title: Mycobacterial strains that stimulate the immune system most efficiently as candidates for the treatment of bladder cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) application is widely used in the treatment of superficial bladder carcinoma. Despite being an effective therapy, the pathogenicity and lethal side effects of BCG limits its usage. Intensive research has been carried out to find less toxic and more potent therapeutic agents for the treatment of bladder cancer. Researchers have focused on Mycobacterium phlei as an alternative. The cell wall extract of M. phlei is sufficient for antitumoral activity. Our preliminary experiments indicate that the fractions rich in cell wall proteins cause activation of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-12. This study aims to identify powerful and less harmful mycobacteria among 88 strains in terms of how they stimulate the immune system.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-eight mycobacterial strains were grown in Middlebrook 7H9 medium. The bacterial cells were sonicated after heat treatment. The supernatants were incubated with the monocytic cell line THP-1, followed by measurement of TNF-α and IL-12 response.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In addition to M. phlei, the following 12 mycobacterial strains were selected as candidates for superficial bladder tumor treatment: M. agri, M. aichiense, M. aurum, M. brumae, M. chitae, M. chubuense, M. diernhoferi, M. gadium, M. murale, M. obuense, M. tokaiense and M. vaccae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Zehra Stara
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Yuksel
authors.forename: Esra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Buber
authors.forename: Tanil
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kocagoz
authors.forename: Alpaslan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alp
authors.forename: Zeynep
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Saribas
authors.forename: N Leyla
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Acan
mesh_terms: D002460:Cell Line; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000378:metabolism; D009000:Monocytes / Q000276:immunology; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D018664:Interleukin-12