Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted ascending) Filter | PMID Filter |
|---|
| gene disruption in cryptococcus neoformans and cryptococcus gattii by in vitro transposition. | cryptococcus neoformans and cryptococcus gattii are basidiomycetous fungi that infect immunocompromised and immunocompetent people. we developed an insertional mutagenesis strategy for these species based on in vitro transposition and we tested the method by disrupting the ura5 gene in a strain of c. neoformans and the cap10 gene in three strains of c. gattii. we targeted plasmid dna containing the ura5 gene or plasmid dna containing the cap10 gene from genomic libraries from the shotgun sequenc ... | 2006 | 16397763 |
| cryptococcus neoformans senses co2 through the carbonic anhydrase can2 and the adenylyl cyclase cac1. | cryptococcus neoformans, a fungal pathogen of humans, causes fatal meningitis in immunocompromised patients. its virulence is mainly determined by the elaboration of a polysaccharide capsule surrounding its cell wall. during its life, c. neoformans is confronted with and responds to dramatic variations in co2 concentrations; one important morphological change triggered by the shift from its natural habitat (0.033% co2) to infected hosts (5% co2) is the induction of capsule biosynthesis. in cells ... | 2006 | 16400172 |
| disseminate cryptococcosis in a guenon (cercopithecus ascanius). | a 23-year-old captive-bred red-tailed guenon (cercopithecus ascanius) with a brief history of inappetence, lethargy, and seizures was submitted for necropsy. on postmortem examination, multiple cryptococcomas were identified in brain and heart. cryptococcus neoformans organisms were also identified microscopically in kidney, eye, and pancreas. fungal yeast formed rare pseudohyphae. the histologic diagnosis of cryptococcosis was confirmed by a positive test for c. neoformans antigen in a serum sa ... | 2006 | 16407492 |
| il-23 enhances the inflammatory cell response in cryptococcus neoformans infection and induces a cytokine pattern distinct from il-12. | il-23, a heterodimeric cytokine composed of the p40 subunit of il-12 and a novel p19 subunit, has been shown to be a key player in models of autoimmune chronic inflammation. to investigate the role of il-23 in host resistance during chronic fungal infection, wild-type, il-12- (il-12p35-/-), il-23- (il-23p19-/-), and il-12/il-23- (p40-deficient) deficient mice on a c57bl/6 background were infected with cryptococcus neoformans. following infection, p40-deficient mice demonstrated higher mortality ... | 2006 | 16393998 |
| immune reconstitution syndrome after highly active antiretroviral therapy in human immunodeficiency virus-infected thai children. | there is little information about the immune reconstitution syndrome (irs) in children, especially from resource-poor countries. | 2006 | 16395104 |
| yeast lipid rafts?--an emerging view. | in various eukaryotes, sterol-rich membrane domains have been proposed to play an important role in polarization and compartmentalization of the plasma membrane. several studies have reported the cellular distribution of sterols in genetically tractable yeast species and the identification of molecules that might regulate the localization of sterol-rich membrane domains. here, we attempt to synthesize our understanding of the function and organization of these domains from the study of fungi and ... | 2006 | 16337381 |
| multilocus sequence typing reveals three genetic subpopulations of cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii (serotype a), including a unique population in botswana. | we applied multilocus sequence typing (mlst) to investigate the population structure and mode of reproduction of cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii (serotype a). this mlst system utilizes 12 unlinked polymorphic loci, which are dispersed on nine different chromosomes, and allows the unambiguous identification of closely related strains of serotype a. we compared mlst analyses with the conventional genotyping method of detecting amplified fragment length polymorphisms (aflps), and there was exce ... | 2006 | 16322524 |
| reconstituted high density lipoprotein enriched with the polyene antibiotic amphotericin b. | the polyene antibiotic amphotericin b (amb) is an effective antifungal agent whose therapeutic potential is limited by poor aqueous solubility and toxicity toward host tissues. addition of apolipoprotein a-i to a multilamellar phospholipid vesicle dispersion containing 20% (w/w) amb induces the formation of reconstituted high density lipoprotein (rhdl), with solubilization of the antibiotic. density gradient ultracentrifugation resulted in flotation of the complexes to a density of 1.16 g/ml, an ... | 2006 | 16314670 |
| the polysaccharide capsule of the pathogenic fungus cryptococcus neoformans enlarges by distal growth and is rearranged during budding. | the capsule of cryptococcus neoformans can undergo dramatic enlargement, a phenomenon associated with virulence. a prior study that used ab to the capsule as a marker for older capsular material concluded that capsule growth involved the intermixing of new and old capsular material with displacement of older capsular polysaccharide towards the surface. here we have revisited that question using complement (c), which binds to capsular polysaccharide covalently, and cannot redistribute by dissocia ... | 2006 | 16359319 |
| colonic bacterial infection abrogates eosinophilic pulmonary disease. | induction of immunity to one pathogen in the lungs modifies the microenvironment and alters immunopathological changes that result from a second, unrelated pulmonary infection. however, it is unclear whether immunity generated at distant sites also affects lung immune responses. here, we show that infection with the gut-restricted bacterium citrobacter rodentium modifies immunopathological changes that result from pulmonary cryptococcus neoformans infection. th2 cytokine-driven pulmonary eosinop ... | 2006 | 16362886 |
| enhanced efficacy of ph-sensitive nystatin liposomes against cryptococcus neoformans in murine model. | to evaluate the efficacy of ph-sensitive liposomes of nystatin against cryptococcus neoformans infection in a murine model. | 2006 | 16368700 |
| binding and internalization of glucuronoxylomannan, the major capsular polysaccharide of cryptococcus neoformans, by murine peritoneal macrophages. | glucuronoxylomannan (gxm), the major component of the capsular polysaccharide of cryptococcus neoformans, is essential to virulence of the yeast. previous studies found that the interaction between gxm and phagocytic cells has biological consequences that may contribute to the pathogenesis of cryptococcosis. we found that gxm binds to and is taken up by murine peritoneal macrophages. uptake is dose and time dependent. examination of the sites of gxm accumulation by immunofluorescence microscopy ... | 2006 | 16368967 |
| the volume and hydration of the cryptococcus neoformans polysaccharide capsule. | we present a new method to measure capsule size in the human fungal pathogen cryptococcus neoformans that avoids the limitations and biases inherent in india ink measurements. the method is based on the use of gamma-radiation, which efficiently releases the capsule from the cell. by comparing the volume of irradiated and non-irradiated cells, one can accurately estimate the relative size of the capsule per cell. this method was also used to obtain an estimate of the capsule weight and water cont ... | 2007 | 16963294 |
| endobronchial fungal disease: an under-recognized entity. | most fungi enter the human body via inhalation; however, endobronchial fungal infection (ebfi) seems to be a rare manifestation compared to pulmonary or systemic disease. this presentation seems to be related to environmental factors as well as to the host status. with the increasing popularity of flexible bronchoscopy, it is being recognized with a higher frequency. bronchoscopic findings in ebfi vary from mild mucosal inflammation to central airway obstruction. we searched english literature r ... | 2007 | 16864987 |
| functional defect of natural immune system in an apparent immunocompetent patient with pulmonary cryptococcosis. | we report a case of pulmonary cryptococcosis in a 21-year-old italian female smoker with no apparent immune disorder. in this study we demonstrated that: (i) patient's neutrophils and monocytes manifested a significant reduction of killing activity against cryptococcus neoformans as well as candida albicans; (ii) the suppression was more pronounced in monocytes than in neutrophils; (iii) neutrophils and monocytes showed a significant impairment of tnf-alpha, il-1beta, and nitric oxide production ... | 2007 | 16678269 |
| cryptotrichosporon anacardii gen. nov., sp. nov., a new trichosporonoid capsulate basidiomycetous yeast from nigeria that is able to form melanin on niger seed agar. | five yeast isolates obtained from cashew tree flowers in nigeria resembled cryptococcus neoformans phenotypically by producing brown pigmented colonies on niger seed agar, expressing a capsule, and being able to grow at 37 degrees c. however, rrna gene sequences, including the 18s rrna gene, the d1/d2 domains of the 26s rrna gene and the its1+2 regions, suggested that these yeasts form a basal lineage within the trichosporonales (tremellomycetidae, hymenomycetes, basidiomycota, fungi). since the ... | 2007 | 17002780 |
| synthesis and antifungal activity of 1h-indole-4,7-diones. | 1h-indole-4,7-diones were synthesized and tested for in vitro antifungal activity against fungi. the synthesized 1h-indole-4,7-diones generally showed good antifungal activity against candida krusei, cryptococcus neoformans, and aspergillus niger. the results suggest that 1h-indole-4,7-diones would be potent antifungal agents. | 2007 | 17046257 |
| invasive fungal infection in systemic lupus erythematosus: an analysis of 15 cases and a literature review. | to analyse 15 cases of invasive fungal infection and mortality parameters in the largest series in the last 35 yrs of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (sle) at a single medical centre. | 2007 | 17043051 |
| combination of amphotericin b with flucytosine is active in vitro against flucytosine-resistant isolates of cryptococcus neoformans. | the combination of flucytosine and amphotericin b was tested against 10 flucytosine-resistant isolates of cryptococcus neoformans by checkerboard, killing curves, and etest. although differences were observed depending on the technique used, antagonism was never observed. the synergistic interaction was related to the mechanism of flucytosine resistance of the isolates. | 2007 | 17043122 |
| peroxisome function regulates growth on glucose in the basidiomycete fungus cryptococcus neoformans. | the function of the peroxisomes was examined in the pathogenic basidiomycete cryptococcus neoformans. recent studies reveal the glyoxylate pathway is required for virulence of diverse microbial pathogens of plants and animals. one exception is c. neoformans, in which isocitrate lyase (encoded by icl1) was previously shown not to be required for virulence, and here this was extended to exclude also a role for malate synthase (encoded by mls1). the role of peroxisomes, in which the glyoxylate path ... | 2007 | 17041184 |
| cytotoxic cd4+ t cells use granulysin to kill cryptococcus neoformans, and activation of this pathway is defective in hiv patients. | an important mechanism of host defense to cryptococcus neoformans involves the direct microbicidal activity of lymphocytes. the importance of cd4+ t cells is illustrated by the incidence of this infection in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (aids) patients; however, the relative activity of microbicidal cd4+ t cells compared with cd8+ t cells and natural killer (nk) cells has not been established. further, although nk cells and cd8+ t cells use perforin or granulysin, respectively, to kill ... | 2007 | 17038537 |
| clinical features, prognostic and risk factors of central nervous system infections in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. | the purpose of this study is to describe the etiology, characteristics and outcomes of central nervous system (cns) infections in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (sle), while also identifying prognostic and risk factors. thirty-eight sle patients with cns infections were identified from review of all charts of patients with sle hospitalized from january 1995 to june 2005. these patients were divided into 3 groups, i.e., mycobacterium tuberculosis (tb), non-tb bacterial and fungal infe ... | 2007 | 17021668 |
| new antifungal flavonoid glycoside from vitex negundo. | flavonoids are ubiquitous in photosynthesizing cells and are common part of human diet. for centuries, preparations containing these compounds as the principal physiologically active constituents have been used to treat human diseases. increasingly, this class of natural products is becoming the subject of anti-infective research. our bioactivity guided fractionation of ethanolic extract of leaves of vitex negundo resulted in the isolation of new flavone glycoside (4) along with five known compo ... | 2007 | 17027268 |
| pulmonary infection with cryptococcus neoformans in the face of underlying sarcoidosis. | we present a case of limited pulmonary cryptococcal infection following exposure to pigeon excreta in a patient with sarcoidosis. the pathogenicity of cryptococcus neoformans depends on the interplay between the immune status of the host and the virulence of the infecting strain. it can range from asymptomatic lung colonization in the immunocompetent host to rapidly progressive meningitis in immunocompromised patients. immunological models of respiratory disease emphasize a distinction between i ... | 2007 | 16106116 |
| cryptococcus neoformans in organ transplant recipients: impact of calcineurin-inhibitor agents on mortality. | variables influencing the risk of dissemination and outcome of cryptococcus neoformans infection were assessed in 111 organ transplant recipients with cryptococcosis in a prospective, multicenter, international study. sixty-one percent (68/111) of the patients had disseminated infection. the risk of disseminated cryptococcosis was significantly higher for liver transplant recipients (adjusted hazard ratio [hr], 6.65; p=.048). the overall mortality rate at 90 days was 14% (16/111). the mortality ... | 2007 | 17262720 |
| cryptococcal phospholipase b antigen is not detected in serum of patients infected with cryptococcus neoformans using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. | extracellular phospholipase b (plb) is a virulence determinant of cryptococcus neoformans and cryptococcus gattii. in this study, we developed a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) for plb antigen with a detection limit of 3.9 ng ml(-1). plb was detected in culture supernatants of c. neoformans and c. gattii. plb, however, was not detected in sera of seven human patients and 10 feline patients with active cryptococcosis. furthermore, none of five rats with extensive pulmonary c. ... | 2007 | 17266733 |
| bioassay-guided isolation of antifungal alkaloids from melochia odorata. | an alkaloidal extract of the leaves of melochia odorata exhibited antifungal activity against candida albicans, cryptococcus neoformans and saccharomyces cerevisiae using a tlc bioautographic method. bioassay-guided fractionation of this extract using separation by normal and reverse high-performance liquid chromatography (hplc) resulted in the isolation of two active compounds identified as frangulanine, a cyclic peptide alkaloid, and waltherione-a, a quinolinone alkaloid. | 2007 | 17236172 |
| synthesis, stereochemistry and antimicrobial evaluation of t(3)-benzyl-r(2),c(6)-diarylpiperidin-4-one and its derivatives. | in a wide research program toward new and efficient antimicrobial agents, a series of t(3)-benzyl-r(2),c(6)-diarylpiperidin-4-ones (1-7) were synthesised and tested for their in vitro antibacterial and antifungal activities. also, the structures and their stereochemistry of these synthesised compounds 1-7 were characterized by ir, high resolution (1)h nmr, (13)c nmr and (1)h-(13)c cosy spectra. the analysis of coupling constants of compounds 1-5 reveals that they exist in normal chair conformati ... | 2007 | 17241703 |
| antimicrobial activity of long-chain, water-soluble, dendritic tricarboxylato amphiphiles. | to measure the antimicrobial activities of three series of homologous, dendritic tricarboxylato (three-headed) amphiphiles against a battery of bacteria and fungi. | 2007 | 17242037 |
| loss of cell wall alpha(1-3) glucan affects cryptococcus neoformans from ultrastructure to virulence. | yeast cell walls are critical for maintaining cell integrity, particularly in the face of challenges such as growth in mammalian hosts. the pathogenic fungus cryptococcus neoformans additionally anchors its polysaccharide capsule to the cell surface via alpha(1-3) glucan in the wall. cryptococcal cells disrupted in their alpha glucan synthase gene were sensitive to stresses, including temperature, and showed difficulty dividing. these cells lacked surface capsule, although they continued to shed ... | 2007 | 17244196 |
| propping up our knowledge of g protein signaling pathways: diverse functions of putative noncanonical gbeta subunits in fungi. | heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding proteins, composed of galpha, gbeta, and ggamma subunits, are important mediators of fungal pheromone and nutrient signaling pathways. most fungal genomes encode two or three functionally distinct galpha subunits but only a single canonical gbeta subunit, which does not bind multiple galpha subunits. studies in saccharomyces cerevisiae, cryptococcus neoformans, and schizosaccharomyces pombe have identified binding partners for galpha subunits, which are ... | 2007 | 17244888 |
| synthesis of pseudopeptides based l-tryptophan as a potential antimicrobial agent. | four compounds named l-btrppa, l-trp-o-pa, l-trp-m-pa and l-trp-p-pa, pseudopeptides constructed from pyridine and tryptophan units, were synthesized and tested against the gram-positive, gram-negative strains of bacteria and human pathogenic fungi. l-trp-o-pa proved to be a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent, showing a significant inhibition of the growth of gram-positive bacteria (staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant s. aureus, bacillus subtilis, micrococcus luteus), and pathogenic fun ... | 2007 | 17257839 |
| cryptococcal lymphadenitis diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration biopsy. | 2007 | 17230573 | |
| extracellular glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored mannoproteins and proteases of cryptococcus neoformans. | extracellular proteins of cryptococcus neoformans are involved in the pathogenesis of cryptococcosis, and some are immunoreactive antigens that may potentially serve as candidates for vaccine development. to further study the extracellular proteome of the human fungal pathogen cry. neoformans, we conducted a proteomic analysis of secreted and cell wall-bound proteins with an acapsular strain of cry. neoformans. proteins were identified from both intact cells and cell walls. in both cases, extrac ... | 2007 | 17233760 |
| a ras1-cdc24 signal transduction pathway mediates thermotolerance in the fungal pathogen cryptococcus neoformans. | pathogenic microorganisms must precisely regulate morphogenesis to survive and proliferate within an infected host. this regulation is often controlled by conserved signal transduction pathways that direct morphological changes in varied species. one such pathway, whose components include ras proteins and the pak kinase ste20, allows the human fungal pathogen cryptococcus neoformans to grow at high temperature. previously, we found that ras1 signalling is required for differentiation, thermotole ... | 2007 | 17233829 |
| antileishmanial and antifungal activity of plants used in traditional medicine in brazil. | the antileishmanial and antifungal activity of 24 methanol extracts from 20 plants, all of them used in the brazilian traditional medicine for the treatment of several infectious and inflammatory disorders, were evaluated against promastigotes forms of two species of leishmania (l. amazonensis and l. chagasi) and two yeasts (candida albicans and cryptococcus neoformans). among the 20 tested methanolic extracts, those of vernonia polyanthes was the most active against l. amazonensis (ic(50) of 4 ... | 2007 | 17234373 |
| antifungal activity of brazilian medicinal plants involved in popular treatment of mycoses. | a survey of medicinal plants used to treat common mycoses was done in the curituba district, sergipe state, brazil. one hundred inhabitants were interviewed by health agents and traditional healers. four different plants were the most cited (more than 50% of the citations): ziziphus joazeiro, caesalpinia pyramidalis, bumelia sartorum and hymenea courbaril. the aqueous extracts obtained following traditional methods and using different parts of these plants, were submitted to drop agar diffusion ... | 2007 | 17234376 |
| highly efficient concerted evolution in the ribosomal dna repeats: total rdna repeat variation revealed by whole-genome shotgun sequence data. | repeat families within genomes are often maintained with similar sequences. traditionally, this has been explained by concerted evolution, where repeats in an array evolve "in concert" with the same sequence via continual turnover of repeats by recombination. another form of evolution, birth-and-death evolution, can also explain this pattern, although in this case selection is the critical force maintaining the repeats. the level of intragenomic variation is the key difference between these two ... | 2007 | 17200233 |
| colonic cryptococcus infection. | 2007 | 17208240 | |
| protection against cryptococcosis by using a murine gamma interferon-producing cryptococcus neoformans strain. | we evaluated cell-mediated immune (cmi) responses in mice given a pulmonary infection with a cryptococcus neoformans strain engineered to produce the th1-type cytokine gamma interferon (ifn-gamma). mice given a pulmonary infection with an ifn-gamma-producing c. neoformans strain were able to resolve the primary infection and demonstrated complete (100%) protection against a second pulmonary challenge with a pathogenic c. neoformans strain. pulmonary cytokine analyses showed that th1-type/proinfl ... | 2007 | 17210668 |
| correlation of neo-sensitabs tablet diffusion assay results on three different agar media with clsi broth microdilution m27-a2 and disk diffusion m44-a results for testing susceptibilities of candida spp. and cryptococcus neoformans to amphotericin b, caspofungin, fluconazole, itraconazole, and voriconazole. | we compared the neo-sensitabs tablet assay to both reference m27-a2 broth microdilution and m44-a disk diffusion methods for testing susceptibilities of 110 isolates of candida spp. and cryptococcus neoformans to amphotericin b, caspofungin, fluconazole, itraconazole, and voriconazole. neo-sensitabs assay inhibition zone diameters in millimeters on three agars (mueller-hinton agar supplemented with 2% dextrose and 0.5 microg/ml methylene blue [mgm], shadomy [sha], and rpmi 1640 [rpmi, 2% dextros ... | 2007 | 17215342 |
| microreview: capsule-associated genes of cryptococcus neoformans. | cryptococcosis, caused by cryptococcus neoformans is a common systemic mycosis in man and animals, particularly immunocompromised patients. this pathogenic fungus produces a thick extracellular polysaccharide capsule. four capsule-associated genes (cap10, cap59, cap60, cap64) were cloned and sequenced, and proved to be essential for capsule synthesis. however biochemical functions of cap gene products have not been clarified yet. recently, the relatedness of the polysaccharide capsule and four c ... | 2007 | 17216326 |
| human immunoglobulin g2 (igg2) and igg4, but not igg1 or igg3, protect mice against cryptococcus neoformans infection. | the encapsulated yeast cryptococcus neoformans is a significant cause of meningitis and death in patients with aids. some murine monoclonal antibodies (mabs) against the glucuronoxylomannan (gxm) component of the c. neoformans capsular polysaccharide can prolong the lives of infected mice, while others have no effect or can even shorten survival. to date, no one has systematically compared the efficacies of antibodies with the same variable regions and different human constant regions with their ... | 2007 | 17220317 |
| characterization of environmental sources of the human and animal pathogen cryptococcus gattii in british columbia, canada, and the pacific northwest of the united states. | cryptococcus gattii has recently emerged as a primary pathogen of humans and wild and domesticated animals in british columbia, particularly on vancouver island. c. gattii infections are typically infections of the pulmonary and/or the central nervous system, and the incidence of infection in british columbia is currently the highest reported globally. prior to this emergence, the environmental distribution of and the extent of colonization by c. gattii in british columbia were unknown. we chara ... | 2007 | 17194837 |
| temporal bone histopathology case of the month: acute hearing loss due to cryptococcal meningitis in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. | 2007 | 17159663 | |
| the mating type-specific homeodomain genes sxi1 alpha and sxi2a coordinately control uniparental mitochondrial inheritance in cryptococcus neoformans. | in the great majority of sexual eukaryotes, mitochondrial genomes are inherited almost exclusively from a single parent. while many hypotheses have been proposed to explain this phenomenon, very little is known about the genetic elements controlling uniparental mitochondria inheritance. in the bipolar, isogamous basidiomycete yeast cryptococcus neoformans, progeny from crosses between strains of mating type a (mata) and mating type alpha (matalpha) typically inherit mitochondrial dna (mtdna) fro ... | 2007 | 17186242 |
| divergence of protein kinase a catalytic subunits in cryptococcus neoformans and cryptococcus gattii illustrates evolutionary reconfiguration of a signaling cascade. | gene duplication and divergence via both the loss and gain of gene activities are powerful evolutionary forces underlying the origin of new biological functions. here a comparative genetics approach was applied to examine the roles of protein kinase a (pka) catalytic subunits in three closely related varieties or sibling species of the pathogenic fungus genus cryptococcus. previous studies revealed that two pka catalytic subunits, pka1 and pka2, control virulence factor production and mating. ho ... | 2007 | 17189488 |
| synthesis and evaluation of novel 1-(1h-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)-2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-3-[(4-substitutedphenyl)-piperazin-1-yl]-propan-2-ols as antifungal agents. | a series of 1-(1h-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)-2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-3-[(4-substitutedphenyl)-piperazin-1-yl]-propan-2-ols have been designed and synthesized on the basis of the structure-activity relationships and antimycotic mechanism of azole antifungal agents. their structures were confirmed by elemental analysis, ir, ms, (1)h nmr and (13)c nmr. results of preliminary antifungal tests against six human pathogenic fungi (candida albicans, candida parapsilosis, cryptococcus neoformans, candida tropica ... | 2007 | 17184885 |
| the iron- and camp-regulated gene sit1 influences ferrioxamine b utilization, melanization and cell wall structure in cryptococcus neoformans. | the mechanisms by which pathogens sense and transport iron are important during infection, because of the low availability of free iron in the mammalian host. iron is a key nutritional cue for the pathogen cryptococcus neoformans, because it influences expression of the polysaccharide capsule that is the major virulence factor of the fungus. in this study, c. neoformans mutants were constructed with a defect in the iron-regulated gene sit1 that encodes a putative siderophore iron transporter. an ... | 2007 | 17185532 |
| a novel dodecapeptide from a combinatorial synthetic library exhibits potent antifungal activity and synergy with standard antimycotic agents. | there has been a marked expansion in the discovery of new antifungal peptides. this paper describes a novel dodecapeptide, h-arg-trp-trp-arg-d-trp-d-phe-ile-d-phe-his-trp-arg-trp-nh(2), derived from a previously described nonapeptide and synthesized by the combinatorial approach. further, interaction of this peptide with antifungals such as amphotericin b, flucytosine and fluconazole was studied by checkerboard analysis and time-kill assay to obtain the dynamic picture with respect to time. the ... | 2007 | 17156978 |
| [bacterial meningitis in hiv patient: think about co-infections!]. | the authors report the case of an african 34-year-old patient who was admitted to the intensive care unit for bacterial meningitis due to streptococcus pneumoniae. a meningeal co-infection due to cryptococcal neoformans was found the 3rd day in an hiv infection context. cryptococcus neoformans detection in cerebrospinal fluid, using the india-ink stain, has a low sensibility which imposes the search of cryptococcal antigen and the culture of cerebrospinal fluid. these last two exams have a sensi ... | 2007 | 17158018 |
| cryptococcus neoformans produces authentic prostaglandin e2 without a cyclooxygenase. | many single-celled eukaryotes produce prostaglandin-like molecules, but these have not been absolutely verified by mass spectrometry. we have isolated, and identified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, authentic prostaglandin e(2) from cryptococcus neoformans. cyclooxygenase inhibitors did not inhibit prostaglandin synthesis, and the cryptococcal genome lacks a cyclooxygenase homolog. thus, novel enzymes must exist. | 2007 | 17158733 |
| role of protein o-mannosyltransferase pmt4 in the morphogenesis and virulence of cryptococcus neoformans. | protein o mannosylation is initiated in the endoplasmic reticulum by protein o-mannosyltransferases (pmt proteins) and plays an important role in the secretion, localization, and function of many proteins, as well as in cell wall integrity and morphogenesis in fungi. three pmt proteins, each belonging to one of the three respective pmt subfamilies, are encoded in the genome of the human fungal pathogen cryptococcus neoformans. disruption of the c. neoformans pmt4 gene resulted in abnormal growth ... | 2007 | 17142566 |
| radial mass density, charge, and epitope distribution in the cryptococcus neoformans capsule. | exposure of cryptococcus neoformans cells to gamma radiation results in a gradual release of capsular polysaccharide, in a dose-dependent manner. this method allows the systematic exploration of different capsular regions. using this methodology, capsule density was determined to change according to the radial distribution of glucuronoxylomannan and total polysaccharide, becoming denser at the inner regions of the capsule. scanning electron microscopy of cells following gamma radiation treatment ... | 2007 | 17114596 |
| vesicular polysaccharide export in cryptococcus neoformans is a eukaryotic solution to the problem of fungal trans-cell wall transport. | the mechanisms by which macromolecules are transported through the cell wall of fungi are not known. a central question in the biology of cryptococcus neoformans, the causative agent of cryptococcosis, is the mechanism by which capsular polysaccharide synthesized inside the cell is exported to the extracellular environment for capsule assembly and release. we demonstrate that c. neoformans produces extracellular vesicles during in vitro growth and animal infection. vesicular compartments, which ... | 2007 | 17114598 |
| cytoskeletal structures, ultrastructural characteristics and the capsule of the basidiomycetous yeast cryptococcus laurentii. | the cytoskeleton, capsule and cell ultrastructure were studied during the cell cycle of cryptococcus laurentii. in an encapsulated strain, cytoplasmic microtubules and a mitotic spindle were detected. mitosis was preceded by migration of the nucleus into the bud. f-actin failed to be visualised by rhodamine-phalloidin (rhph) in encapsulated cells and therefore an acapsular strain was used. the following actin structures were found: actin dots, actin cables and cytokinetic ring. ultrastructural s ... | 2007 | 17136567 |
| immune dysfunction in hiv-seronegative, cryptococcus gattii meningitis. | the pathophysiology of meningitis caused by cryptococcus gattii in apparently immunocompetent individuals remains unclear. we measured multiple cytokines in csf from a hiv-seronegative, apparently immunocompetent, thai patient with c. gattii meningitis, over the first 2 weeks of antifungal therapy. levels of proinflammatory ifn-gamma, tnf-alpha, and il-6 were very low compared to patients with hiv-related cryptococcus neoformans meningitis and of il-10 very high. while patients with c. gattii me ... | 2007 | 17109966 |
| cryptococcus neoformans can utilize the bacterial melanin precursor homogentisic acid for fungal melanogenesis. | cryptococcus neoformans melanizes in the environment and in mammalian tissues, but the process of melanization in either venue is mysterious given that this microbe produces melanin only from exogenous substrates. understanding the process of melanization is important because melanization is believed to protect against various stresses in the environment, including uv radiation, and pigment production is associated with virulence. melanization in c. neoformans requires the availability of diphen ... | 2007 | 17098915 |
| cryptococcal lipid metabolism: phospholipase b1 is implicated in transcellular metabolism of macrophage-derived lipids. | cryptococci survive and replicate within macrophages and can use exogenous arachidonic acid for the production of eicosanoids. phospholipase b1 (plb1) has a putative, but uninvestigated, role in these processes. we have shown that uptake and esterification of radiolabeled arachidonic, palmitic, and oleic acids by the cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii h99 wild-type strain and its plb1 deletion mutant strain (the deltaplb1 strain) are independent of plb1, except under hyperosmolar stress. simila ... | 2007 | 17099081 |
| cell wall targeting of laccase of cryptococcus neoformans during infection of mice. | laccase is a major virulence factor of the pathogenic fungus cryptococcus neoformans, which afflicts both immunocompetent and immunocompromised individuals. in the present study, laccase was expressed in c. neoformans lac1delta cells as a fusion protein with an n-terminal green fluorescent protein (gfp) using c. neoformans codon usage. the fusion protein was robustly localized to the cell wall at physiological ph, but it was mislocalized at low ph. structural analysis of the laccase identified a ... | 2007 | 17101662 |
| environment factors can influence mitochondrial inheritance in the fungus cryptococcus neoformans. | cryptococcus neoformans is a model basidiomycete yeast. strains of this species belong to one of two mating types: mating type a (mata) or mating type alpha (matalpha). in typical crosses between mata and matalpha strains, the progeny inherit mitochondria from the mata parent. however, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. to help elucidate the molecular mechanisms, we examined the effects of four environmental factors on the patterns of mtdna inheritance. these factors are temperatu ... | 2007 | 17092744 |
| binding of glucuronoxylomannan to the cd14 receptor in human a549 alveolar cells induces interleukin-8 production. | glucuronoxylomannan (gxm) is the major capsular polysaccharide of cryptococcus neoformans. gxm receptors have been characterized in phagocytes and endothelial cells, but epithelial molecules recognizing the polysaccharide remain unknown. in the current study, we demonstrate that gxm binds to the cd14 receptor in human type ii alveolar epithelial cells, resulting in the production of the proinflammatory chemokine interleukin-8. | 2007 | 17093102 |
| microbial metalloproteinases mediate sensing of invading pathogens and activate innate immune responses in the lepidopteran model host galleria mellonella. | thermolysin-like metalloproteinases such as aureolysin, pseudolysin, and bacillolysin represent virulence factors of diverse bacterial pathogens. recently, we discovered that injection of thermolysin into larvae of the greater wax moth, galleria mellonella, mediated strong immune responses. thermolysin-mediated proteolysis of hemolymph proteins yielded a variety of small-sized (<3 kda) protein fragments (protfrags) that are potent elicitors of innate immune responses. in this study, we report th ... | 2007 | 17074843 |
| antiprotozoal and antimicrobial activities of o-alkylated and formylated acylphloroglucinols. | in the present article, we examined the antileishmanial, antimalarial, antibacterial, and antifungal activities of several newly synthesized o-alkylated phloroglucinol compounds (11-19) which are analogues of the naturally occurring antimalarial compound 1. analogues 12 and 16 exhibited antileishmanial activity against, leishmania donovani promastigotes with ic(50)s of 5.3 and 4.2microg/ml, respectively. naturally occurring monomeric formylated acylphloroglucinol compounds, grandinol (2), jensen ... | 2007 | 17070063 |
| in vitro-clinical correlations for amphotericin b susceptibility in aids-associated cryptococcal meningitis. | reliable measures of antifungal drug susceptibility are needed. we tested the susceptibility of cryptococcus neoformans from patients treated with amphotericin b. in vitro susceptibility employed a modified broth macrodilution method. we demonstrate a strong correlation between the quantitative measures of in vitro amphotericin b susceptibility and the quantitative response observed in patients. | 2007 | 17060519 |
| [chronic ulceration of the ear caused by cryptococcus neoformans]. | 2007 | 17389857 | |
| antimicrobial activity and brine shrimp toxicity of extracts of terminalia brownii roots and stem. | ternimalia brownii fresen (combretaceae) is widely used in traditional medicine to treat bacterial, fungal and viral infections. there is a need to evaluate extracts of this plant in order to provide scientific proof for it's wide application in traditional medicine system. | 2007 | 17394672 |
| hiv-1 gp41 ectodomain enhances cryptococcus neoformans binding to hbmec. | cryptococcus neoformans infection has significantly increased recently, particularly in aids patients and immunocompromised individuals. c. neoformans has a predilection to the brain, resulting in devastating meningoencephalitis. we have previously shown the invasion of c. neoformans into the human brain microvascular endothelial cells (hbmec), which constitute the blood-brain barrier. here, we demonstrated that c. neoformans invasion of hbmec was enhanced by hiv-1 gp41 protein. peptide mapping ... | 2007 | 17400192 |
| synthesis and antimicrobial activity of symmetrical two-tailed dendritic tricarboxylato amphiphiles. | two series of water-soluble, symmetrical two-tailed homologous dendritic amphiphiles--r(2)nconhc((ch(2))(2)cooh)(3), 2(n,n), and r(2)chnhconhc((ch(2))(2)cooh)(3), 3(n,n), where r=n-c(n)h(2n+1)--were synthesized and compared to r''nhconhc((ch(2))(2)cooh)(3), 1(n), r''=n-c(n)h(2n+1), to determine whether antimicrobial activity was influenced by total or individual alkyl chain lengths, and whether antimicrobial activity depends on hydrophobicity or tail topology (one or two). in a broad screen of 1 ... | 2007 | 17400459 |
| chitosan, the deacetylated form of chitin, is necessary for cell wall integrity in cryptococcus neoformans. | cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that causes cryptococcal meningoencephalitis, particularly in immunocompromised patients. the fungal cell wall is an excellent target for antifungal therapies as it is an essential organelle that provides cell structure and integrity, it is needed for the localization or attachment of known virulence factors, including the polysaccharide capsule, melanin, and phospholipase, and it is critical for host-pathogen interactions. in c. neofor ... | 2007 | 17400891 |
| non-neoformans cryptococcal infections: a systematic review. | non-neoformans cryptococci have been generally regarded as saprophytes and rarely reported as human pathogens. however, the incidence of infection due to these organisms has increased over the past 40 years, with cryptococcus laurentii and cryptococcus albidus, together, responsible for 80% of reported cases. conditions associated with impaired cell-mediated immunity are important risks for non-neoformans cryptococcal infections and prior azole prophylaxis has been associated with antifungal res ... | 2007 | 17401707 |
| dolichol-linked oligosaccharide selection by the oligosaccharyltransferase in protist and fungal organisms. | the dolichol-linked oligosaccharide glc3man9glcnac2-pp-dol is the in vivo donor substrate synthesized by most eukaryotes for asparagine-linked glycosylation. however, many protist organisms assemble dolichol-linked oligosaccharides that lack glucose residues. we have compared donor substrate utilization by the oligosaccharyltransferase (ost) from trypanosoma cruzi, entamoeba histolytica, trichomonas vaginalis, cryptococcus neoformans, and saccharomyces cerevisiae using structurally homogeneous d ... | 2007 | 17403929 |
| the relative susceptibility of mouse strains to pulmonary cryptococcus neoformans infection is associated with pleiotropic differences in the immune response. | cba/j mice were highly susceptible to intratracheal (i.t.) cryptococcus neoformans infection relative to balb/c mice, while both strains were equally susceptible to intravenous (i.v.) infection. increased susceptibility in i.t. infection was associated with higher brain cfu, lower serum immunoglobulin m (igm) and igg responses to glucuronoxylomannan (gxm), lack of ige regulation during infection, and alveolar macrophage permissiveness to intracellular replication in vitro. in contrast, for balb/ ... | 2007 | 17371865 |
| amphotericin b-gum arabic conjugates: synthesis, toxicity, bioavailability, and activities against leishmania and fungi. | gum arabic, a branched polysaccharide consisting of more than 90% arabinogalactan having a molecular weight around 250,000 da is the oldest and best known of all natural gums. the objective of the present investigation was to examine whether amphotericin b (amb), the polyene antibiotic when conjugated to periodate oxidized gum arabic still retained its anti-fungal and anti-leishmanial activity and to evaluate its toxicity and bioavailability. | 2007 | 17372682 |
| evolutionary conservation of utr intron boundaries in cryptococcus. | despite significant progress, the general functional and evolutionary significance of the untranslated regions (utrs) of eukaryotic transcripts remain mysterious. particularly mysterious is the common occurrence of spliceosomal introns in transcript utrs because utr splicing is not necessary for restoration of transcript coding sequence. in general, it is not known to what extent such splicing performs an important function or merely represents spliceosomal "noise." we conducted the first analys ... | 2007 | 17374879 |
| a new henna-based medium for the differentiation of cryptococcus neoformans. | 2007 | 17374903 | |
| [fungicidal activity of cellobiose lipids from cultural fluid of yeast cryptococcus humicola and pseudozyma fusiformata]. | cellobiose lipids of yeast fungi cryptococcus humicola and pseudozyma fusiformata have similar fungicidal activities against different yeast, including pathogenic cryptococcus and candida species. basidiomycetic yeast reveals maximum sensitivity to these preparations; e.g., cells of cryptococcus filobasidiella neoformans almost completely die after 30-min incubation in a glycolipid solution at a concentration of 0.02 mg/ml. the same effect toward ascomycetous yeast, including pathogenic candida ... | 2007 | 17375672 |
| fungal infections of the cns: treatment strategies for the immunocompromised patient. | infections with fungi cause significant morbidity in the immunocompromised host and invasion of the cns may lead to devastating consequences. vulnerable individuals include those with haematological malignancies, transplant recipients, and those infected with hiv. potential pathogens include yeasts, aspergillus spp., other moulds of an increasing variety, and a range of dimorphic fungi, often associated with particular geographical locations. antifungal treatments include polyenes such as amphot ... | 2007 | 17381184 |
| synthesis, antifungal and haemolytic activity of a series of bis(pyridinium)alkanes. | a series of bis(pyridinium)alkanes have been prepared and their antifungal activity, haemolytic activity and ability to inhibit fungal phospholipase b1 have been investigated, together with those of the commercially available antiseptics octenidine and dequalinium. removal of the amino substituents from the pyridinium rings resulted in a significant decrease in antifungal activity. however, shortening or removing the alkyl chains attached to the amino groups had little effect on antifungal activ ... | 2007 | 17383187 |
| genotyping, serotyping and determination of mating-type of cryptococcus neoformans clinical isolates from são paulo state, brazil. | the basidiomycetous yeast cryptococcus neoformans is an important fungal pathogen mainly in immunocompromised patients. in this study, 47 clinical isolates of c. neoformans from regions of são paulo state were studied serologically by using the crypto check iatron rm 304-k kit, their genetic diversity was estimated by pcr-fingerprinting with a microsatellite-specific sequence (gaca)(4), rapd with primer 6 (amersham pharmacia biotech), pcr-restriction fragment length polymorphism (rflp) analysis ... | 2007 | 17384819 |
| first case of cryptococcosis in a new species of bandicoot (bandicota indica) caused by cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii. | the first case of cryptococcosis caused by cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii in a new species of bandicoot (bandicota indica) is described. the animal was trapped in a bamboo thicket in a park located in the city of jabalpur, india. on necropsy, pathological lesions were seen in the lungs and liver and c. neoformans var. grubii was isolated from the lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen and brain but not the heart or intestine. the soil of the animal's burrow and bamboo debris around it also revealed ... | 2007 | 17325950 |
| [the diagnostic value of detecting plasma 1, 3-beta-d-glucan for invasive fungal infections]. | to evaluate the diagnostic value of the detection of plasma 1, 3-beta-d-glucan for invasive fungal infections (ifi). | 2007 | 17326970 |
| inhibition of chitin synthases and antifungal activities by 2'-benzoyloxycinnamaldehyde from pleuropterus ciliinervis and its derivatives. | in the course of search for potent chitin synthase inhibitors from natural resources, a novel chitin synthases inhibitor, 2'-benzoyloxycinnamaldehyde (2'-bca) (i), was isolated from the aerial parts of pleuropterus ciliinervis nakai. 2'-bca inhibited chitin synthase 1 and 2 of saccharomyces cerevisiae with the ic50s of 54.9 and 70.8 microg/ml, respectively, whereas it exhibited no inhibitory activity for chitin synthase 3 up to 280 microg/ml. its derivatives, 2'-chloro- (v) and 2(-bromo-cinnamal ... | 2007 | 17329866 |
| synthesis of novel triazole derivatives as inhibitors of cytochrome p450 14alpha-demethylase (cyp51). | a series of 1-(1h-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)-2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-3-[(4-substitutedphenyl)-piperazin-1-yl]-propan-2-ols have been designed and synthesized on the basis of the structure-activity relationships and antimycotic mechanism of azole antifungal agents. their structures were confirmed by elemental analysis, ir, ms and (1)h nmr. results of preliminary antifungal tests against eight human pathogenic fungi (candida albicans, candida parapsilosis, candida tropicalis, cryptococcus neoformans, aspe ... | 2007 | 17335940 |
| parallel beta-helix proteins required for accurate capsule polysaccharide synthesis and virulence in the yeast cryptococcus neoformans. | the principal capsular polysaccharide of the opportunistic fungal pathogen cryptococcus neoformans consists of an alpha-1,3-linked mannose backbone decorated with a repeating pattern of glucuronyl and xylosyl side groups. this structure is critical for virulence, yet little is known about how the polymer, called glucuronoxylomannan (gxm), is faithfully synthesized and assembled. we have generated deletions in two genes encoding predicted parallel beta-helix repeat proteins, which we have designa ... | 2007 | 17337638 |
| mammalian model hosts of cryptococcal infection. | the rising incidence of serious fungal diseases represents a growing threat to human health. cryptococcus neoformans, an encapsulated yeast saprophyte with global distribution, has been recognized as an important emerging pathogen. humans frequently develop asymptomatic or mild infection with c. neoformans, but individuals with impaired host defense systems may develop severe pneumonia and potentially fatal meningoencephalitis. insight into the biology and virulence of c. neoformans is advancing ... | 2007 | 17348287 |
| the pathogenic fungus cryptococcus neoformans expresses two functional gdp-mannose transporters with distinct expression patterns and roles in capsule synthesis. | cryptococcus neoformans is a fungal pathogen that is responsible for life-threatening disease, particularly in the context of compromised immunity. this organism makes extensive use of mannose in constructing its cell wall, glycoproteins, and glycolipids. mannose also comprises up to two-thirds of the main cryptococcal virulence factor, a polysaccharide capsule that surrounds the cell. the glycosyltransfer reactions that generate cellular carbohydrate structures usually require activated donors ... | 2007 | 17351078 |
| sex and virulence of human pathogenic fungi. | over the past decade, opportunistic fungal infectious diseases have increased in prevalence as the population of immunocompromised individuals escalated due to hiv/aids and immunosuppression associated with organ transplantation and cancer therapies. in the three predominant human pathogenic fungi (candida albicans, cryptococcus neoformans, and aspergillus fumigatus), a unifying feature is that all three retained the machinery needed for sex, and yet all limit their access to sexual reproduction ... | 2007 | 17352904 |
| the immunoglobulin heavy chain constant region affects kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of antibody variable region interactions with antigen. | a central dogma in immunology is that antibody specificity is a function of the variable (v) region. however serological analysis of igg(1), igg(2a), and igg(2b) switch variants of murine monoclonal antibody (mab) 3e5 igg(3) with identical v domains revealed apparent specificity differences for cryptococcus neoformans glucuronoxylomannan (gxm). kinetic and thermodynamic binding properties of mabs 3e5 to a 12-mer peptide mimetic of gxm revealed differences in the affinity of these mabs for a mono ... | 2007 | 17353196 |
| role of homoserine transacetylase as a new target for antifungal agents. | microbial amino acid biosynthesis is a proven yet underexploited target of antibiotics. the biosynthesis of methionine in particular has been shown to be susceptible to small-molecule inhibition in fungi. the first committed step in met biosynthesis is the acylation of homoserine (hse) by the enzyme homoserine transacetylase (hta). we have identified the met2 gene of cryptococcus neoformans h99 that encodes hta (cnhta) by complementation of an escherichia coli meta mutant that lacks the gene enc ... | 2007 | 17353245 |
| dependence of macrophage phagocytic efficacy on antibody concentration. | macrophages ingest the fungus cryptococcus neoformans only in the presence of opsonins, and this provides a remarkably clean system for the detailed analysis of phagocytosis. this system is also unusual in that antibody-mediated phagocytosis involves ingestion through both fc and complement receptors in the absence of complement. mathematical modeling was used to analyze and explain the experimental data that the macrophage phagocytic index increased with increasing doses of antibody despite sat ... | 2007 | 17283107 |
| determinants of disease presentation and outcome during cryptococcosis: the cryptoa/d study. | cryptococcosis is a life-threatening opportunistic fungal infection in both hiv-positive and -negative patients. information on clinical presentation and therapeutic guidelines, derived mostly from clinical trials performed before introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy in patients with cryptococcal meningoencephalitis, is missing data on extrameningeal involvement and infections by serotype d as opposed to serotype a of cryptococcus neoformans. | 2007 | 17284154 |
| molecular identification of cryptococcus neoformans serotypes. | cryptococcus neoformans is a fungal pathogen that causes life-threatening infections primarily in immunocompromised hosts. based on the genetic characteristics and serologic properties of capsular polysaccharides, three varieties and five serotypes have been defined: c. neoformans var. neoformans (serotype d), c. neoformans var. grubii (serotype a), hybrid serotype ad, and c. neoformans var. gattii (serotypes b and c). epidemiologic features, such as geographic distribution and ecologic niche, a ... | 2007 | 17287323 |
| in-vitro antifungal activities of sulfa drugs against clinical isolates of aspergillus and cryptococcus species. | in vitro susceptibilities of ten clinical isolates, including five strains of cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii and five strains of aspergillus fumigatus, were determined against nine sulfa drugs using a microdilution method. among the five tested media, minimum inhibitory concentration (mic) values were observed only in ynb medium: no detectable level mic value of less than 125 microg/ml was observed in the four remaining media against cryptococcus species. of the nine sulfa drugs, of which s ... | 2007 | 17287722 |
| role of a cuf1/ctr4 copper regulatory axis in the virulence of cryptococcus neoformans. | the study of regulatory networks in human pathogens such as cryptococcus neoformans provides insights into host-pathogen interactions that may allow for correlation of gene expression patterns with clinical outcomes. in the present study, deletion of the cryptococcal copper-dependent transcription factor 1 (cuf1) led to defects in growth and virulence factor expression in low copper conditions. in mouse models, cuf1delta strains exhibited reduced dissemination to the brain, but no change in lung ... | 2007 | 17290306 |
| gammadelta t cells: firefighters or fire boosters in the front lines of inflammatory responses. | intradermal inoculation of cloned self-reactive alphabeta t cells into the footpads of mice induced cutaneous graft-versus-host disease (gvhd), and after recovery from gvhd, the epidermis became resistant to subsequent attempts to induce gvhd. resistance to gvhd was not induced in the epidermis of t-cell receptor delta-deficient (tcrdelta(-/-)) mice that lacked gammadelta t cells bearing canonical vgamma5/vdelta1(+)gammadeltatcrs, known as dendritic epidermal t cells (detcs), and resistance was ... | 2007 | 17291282 |
| peptide stabilized amphotericin b nanodisks. | nanometer scale apolipoprotein a-i stabilized phospholipid disk complexes (nanodisks; nd) have been formulated with the polyene antibiotic amphotericin b (amb). the present studies were designed to evaluate if a peptide can substitute for the function of the apolipoprotein component of nd with respect to particle formation and stability. an 18-residue synthetic amphipathic alpha-helical peptide, termed 4f (ac-d-w-f-k-a-f-y-d-k-v-a-e-k-f-k-e-a-f-nh(2)), solubilized vesicles comprised of egg phosp ... | 2007 | 17293004 |
| evaluation of phenotypic and genotypic alterations induced by long periods of subculturing of cryptococcus neoformans strains. | cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated fungal organism that can cause disease in apparently immunocompetent, as well as immunocompromised, hosts. since 1930, successive subculture has been used to preserve c. neoformans isolates in our fungus collection. in the 1970s, some of these fungus collection samples were selected to be subjected to a different methods of maintenance--that of lyophilized. our objective was to analyze c. neoformans isolates in order to make a comparative evaluation bet ... | 2007 | 17293997 |
| [a case of cryptococcal meningitis with nephrotic syndrome and renal insufficiency under immunosuppressive therapy]. | a 76 year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of pyrexia and fatigue. one year earlier, she was diagnosed as nephrotic syndrome(ns) caused by focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and immunosuppressive therapy was started with marked amelioration of proteinuria. thereafter, her renal function worsened, but only supportive treatment was continued. after admission, a cerebrospinal fluid (csf) examination revealed cryptococcus neoformans (c. neoformans) by india ink staining and a subsequen ... | 2007 | 17299987 |
| antifungal drug susceptibility of cryptococcus neoformans from clinical sources in nairobi, kenya. | the serotypes and mating types of 80 clinical isolates of cryptococcus neoformans from kenya were studied and subjected to broth microdilution susceptibility testing to amphotericin b (amp), flucytosin, fluconazole (flc), itraconazole (itc) and miconazole (mcz). the isolates included c. neoformans var. grubii- 75 of 80 (serotype a; 93.7%), c. neoformans var. neoformans- three of 80 (3.8%) and c. neoformans var. gattii- two (serotype b; 2.5%). mating experiment confirmed all the isolates to be al ... | 2007 | 17302744 |