Search results for "pathogen"
showing 10 items of 1657 documents
A promising new ELISA diagnostic test for cattle babesiosis based on Babesia bigemina Apical Membrane Antigen-1.
2016
Babesiosis due to Babesia bigemina is a relevant tick‑borne disease, affecting cattle worldwide. Many surface proteins of the pathogen including the Apical Membrane Antigen 1 (AMA‑1) ‑ have been analysed for vaccine and diagnostic purposes. This study focused on B. bigemina AMA‑1 and on its use for the assessment of diagnostic tests. After bioinformatic analyses, AMA‑1 codifying region was amplified and cloned into an expression vector used to induce protein synthesis in Escherichia coli cells. AMA‑1 was purified by affinity chromatography and used to set up the best condition for an ELISA protocol. Bovine field sera positive to B. bigemina were used to evaluate the presence of anti‑AMA‑1 a…
Identification of Novel Hexapeptides Bioactive against Phytopathogenic Fungi through Screening of a Synthetic Peptide Combinatorial Library
2002
The purpose of the present study was to improve the antifungal activity against selected phytopathogenic fungi of the previously identified hexapeptide PAF19. We describe some properties of a set of novel synthetic hexapeptides whose D-amino acid sequences were obtained through screening of a synthetic peptide combinatorial library in a positional scanning format. As a result of the screening, 12 putative bioactive peptides were identified, synthesized, and assayed. The peptides PAF26 (Ac-rkkwfw-NH(2)), PAF32 (Ac-rkwhfw-NH(2)), and PAF34 (Ac-rkwlfw-NH(2)) showed stronger activity than PAF19 against isolates of Penicillium digitatum, Penicillium italicum, and Botrytis cinerea. PAF26 and PAF3…
Phagocytic neutrophils cross-present antigen
2007
In this issue of Blood , Beauvillain and colleagues show that murine as well as human neutrophils are capable of cross-presenting exogenous antigens to CD8+ T cells. Neutrophils are the main inflammatory cells responsible for pathogen killing at sites of infection. Beauvillain and colleagues show
Role of the virulence plasmid pR99 and the metalloprotease Vvp in resistance of Vibrio vulnificus serovar E to eel innate immunity
2007
Vibrio vulnificus biotype 2 serovar E (VSE) is a bacterial pathogen that produces a haemorrhagic septicaemia called vibriosis in eels. Its ability to grow in blood is conferred by a recently described virulence plasmid [Lee CT, Amaro C, Wu KM, Valiente E, Chang YF, Tsai SF, et al. A common virulence plasmid in biotype 2 Vibrio vulnificus and its dissemination aided by a conjugal plasmid. Journal of Bacteriology, submitted for publication.]. In this study, we analyzed the role of this plasmid together with the role played by the metalloprotease (Vvp) in the interaction between bacteria and eel innate immunity. To this end, we compared and statistically analyzed the differences in resistance …
Exploiting the Pleiotropic Antioxidant Effects of Established Drugs in Cardiovascular Disease.
2015
Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death and reduced quality of life worldwide. Arterial vessels are a primary target for endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis, which is accompanied or even driven by increased oxidative stress. Recent research in this field identified different sources of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species contributing to the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction. According to lessons from the past, improvement of endothelial function and prevention of cardiovascular disease by systemic, unspecific, oral antioxidant therapy are obviously too simplistic an approach. Source- and cell organelle-specific antioxidants as well as activators of intrinsic antiox…
Overexpression of human hepatic lipase and ApoE in transgenic rabbits attenuates response to dietary cholesterol and alters lipoprotein subclass dist…
1999
Abstract —The effect of the expression of human hepatic lipase (HL) or human apoE on plasma lipoproteins in transgenic rabbits in response to dietary cholesterol was compared with the response of nontransgenic control rabbits. Supplementation of a chow diet with 0.3% cholesterol and 3.0% soybean oil for 10 weeks resulted in markedly increased levels of plasma cholesterol and VLDL and IDL in control rabbits as expected. Expression of either HL or apoE reduced plasma cholesterol response by 75% and 60%, respectively. The HL transgenic rabbits had substantial reductions in medium and small VLDL and IDL fractions but not in larger VLDL. LDL levels were also reduced, with a shift from larger, m…
Noroviral P-Particles as an In Vitro Model to Assess the Interactions of Noroviruses with Probiotics
2014
Noroviruses (NoVs) are the main etiologic agents of acute epidemic gastroenteritis and probiotic bacteria have been reported to exert a positive effect on viral diarrhea. The protruding (P) domain from NoVs VP1 capsid protein has the ability to assemble into the so-called P-particles, which retain the binding ability to host receptors. We purified the P-domains from NoVs genotypes GI.1 and GII.4 as 6X(His)-tagged proteins and determined that, similar to native domains, they were structured into P-particles that were functional in the recognition of the specific glycoconjugated receptors, as established by surface plasmon resonance experiments. We showed that several lactic acid bacteria (pr…
Experimental virus evolution reveals a role of plant microtubule dynamics and TORTIFOLIA1/SPIRAL2 in RNA trafficking.
2014
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Immunopathogenesis of atherosclerosis: endotoxin accelerates atherosclerosis in rabbits on hypercholesterolemic diet.
2001
Background—On the basis of our concept that atherosclerosis has an immunopathological background, we tested whether activation of the innate immune system influences its progression.Methods and Results—Hypercholesterolemic (0.5% wt/wt diet) rabbits received either repeated intravenous injections of endotoxin (Escherichia colilipopolysaccharide 1.25 to 2.5 μg, once per week) or a self-limiting cutaneousStaphylococcus aureusinfection with or without a quinolone antibiotic. Measured laboratory parameters, including LDL and HDL cholesterols, were similar in the different groups of hypercholesterolemic animals. All endotoxin-treated animals developed transient episodes of fever after endotoxin a…
Complement and atherogenesis: The unknown connection
1999
The question why low-density lipoprotein (LDL) stranded in the subendothelium of arteries should acquire the proinflammatory properties that initiate and sustain atherogenesis has puzzled researchers for decades. The most popular concept contends that oxidative processes are crucial because oxidized LDL (ox-LDL) produced in vitro has atherogenic properties and small amounts of it are found in atherosclerotic lesions. Recently, a possible role for vascular infections has also been considered because infectious agents, in particular Chlamydia pneumoniae, are sometimes present in the lesions. Here, evidence is summarized for a different concept of atherogenesis, which evolves from the fact tha…