scholarly journals Vaccination with novel low-molecular weight proteins secreted from Trichinella spiralis inhibits establishment of infection

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. e0008842
Author(s):  
Mellina T. Srey ◽  
Alessia Taccogna ◽  
Yelena Oksov ◽  
Sara Lustigman ◽  
Pei-Yi Tai ◽  
...  

Trichinella spiralis muscle stage larvae (mL1) produce excretory-secreted products (ESPs), a complex mixture of protein, which are believed to be important for establishing or maintaining an infection niche within skeletal muscle and the intestine. Studies of both whole ESPs and individual cloned proteins have shown that some ESPs are potent immunogens capable of eliciting protective immune responses. Here we describe two novel proteins, Secreted from Muscle stage Larvae SML-4 and SML-5 which are 15 kDa and 12 kDa respectively. The genes encoding these proteins are highly conserved within the Trichinellids, are constituents of mL1 ESP and localized in the parasite stichosome. While SML-5 is only expressed in mL1 and early stages of adult nematode development, SML-4 is a tyvosylated glycoprotein also produced by adult nematodes, indicating it may have a function in the enteral phase of the infection. Vaccination with these proteins resulted in an impaired establishment of adult stages and consequently a reduction in the burden of mL1 in BALB/c mice. This suggests that both proteins may be important for establishment of parasite infection of the intestine and are prophylactic vaccine candidates.

Author(s):  
M.C. Castillo-Jessen ◽  
A. González-Angulo

Information regarding the normal morphology of uterine blood vessels at ultrastructural level in mammals is scarce Electron microscopy studies dealing with endometrial vasculature despite the functional implications due to hormone priming are not available. Light microscopy observations with combined injection of dyes and microradiography along with histochemical studies does not enable us to know the detailed fine structure of the possible various types of blood vessels in this tissue. The present work has been designed to characterize the blood vessels of endometrium of mice as well as the behavior of the endothelium to injection of low molecular weight proteins during the normal estrous cycle in this animal. One hundred and forty female albino mice were sacrificed after intravascular injection of horse radish peroxidase (HRP) at 30 seconds, 5, 15, 30 and 60 minutes.


Author(s):  
Kaat Schroven ◽  
Abram Aertsen ◽  
Rob Lavigne

ABSTRACT Bacteria-infecting viruses (phages) and their hosts maintain an ancient and complex relationship. Bacterial predation by lytic phages drives an ongoing phage-host arms race, whereas temperate phages initiate mutualistic relationships with their hosts upon lysogenization as prophages. In human pathogens, these prophages impact bacterial virulence in distinct ways: by secretion of phage-encoded toxins, modulation of the bacterial envelope, mediation of bacterial infectivity and the control of bacterial cell regulation. This review builds the argument that virulence-influencing prophages hold extensive, unexplored potential for biotechnology. More specifically, it highlights the development potential of novel therapies against infectious diseases, to address the current antibiotic resistance crisis. First, designer bacteriophages may serve to deliver genes encoding cargo proteins which repress bacterial virulence. Secondly, one may develop small molecules mimicking phage-derived proteins targeting central regulators of bacterial virulence. Thirdly, bacteria equipped with phage-derived synthetic circuits which modulate key virulence factors could serve as vaccine candidates to prevent bacterial infections. The development and exploitation of such antibacterial strategies will depend on the discovery of other prophage-derived, virulence control mechanisms and, more generally, on the dissection of the mutualistic relationship between temperate phages and bacteria, as well as on continuing developments in the synthetic biology field.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Merle T. Bartling ◽  
Susanne Thümecke ◽  
José Herrera Russert ◽  
Andreas Vilcinskas ◽  
Kwang-Zin Lee

AbstractHoneybees are essential pollinators of many agricultural crops and wild plants. However, the number of managed bee colonies has declined in some regions of the world over the last few decades, probably caused by a combination of factors including parasites, pathogens and pesticides. Exposure to these diverse biotic and abiotic stressors is likely to trigger immune responses and stress pathways that affect the health of individual honeybees and hence their contribution to colony survival. We therefore investigated the effects of an orally administered bacterial pathogen (Pseudomonas entomophila) and low-dose xenobiotic pesticides on honeybee survival and intestinal immune responses. We observed stressor-dependent effects on the mean lifespan, along with the induction of genes encoding the antimicrobial peptide abaecin and the detoxification factor cytochrome P450 monooxygenase CYP9E2. The pesticides also triggered the immediate induction of a nitric oxide synthase gene followed by the delayed upregulation of catalase, which was not observed in response to the pathogen. Honeybees therefore appear to produce nitric oxide as a specific defense response when exposed to xenobiotic stimuli. The immunity-related and stress-response genes we tested may provide useful stressor-dependent markers for ecotoxicological assessment in honeybee colonies.


1991 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 206-213
Author(s):  
Bruce L. Homer ◽  
Kenneth R. Pierce ◽  
Charles H. Bridges ◽  
James E. Womack ◽  
Blair A. Sowa ◽  
...  

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 2887
Author(s):  
Kena Li ◽  
Jens Prothmann ◽  
Margareta Sandahl ◽  
Sara Blomberg ◽  
Charlotta Turner ◽  
...  

Base-catalyzed depolymerization of black liquor retentate (BLR) from the kraft pulping process, followed by ultrafiltration, has been suggested as a means of obtaining low-molecular-weight (LMW) compounds. The chemical complexity of BLR, which consists of a mixture of softwood and hardwood lignin that has undergone several kinds of treatment, leads to a complex mixture of LMW compounds, making the separation of components for the formation of value-added chemicals more difficult. Identifying the phenolic compounds in the LMW fractions obtained under different depolymerization conditions is essential for the upgrading process. In this study, a state-of-the-art nontargeted analysis method using ultra-high-performance supercritical fluid chromatography coupled to high-resolution multiple-stage tandem mass spectrometry (UHPSFC/HRMSn) combined with a Kendrick mass defect-based classification model was applied to analyze the monomers and oligomers in the LMW fractions separated from BLR samples depolymerized at 170–210 °C. The most common phenolic compound types were dimers, followed by monomers. A second round of depolymerization yielded low amounts of monomers and dimers, while a high number of trimers were formed, thought to be the result of repolymerization.


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