their hormone-binding regions. The anti-(rat liver GH receptor) MAb both inhibited and precipitated rat and rabbit GH receptors, but only one-half of 125I-oGH (ovine GH) binding to liver microsomes could be inhibited by excess antibody. Conversely, only one-half of 125I-anti-(rat GH receptor) MAb binding was inhibited by excess oGH and Scatchard plots for this MAb exhibited two components. Although only 50% of 125I-oGH binding to membranes was inhibited by this MAb, all solubilized receptor could be immunoprecipitated. We postulate two epitopes for the anti-(rat GH receptor) MAb, one located at the hormone-binding site (inhibitory site) and one elsewhere (immunoprecipitating site). A second, rabbit-specific antibody (MAb 7) inhibited 85% of hormone binding but only 30% of 125I-anti-(rat GH receptor) MAb binding to rabbit liver microsomes. A combination of this MAb with the anti-(rat GH receptor) MAb totally inhibited 125I-oGH binding. MAb 7 alone totally inhibited 125I-rat GH binding to rabbit liver microsomes, as it did with 125I-oGH binding to purified receptor. On the basis of these results and others we postulate three types of GH receptor in rabbit liver membranes and ascribe approximate extents of 125I-oGH binding to each. A cytosolic ‘GH receptor’ which is not poly(ethylene glycol)-precipitable is shown to share five epitopes with ‘type 2’ microsomal receptors. Purified plasma membrane and endoplasmic reticulum fractions derived from a rabbit liver microsomal preparation have identical antigenic characteristics with respect to the GH-binding region, indicating that the heterogeneity we describe is not related to receptor processing. Of the three types of GH receptor in the plasma membrane of the rabbit (and possibly rat) we postulate that one (type 1) corresponds to the GH receptor involved in stimulating growth and possesses all of the epitopes studied here. A second (type 2) appears to be identical with the cytosolic ‘GH receptor’ and lacks the epitope for the anti-(rat GH receptor) MAb in the hormone binding site region. A third (type 3) does not possess the epitope for the inhibitory anti-(rabbit GH receptor) MAb, appears not to bind rat GH and is lost during purification. The availability of type-specific MAbs will facilitate assignment of specific functions to liver receptor subtypes which mediate the multiple functions of GH.

Dendritic cells (DC) initiate the differentiation of CD4+ helper T cells into effector cells including Th1 and Th17 responses that play an important role in inflammation and autoimmune disease pathogenesis. In mice, Th1 and Th17 responses are regulated by different conventional (c) DC subsets, with cDC1 being the main producers of IL-12p70 and inducers of Th1 responses, whilst cDC2 produce IL-23 to promote Th17 responses. The role that human DC subsets play in memory CD4+ T cell activation is not known. This study investigated production of Th1 promoting cytokine IL-12p70, and Th17 promoting cytokines, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-23, by human blood monocytes, CD1c+ DC, CD141+ DC and plasmacytoid DC and examined their ability to induce Th1 and Th17 responses in memory CD4+ T cells. Human CD1c+ DC, produced IL-12p70, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-23 in response to R848 combined with LPS or poly I:C. CD141+ DC also capable of produced IL-12p70 and IL-23 but were not as proficient as CD1c+ DC. Activated CD1c+ DC were endowed with the capacity to promote both Th1 and Th17 effector function in memory CD4+ T cells, characterized by high production of IFNγ, IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-21 and IL-22. These findings support a role for CD1c+ DC in autoimmune inflammation where both Th1 and Th17 responses play an important role in disease pathogenesis.

GH receptors have not hitherto been demonstrated or characterized on osteoblasts. In this study we report the characterization of functional GH receptors on the clonal rat osteoblast-like cell line UMR 106.06. The receptors have a typical somatogenic specificity, with high affinity for human GH, 10-fold lower affinity for rat GH, and very poor affinity for rat PRL. The affinity for rat GH is 1.2 +/- 0.4 x 10(9) M-1, and there are approximately 9000 receptors per cell. GH binding increased over several hours when incubations were carried out in serum free minimal essential medium, but binding reduced rapidly when incubations were carried out in Tris-NaCl-Mg++, HEPES, or bicarbonate buffer, suggesting a critical dependence of receptor expression on nutritional factors. Rat GH stimulated proliferation of UMR 106.06 cells in a dose-dependent fashion with a maximum 43 +/- 2% stimulation above control and half-maximal effect at a final hormone concentration of 15 +/- 3 ng/ml. A proliferative response was not observed at low cell density, suggestive of a requirement for a threshold concentration of autocrine mediators or density-dependent receptor expression. A monoclonal antibody (MAb 263) which blocks GH binding to a subset (type 1) of rat hepatic GH receptors did not block binding to osteoblast GH receptors, and did not block the proliferative response. Thus, the proliferative response appears to be mediated by a class of GH receptors not blocked by MAb 263 and possibly related to the type 2 hepatic GH receptors. RNA was extracted from UMR 106.06 cells and a second osteoblast-like cell line UMR 201. Hybridization to a 32P-labeled complementary DNA probe to the rabbit hepatic growth hormone receptor revealed two major labelled bands (3.5 and 1.2 kilobases) and one minor band (2.4 kilobases) in both cell types. In summary, GH receptors are present in clonal osteoblast-like cells, and the receptors mediate a proliferative response to GH. The UMR 106.06 cells provide a valuable model system for studying the mechanism of GH action.