Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted descending) Filter | PMID Filter |
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| nano-optofluidic detection of single viruses and nanoparticles. | the reliable detection, sizing, and sorting of viruses and nanoparticles is important for biosensing, environmental monitoring, and quality control. here we introduce an optical detection scheme for the real-time and label-free detection and recognition of single viruses and larger proteins. the method makes use of nanofluidic channels in combination with optical interferometry. elastically scattered light from single viruses traversing a stationary laser focus is detected with a differential he ... | 2010 | 20148575 |
| isg15 conjugation system targets the viral ns1 protein in influenza a virus-infected cells. | isg15 is an ifn-alpha/beta-induced, ubiquitin-like protein that is conjugated to a wide array of cellular proteins through the sequential action of three conjugation enzymes that are also induced by ifn-alpha/beta. recent studies showed that isg15 and/or its conjugates play an important role in protecting cells from infection by several viruses, including influenza a virus. however, the mechanism by which isg15 modification exerts antiviral activity has not been established. here we extend the r ... | 2010 | 20133869 |
| transmission potential of two chimeric western equine encephalitis vaccine candidates in culex tarsalis. | western equine encephalitis virus (weev) is a zoonotic alphavirus that circulates in western north america between passerine birds and mosquitoes, primarily culex tarsalis. since it was isolated in 1930, weev has caused tens of thousands of equine deaths in addition to thousands of human cases. in addition because weev is a virus of agricultural importance in addition to a public health threat, we developed two live-attenuated chimeric vaccine candidates that have been shown to be immunogenic an ... | 2010 | 20134017 |
| visualization of feline calicivirus replication in real-time with recombinant viruses engineered to express fluorescent reporter proteins. | caliciviruses are non-enveloped, icosahedral viruses with a single-stranded, positive sense rna genome. transposon-mediated insertional mutagenesis was used to insert a transprimer sequence into random sites of an infectious full-length cdna clone of the feline calicivirus (fcv) genome. a site in the lc gene (encoding the capsid leader protein) of the fcv genome was identified that could tolerate foreign insertions, and two viable recombinant fcv variants expressing lc fused either to acgfp, or ... | 2010 | 20137802 |
| targeting lentiviral vector to specific cell types through surface displayed single chain antibody and fusogenic molecule. | viral delivery remains one of the most commonly used techniques today in the field of gene therapy. however, one of the remaining hurdles is the off-targeting effect of viral delivery. to overcome this obstacle, we recently developed a method to incorporate an antibody and a fusogenic molecule (fm) as two distinct molecules into the lentiviral surface. in this report, we expand this strategy to utilize a single chain antibody (scab) for targeted transduction. | 2010 | 20149250 |
| the interferon-induced gene isg15 blocks retrovirus release from cells late in the budding process. | the release of retroviruses from cells requires ubiquitination of gag and recruitment of cellular proteins involved in endosome sorting, including the escrt-iii proteins and the vps4 atpase. in response to infection, cells have evolved an interferon-induced mechanism to block virus replication through expression of the interferon-stimulated gene 15 (isg15), a dimer homologue of ubiquitin, which interferes with ubiquitin pathways in cells. previously, it has been reported that isg15 expression in ... | 2010 | 20164219 |
| initiation of duck hepatitis b virus infection requires cleavage by a furin-like protease. | the entry mechanism of hepatitis b virus (hbv) has not been defined, and this impedes development of antiviral therapies aimed at an early step in the viral life cycle. hbv infection has both host and tissue specificities. for the related duck hepatitis b virus (dhbv), duck carboxypeptidase d (dcpd) has been proposed as the species-specific docking receptor, while glycine decarboxylase (dgd) may serve as a tissue-specific cofactor or secondary receptor. dgd binds to several truncated versions of ... | 2010 | 20181690 |
| t cells facilitate recovery from venezuelan equine encephalitis virus-induced encephalomyelitis in the absence of antibody. | venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (veev) is a mosquito-borne rna virus of the genus alphavirus that is responsible for a significant disease burden in central and south america through sporadic outbreaks into human and equid populations. for humans, 2 to 4% of cases are associated with encephalitis, and there is an overall case mortality rate of approximately 1%. in mice, replication of the virus within neurons of the central nervous system (cns) leads to paralyzing, invariably lethal encepha ... | 2010 | 20181704 |
| identification of a dominant negative inhibitor of human zinc finger antiviral protein reveals a functional endogenous pool and critical homotypic interactions. | the zinc finger antiviral protein (zap) is a host factor with potent antiviral activity when overexpressed in cells. zap blocks replication of the prototype alphavirus sindbis virus (sinv) at a step at or before translation of the incoming viral genome. the mechanism of zap anti-sinv activity and the determinants of its antiviral function, however, have not been defined. here, we have identified a dominant negative inhibitor of human zap. rat zap with a cysteine-to-arginine mutation at position ... | 2010 | 20181706 |
| efficient, trans-complementing packaging systems for chimeric, pseudoinfectious dengue 2/yellow fever viruses. | in our previous studies, we have stated to build a new strategy for developing defective, pseudoinfectious flaviviruses (pivs) and applying them as a new type of vaccine candidates. pivs combined the efficiency of live vaccines with the safety of inactivated or subunit vaccines. the results of the present work demonstrate further development of chimeric pivs encoding dengue virus 2 (den2v) glycoproteins and yellow fever virus (yfv)-derived replicative machinery as potential vaccine candidates. t ... | 2010 | 20137799 |
| autophagy is a component of epithelial cell fate in obstructive uropathy. | epithelial cell fate and nephron loss in obstructive uropathy are not fully understood. we produced transgenic mice in which epithelial cells in the nephrons and collecting ducts were labeled with enhanced yellow fluorescent protein, and tracked the fate of these cells following unilateral ureteral obstruction (uuo). uuo led to a decrease in the number of enhanced yellow fluorescent protein-expressing cells and down-regulation of epithelial markers, e-cadherin, and hepatocyte nuclear factor-1bet ... | 2010 | 20150430 |
| gene expression in the brain during reovirus encephalitis. | viral encephalitis remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. we performed microarray analysis to identify genes and pathways that are differentially regulated during reovirus encephalitis and that may provide novel therapeutic targets for virus-induced diseases of the central nervous system (cns). an increase in the expression of 130 cellular genes was found in the brains of reovirus-infected mice at early times post infection, compared to mock-infected control ... | 2010 | 20158406 |
| autophagy protects against sindbis virus infection of the central nervous system. | autophagy functions in antiviral immunity. however, the ability of endogenous autophagy genes to protect against viral disease in vertebrates remains to be causally established. here, we report that the autophagy gene atg5 function is critical for protection against lethal sindbis virus (sin) infection of the mouse central nervous system. inactivating atg5 in sin-infected neurons results in delayed clearance of viral proteins, increased accumulation of the cellular p62 adaptor protein, and incre ... | 2010 | 20159618 |
| antagonism of the complement component c4 by flavivirus nonstructural protein ns1. | the complement system plays an essential protective role in the initial defense against many microorganisms. flavivirus ns1 is a secreted nonstructural glycoprotein that accumulates in blood, is displayed on the surface of infected cells, and has been hypothesized to have immune evasion functions. herein, we demonstrate that dengue virus (denv), west nile virus (wnv), and yellow fever virus (yfv) ns1 attenuate classical and lectin pathway activation by directly interacting with c4. binding of ns ... | 2010 | 20308361 |
| overexpression of serum response factor restores ocular dominance plasticity in a model of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. | neuronal plasticity deficits underlie many of the neurobehavioral problems seen in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (fasd). recently, we showed that third trimester alcohol exposure leads to a persistent disruption in ocular dominance (od) plasticity. for instance, a few days of monocular deprivation results in a robust reduction of cortical regions responsive to the deprived eye in normal animals, but not in ferrets exposed early to alcohol. this plasticity deficit can be reversed if alcohol-ex ... | 2010 | 20164336 |
| viral pathogenesis in mice is similar for west nile virus derived from mosquito and mammalian cells. | west nile virus (wnv) is a mosquito-borne pathogen. during replication, wnv acquires different carbohydrates and lipid membranes, depending on its mosquito or vertebrate hosts. consequently, wnv derived from mosquito and vertebrate cell lines differ in their infectivity for dendritic cells (dcs) and induction of type i interferon (ifn-alpha/beta) in vitro. we evaluated the pathogenesis of wnv derived from mosquito (wnv(c6/36)) and vertebrate (wnv(bhk)) cell lines in mice. the tissue tropism, inf ... | 2010 | 20167345 |
| the length of and nonhydrophobic residues in the transmembrane domain of dengue virus envelope protein are critical for its retention and assembly in the endoplasmic reticulum. | the morphogenesis of many enveloped viruses, in which viral nucleocapsid complex interacts with envelope (e) protein, is known to take place at various sites along the secretory pathway. how viral e protein retains in a particular intracellular organelle for assembly remains incompletely understood. in this study, we investigated determinants in the e protein of dengue virus (denv) for its retention and assembly in the endoplasmic reticulum (er). a chimeric experiment between cd4 and denv precur ... | 2010 | 20181718 |
| development and characterization of promoterless helper rnas for the production of alphavirus replicon particle. | alphavirus-based replicon systems are frequently used as preclinical vectors and as antigen discovery tools, and they have recently been assessed in clinical vaccine trials. typically, alphavirus replicon rnas are delivered within virus-like replicon particles (vrp) that are produced following transfection of replicon rna and two helper rnas into permissive cells in vitro. the non-structural proteins expressed from the replicon rna amplify the replicon rna in cis and the helper rnas in trans, th ... | 2010 | 20181749 |
| differential effects of co(iii), ni(ii), and ru(iii) amine complexes on sindbis virus. | transition metal complexes [co(cyclen)(nh(3))(2)](clo(4))(3)h(2)o (cyclen=1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane) (2), [co(nh(3))(5)(oh(2))](cf(3)so(3))(3) (3) [ni(nh(3))(6)]br(2) (4) and [ru(nh(3))(6)]cl(3) (5) were tested against sindbis infected baby hamster kidney (bhk) cells and show differential effects from the previously reported anti-viral complex [co(nh(3))(6)]cl(3) (1). the macrocyclic complex 2 and labile aqua complex 3 show either no or little effect on the survival on sindbis virus-infecte ... | 2010 | 20189656 |
| insights into arbovirus evolution and adaptation from experimental studies. | arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are maintained in nature by cycling between vertebrate hosts and haematophagous invertebrate vectors. these viruses are responsible for causing a significant public health burden throughout the world, with over 100 species having the capacity to cause human disease. arbovirus outbreaks in previously naïve environments demonstrate the potential of these pathogens for expansion and emergence, possibly exacerbated more recently by changing climates. these recen ... | 2010 | 21994633 |
| restriction of rift valley fever virus virulence in mosquito cells. | arboviruses are maintained in a natural cycle that requires blood-sucking arthropod and vertebrate hosts. arboviruses are believed to persistently infect their arthropod host without overt pathology and cause acute infection with viremia in their vertebrate host. we have focused on elucidating how a specific arbovirus, rift valley fever (rvf) virus, causes cytopathic effect in cells derived from vertebrates and non-cytopathic infection in cells derived from arthropods. we demonstrate that the ve ... | 2010 | 21994651 |
| rna replicons - a new approach for influenza virus immunoprophylaxis. | rna replicons are derived from either positive- or negative-strand rna viruses. they represent disabled virus vectors that are not only avirulent, but also unable to revert to virulence. due to autonomous rna replication, rna replicons are able to drive high level, cytosolic expression of recombinant antigens stimulating both the humoral and the cellular branch of the immune system. this review provides an update on the available literature covering influenza virus vaccines based on rna replicon ... | 2010 | 21994644 |
| drosophila as a model for antiviral immunity. | the fruit fly drosophila melanogaster has been successfully used to study numerous biological processes including immune response. flies are naturally infected with more than twenty rna viruses making it a valid model organism to study host-pathogen interactions during viral infections. the drosophila antiviral immunity includes rna interference, activation of the jak/stat and other signaling cascades and other mechanisms such as autophagy and interactions with other microorganisms. here we revi ... | 2010 | 21541000 |
| noninvasive biophotonic imaging for studies of infectious disease. | according to world health organization estimates, infectious organisms are responsible for approximately one in four deaths worldwide. animal models play an essential role in the development of vaccines and therapeutic agents but large numbers of animals are required to obtain quantitative microbiological data by tissue sampling. biophotonic imaging (bpi) is a highly sensitive, nontoxic technique based on the detection of visible light, produced by luciferase-catalysed reactions (bioluminescence ... | 2010 | 20955395 |
| ceramide-rich platforms in transmembrane signaling. | recent evidence suggests that ceramide regulates stress signaling via reorganization of the plasma membrane. the focus of this review will be to discuss the mechanism by which acid sphingomyelinase (asmase)-generated ceramide initiates transmembrane signaling in the plasma membrane exoplasmic leaflet. in particular, we review the unique biophysical properties of ceramide that render it proficient in formation of signaling domains termed ceramide-rich platforms (crps), and the role of crps in the ... | 2010 | 20178791 |
| helicobacter pylori activation of parp-1: usurping a versatile regulator of host cellular health. | chronic infection of the human stomach by helicobacter pylori is an important risk factor for gastric cancer. h. pylori produces a cache of virulence factors that promote colonization and persistence, which, in turn, contributes to a robust inflammatory response at the host-pathogen interface. recently, we reported that h. pylori activates the abundant nuclear regulator poly(adp-ribose) polymerase (parp)-1, resulting in the production of the catabolite poly(adp-ribose) (par). parp-1 is emerging ... | 2010 | 21468218 |
| structural changes of envelope proteins during alphavirus fusion. | alphaviruses are enveloped rna viruses that have a diameter of about 700 å and can be lethal human pathogens. entry of virus into host cells by endocytosis is controlled by two envelope glycoproteins, e1 and e2. the e2-e1 heterodimers form 80 trimeric spikes on the icosahedral virus surface, 60 with quasi-three-fold symmetry and 20 coincident with the icosahedral three-fold axes arranged with t = 4 quasi-symmetry. the e1 glycoprotein has a hydrophobic fusion loop at one end and is responsible fo ... | 2010 | 21124457 |
| extraribosomal functions associated with the c terminus of the 37/67 kda laminin receptor are required for maintaining cell viability. | the 37/67 kda laminin receptor (lamr) is a multifunctional protein, acting as an extracellular receptor, localizing to the nucleus, and playing roles in rrna processing and ribosome assembly. lamr is important for cell viability; however, it is unclear which of its functions are essential. we developed a silent mutant lamr construct, resistant to sirna, to rescue the phenotypic effects of knocking down endogenous lamr, which include inhibition of protein synthesis, cell cycle arrest, and apoptos ... | 2010 | 21243100 |
| inhibition of anti-hiv microrna expression: a mechanism for opioid-mediated enhancement of hiv infection of monocytes. | several micro rnas (mirnas) have the ability to inhibit hiv replication in target cells. thus, we investigated the impact of opioids (morphine and heroin), widely abused drugs among people infected with hiv, on the expression of cellular anti-hiv mirnas in monocytes. we found that morphine-treated monocytes expressed lower levels of cellular anti-hiv mirnas than untreated cells. in addition, morphine treatment of monocytes compromised type i interferon (ifn)-induced anti-hiv mirna expression. th ... | 2010 | 21224041 |
| transgenic mice with enhanced neuronal major histocompatibility complex class i expression recover locomotor function better after spinal cord injury. | mice that are deficient in classical major histocompatibility complex class i (mhci) have abnormalities in synaptic plasticity and neurodevelopment and have more extensive loss of synapses and reduced axon regeneration after sciatic nerve transection, suggesting that mhci participates in maintaining synapses and axon regeneration. little is known about the biological consequences of up-regulating mhci's expression on neurons. to understand mhci's neurobiological activity better, and in particula ... | 2010 | 21259323 |
| neurogranin phosphorylation fine-tunes long-term potentiation. | learning-related potentiation of synaptic strength at cornu ammonis subfield 1 (ca1) hippocampal excitatory synapses is dependent on neuronal activity and the activation of glutamate receptors. however, molecular mechanisms that regulate and fine-tune the expression of long-term potentiation (ltp) are not well understood. recently it has been indicated that neurogranin (ng), a neuron-specific, postsynaptic protein that is phosphorylated by protein kinase c, potentiates synaptic transmission in a ... | 2010 | 21198977 |
| analyses of selex-derived zap-binding rna aptamers suggest that the binding specificity is determined by both structure and sequence of the rna. | the zinc-finger antiviral protein (zap) is a host factor that specifically inhibits the replication of certain viruses, including murine leukemia virus, sindbis virus and ebola virus, by targeting the viral mrnas for degradation. zap directly binds to the target viral mrna and recruits the cellular rna degradation machinery to degrade the rna. no significant sequence similarity or obvious common motifs have been found in the so far identified target viral mrnas. the minimum length of the target ... | 2010 | 21203916 |
| antiviral properties of isg15. | the type i interferon system plays a critical role in limiting the spread of viral infection. viruses induce the production of interferon (ifn), which after binding to the ifn-a/ß receptor (ifnar), and triggering of the jak/stat signaling cascade, results in the induction of interferon-stimulated genes (isgs). these isgs function to inhibit viral replication and to regulate the host immune response. among these isgs, the ubiquitin-like molecule, isg15, is one of the most strongly induced protein ... | 2010 | 21994614 |
| herpesviruses and autophagy: catch me if you can! | autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved cellular degradation pathway involving the digestion of intracellular components via the lysosomal pathway. the autophagic pathway constitutively maintains cellular homeostasis by recycling cytoplasmic organelles and proteins, but it is also stimulated by environmental stress conditions, such as starvation, oxidative stress, and the accumulation of misfolded proteins. it also acts as a cellular defense mechanism against microorganisms by contributing to b ... | 2010 | 21994613 |
| influenza a virus-specific cd8 t-cell responses: from induction to function. | seasonal influenza virus infection is a leading cause of illness and mortality in young children and the elderly each year. current influenza vaccines generate protective antibody responses; however, these must be given annually to provide protection against serologically distinct viruses. by contrast, cd8(+) t cells are capable of recognizing conserved antigenic determinants within the influenza virion and, as such, may provide protection against a number of variant strains of the virus. cd8(+) ... | 2010 | 21544256 |
| alphavirus entry and membrane fusion. | the study of enveloped animal viruses has greatly advanced our understanding of the general properties of membrane fusion and of the specific pathways that viruses use to infect the host cell. the membrane fusion proteins of the alphaviruses and flaviviruses have many similarities in structure and function. as reviewed here, alphaviruses use receptor-mediated endocytic uptake and low ph-triggered membrane fusion to deliver their rna genomes into the cytoplasm. recent advances in understanding th ... | 2010 | 21546978 |
| bioengineered viral vectors for targeting and killing prostate cancer cells. | enabling the transduction of therapeutic gene expression exclusively in diseased sites is the key to developing more effective treatments for advanced prostate cancer using viral-based therapy. while prostate cancers that express high levels of her-2 are resistant to the killing effects of trastuzumab, they can be targeted for selective gene expression and destruction by lentiviruses with envelope proteins engineered to bind to this therapeutic antibody. more importantly, after intravenous injec ... | 2010 | 21326934 |
| evaluation of species distribution model algorithms for fine-scale container-breeding mosquito risk prediction. | the present work evaluates the use of species distribution model (sdm) algorithms to classify high densities of small container-breeding aedes mosquitoes (diptera: culicidae) on a fine scale in the bermuda islands. weekly ovitrap data collected by the department of health, bermuda for the years 2006 and 2007 were used for the models. the models evaluated included the algorithms bioclim, domain, garp (genetic algorithm for rule-set prediction), logistic regression and maxent (maximum entropy). mo ... | 2010 | 21198711 |
| depletion of beclin-1 due to proteolytic cleavage by caspases in the alzheimer's disease brain. | the beclin-1 protein is essential for the initiation of autophagy, and recent studies suggest this function may be compromised in alzheimer's disease (ad). in addition, in vitro studies have supported a loss of function of beclin-1 due to proteolytic modification by caspases. in the present study, we examined whether caspase-cleavage of beclin-1 occurs in the ad brain by designing a site-directed caspase-cleavage antibody based upon a known cleavage site within the protein at position d149. we c ... | 2010 | 21081164 |
| no signaling and s-nitrosylation regulate pten inhibition in neurodegeneration. | the phosphatase pten governs the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (pi3k)/akt signaling pathway which is arguably the most important pro-survival pathway in neurons. recently, pten has also been implicated in multiple important cns functions such as neuronal differentiation, plasticity, injury and drug addiction. it has been reported that loss of pten protein, accompanied by akt activation, occurs under excitotoxic conditions (stroke) as well as in alzheimer's (ad) brains. however the molecular signals ... | 2010 | 21067594 |
| factors supporting intrathecal humoral responses following viral encephalomyelitis. | central nervous system (cns) infections and autoimmune inflammatory disorders are often associated with retention of antibody-secreting cells (asc). although beneficial or detrimental contributions of asc to cns diseases remain to be defined, virus-specific asc are crucial in controlling persistent cns infection following coronavirus-induced encephalomyelitis. this report characterizes expression kinetics of factors associated with asc homing, differentiation, and survival in the spinal cord, th ... | 2010 | 21191015 |
| novel viral vector systems for gene therapy. | 2010 | 21994667 | |
| reemergence of chikungunya virus in indian subcontinent. | chikungunya virus (chikv), a reemerging arboviral disease of public health concern is characterized by a triad of fever, rash and arthralgia. it was responsible for a number of epidemics in asia and africa. the severity of the current epidemic can be judged by the fact that an estimated 1.38 million people in india and one-third of the la reunion population (by april 2006) were affected by chikv. aedes aegypti and aedes albopictus are the major mosquitoes transmitting chikv in asia. various neur ... | 2010 | 23637474 |
| virus-based technologies for investigating function and pathology of the nervous system. | 2010 | 20126637 | |
| lack of evidence for the presence of mosquito-borne arboviruses in the upper rhine valley, germany, in 1999 to 2000. | 2010 | 20592140 | |
| autophagy of intracellular microbes and mitochondria: two sides of the same coin? | autophagy has become a biological paradigm of how eukaryotic cells, especially those that are long lived, maintain their vitality, control the quality of cytoplasmic organelles, and stay alive or die when growth factors are withdrawn and there is an energy or nutrient crisis. the role of autophagy has been extended to innate and adaptive immunity functions, which surpassed all initial expectations in terms of how immunity and autophagy are interconnected. of particular interest at the moment is ... | 2010 | 20948788 |
| viral hijacking of the host ubiquitin system to evade interferon responses. | the post-translational attachment of ubiquitin or ubiquitin-like modifiers (ulms) to proteins regulates many cellular processes including the generation of innate and adaptive immune responses to pathogens. vice versa, pathogens counteract immune defense by inhibiting or redirecting the ubiquitination machinery of the host. a common immune evasion strategy is for viruses to target host immunoproteins for proteasomal or lysosomal degradation by employing viral or host ubiquitin ligases. by degrad ... | 2010 | 20699190 |
| mammalian cell transfection: the present and the future. | transfection is a powerful analytical tool enabling study of the function of genes and gene products in cells. the transfection methods are broadly classified into three groups; biological, chemical, and physical. these methods have advanced to make it possible to deliver nucleic acids to specific subcellular regions of cells by use of a precisely controlled laser-microscope system. the combination of point-directed transfection and mrna transfection is a new way of studying the function of gene ... | 2010 | 20549496 |
| cobalt complexes as antiviral and antibacterial agents. | metal ion complexes are playing an increasing role in the development of antimicrobials. we review here the antimicrobial properties of cobalt coordination complexes in oxidation state 3+. in addition to reviewing the cobalt complexes containing polydentate donor ligands, we also focus on the antimicrobial activity of the homoleptic [co(nh₃)₆](3+) ion. | 2010 | 27713325 |
| autophagy and innate immunity: triggering, targeting and tuning. | autophagy is a conserved catabolic stress response pathway that is increasingly recognized as an important component of both innate and acquired immunity to pathogens. the activation of autophagy during infection not only provides cell-autonomous protection through lysosomal degradation of invading pathogens (xenophagy), but also regulates signaling by other innate immune pathways. this review will focus on recent advances in our understanding of three major areas of the interrelationship betwee ... | 2010 | 20403453 |
| ecdysone and the cell cycle: investigations in a mosquito cell line. | cell lines provide a tool for investigating basic biological processes that underlie the complex interactions among the tissues and organs of an intact organism. we compare the evolution of insect and mammalian populations as they progress from diploid cell strains to continuous cell lines, and review the history of the well-characterized aedes albopictus mosquito cell line, c7-10. like kc and s3 cells from drosophila melanogaster, c7-10 cells are sensitive to the insect steroid hormone, 20-hydr ... | 2010 | 20303973 |
| antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of turbinariaconoides (j.agardh) kuetz. | brown alga, turbinariaconoideswas successively extracted with n-hexane, cyclohexane, methanol and ethanol:water (1:1). the extracts were evaluated for antibacterial and antifungal activities by disc diffusion method. minimal inhibitory concentration was determined for active extracts by broth dilution method. the antiviral activity and cytotoxicity of the extracts were tested in human embryonic lung (hel) cells (herpes simplex virus-1, herpes simplex virus-2, vaccinia virus, vesicular stomatitis ... | 2010 | 24381606 |
| signaling pathways in mitochondrial dysfunction and aging. | mitochondria are central players in the determination of cell life and death. they are essential for energy production, since most cellular atp is produced in their matrix by the oxidative phosphorylation pathway. at the same time, mitochondria are the main regulators of apoptotic cell death, mediating both extrinsic (cell-surface receptor mediated) and intrinsic apoptotic pathways. reactive oxygen species (ros) accumulate as side products of the electron transport chain, causing mitochondrial d ... | 2010 | 20655326 |
| central roles of nlrs and inflammasomes in viral infection. | the immune response to viral infections is determined by a complex interplay between the pathogen and the host. innate immune cells express a set of cytosolic sensors to detect viral infection. recognition by these sensors induces the production of type i interferons and the assembly of inflammasome complexes that activate caspase-1, leading to production of interleukin-1β (il-1β) and il-18. here, i discuss recent progress in our understanding of the central roles of nod-like receptors (nlrs) an ... | 2010 | 20847744 |
| bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate and ganglioside gm1 spontaneously form small homogeneous vesicles at specific concentrations. | the morphology and size of hydrated lipid dispersions of bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate (bmp) mixed with varying mole percentages of the ganglioside gm1 were investigated by dynamic light scattering (dls) and transmission electron microscopy (tem). electron paramagnetic resonance (epr) spectroscopy of these same mixtures, doped at 0.5 mol% with doxyl labeled lipids, was used to investigate acyl-chain packing. results show that for 20-30% gm1, hydrated bmp:gm1 mixtures spontaneously form small sph ... | 2010 | 20206128 |
| cell-penetrating peptides for antiviral drug development. | viral diseases affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide, and the few available drugs to treat these diseases often come with limitations. the key obstacle to the development of new antiviral agents is their delivery into infected cells in vivo. cell-penetrating peptides (cpps) are short peptides that can cross the cellular lipid bilayer with the remarkable capability to shuttle conjugated cargoes into cells. cpps have been successfully utilized to enhance the cellular uptake and intracell ... | 2010 | 27713263 |
| ecological approaches to informing public health policy and risk assessments on emerging vector-borne zoonoses. | pathogens associated with vector-borne zoonoses occur in enzootic cycles within nature. they are driven by a combination of vertebrate host and invertebrate vector population dynamics, which in turn respond to changes in environmental stimuli. human involvement in these cycles, and hence the occurrence of human disease, is often to act as incidental host. from a public health perspective our ability to better predict human outbreaks of these diseases and prepare intervention and mitigation strat ... | 2010 | 22460391 |
| expression profiling and comparative analyses of seven midgut serine proteases from the yellow fever mosquito, aedes aegypti. | aedes aegypti utilizes blood for energy production, egg maturation and replenishment of maternal reserves. the principle midgut enzymes responsible for bloodmeal digestion are endoproteolytic serine-type proteases within the s1.a subfamily. while there are hundreds of serine protease-like genes in the a. aegypti genome, only five are known to be expressed in the midgut. we describe the cloning, sequencing and expression profiling of seven additional serine proteases and provide a genomic and phy ... | 2010 | 20100490 |
| the role of the pupal determinant broad during embryonic development of a direct-developing insect. | metamorphosis is one of the most common, yet dramatic of life history strategies. in insects, complete metamorphosis with morphologically distinct larval stages arose from hemimetabolous ancestors that were more direct developing. over the past century, several ideas have emerged that suggest the holometabolous pupa is developmentally homologous to the embryonic stages of the hemimetabolous ancestor. other theories consider the pupal stage to be a modification of a hemimetabolous nymph. to addre ... | 2010 | 20127251 |
| genome packaging in viruses. | genome packaging is a fundamental process in a viral life cycle. many viruses assemble preformed capsids into which the genomic material is subsequently packaged. these viruses use a packaging motor protein that is driven by the hydrolysis of atp to condense the nucleic acids into a confined space. how these motor proteins package viral genomes had been poorly understood until recently, when a few x-ray crystal structures and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-em) structures became available. here w ... | 2010 | 20060706 |
| calreticulin: non-endoplasmic reticulum functions in physiology and disease. | calreticulin (crt), when localized to the endoplasmic reticulum (er), has important functions in directing proper conformation of proteins and glycoproteins, as well as in homeostatic control of cytosolic and er calcium levels. there is also steadily accumulating evidence for diverse roles for crt localized outside the er, including data suggesting important roles for crt localized to the outer cell surface of a variety of cell types, in the cytosol, and in the extracellular matrix (ecm). furthe ... | 2009 | 19940256 |
| intrinsic cellular defenses against virus infection by antiviral type i interferon. | intrinsic cellular defenses are non-specific antiviral activities by recognizing pathogen-associated molecular patterns (pamps). toll-like receptors (tlrs), one of the pathogen recognize receptor (prr), sense various microbial ligands. especially, tlr2, tlr3, tlr4, tlr7, tlr8 and tlr9 recognize viral ligands such as glycoprotein, single- or double-stranded rna and cpg nucleotides. the binding of viral ligands to tlrs transmits its signal to toll/interleukin-1 receptor (tir) to activate transcrip ... | 2009 | 20046508 |
| distance-dependent homeostatic synaptic scaling mediated by a-type potassium channels. | many lines of evidence suggest that the efficacy of synapses on ca1 pyramidal neuron dendrites increases as a function of distance from the cell body. the strength of an individual synapse is also dynamically modulated by activity-dependent synaptic plasticity, which raises the question as to how a neuron can reconcile individual synaptic changes with the maintenance of the proximal-to-distal gradient of synaptic strength along the dendrites. as the density of a-type potassium channels exhibits ... | 2009 | 20076774 |
| cytokine determinants of viral tropism. | the specificity of a given virus for a cell type, tissue or species - collectively known as viral tropism - is an important factor in determining the outcome of viral infection in any particular host. owing to the increased prevalence of zoonotic infections and the threat of emerging and re-emerging pathogens, gaining a better understanding of the factors that determine viral tropism has become particularly important. in this review, we summarize our current understanding of the central role of ... | 2009 | 19696766 |
| natural and engineered mosquito immunity. | a recent paper in bmc microbiology shows how suppression of mosquito innate immunity against a virus that the mosquito can normally tolerate increases mosquito mortality. this is just one of several approaches that may soon bring genetics-based mosquito control methods from the laboratory into the field. | 2009 | 19439051 |
| transcriptional targeting of tumor endothelial cells for gene therapy. | it is well known that angiogenesis plays a critical role in the pathobiology of tumors. recent clinical trials have shown that inhibition of angiogenesis can be an effective therapeutic strategy for patients with cancer. however, one of the outstanding issues in anti-angiogenic treatment for cancer is the development of toxicities related to off-target effects of drugs. transcriptional targeting of tumor endothelial cells involves the use of specific promoters for selective expression of therape ... | 2009 | 19393703 |
| from tucson to genomics and transgenics: the vector biology network and the emergence of modern vector biology. | 2009 | 19333394 | |
| regulated cell death pathways: new twists in modulation of bcl2 family function. | a number of cell death pathways have been recognized. though apoptosis and autophagy have been well characterized, programmed necrosis has recently received attention and may provide clinical alternatives to suppress resistant tumors. necrosis is primarily characterized by large-scale permeabilization, swelling, and rupture of cell membranes and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. traditionally, necrosis in cancer cells has been indicative of poor prognoses, as chronic inflammation was fo ... | 2009 | 19509269 |
| autophagy, antiviral immunity, and viral countermeasures. | the autophagy pathway likely evolved not only to maintain cellular and tissue homeostasis but also to protect cells against microbial attack. this conserved mechanism by which cytoplasmic cargo is delivered to the endolysosomal system is now recognized as a central player in coordinating the host response to diverse intracellular pathogens, including viruses. as an endolysosomal delivery system, autophagy functions in the transfer of viruses from the cytoplasm to the lysosome where they are degr ... | 2009 | 19264100 |
| antiviral immunity in drosophila. | genetic analysis of the drosophila antiviral response indicates that rna interference plays a major role. this contrasts with the situation in mammals, where interferon-induced responses mediate innate antiviral host-defense. an inducible response also contributes to antiviral immunity in drosophila, and similarities in the sensing and signaling of viral infection are becoming apparent between drosophila and mammals. in particular, dexd/h box helicases appear to play a crucial role in the cytoso ... | 2009 | 19223163 |
| keystone symposium on antibodies as drugs: march 27-april 1, 2009, whistler, bc ca. | the symposium on antibodies as drugs, organized by keystone symposia and chaired by j. marks, (university of california los angeles, usa), e.s. ward (university of texas southwestern medical center, usa) and l. weiner (georgetown university medical center, usa), was held in whistler, british columbia. this canadian rockies village, which will host the 2010 olympic games, served as an enchanting backdrop to the meeting. the more than 350 speakers and attendees included scientists from major pharm ... | 2009 | 20068403 |
| using viral vectors as gene transfer tools (cell biology and toxicology special issue: etcs-uk 1 day meeting on genetic manipulation of cells). | in recent years, the development of powerful viral gene transfer techniques has greatly facilitated the study of gene function. this review summarises some of the viral delivery systems routinely used to mediate gene transfer into cell lines, primary cell cultures and in whole animal models. the systems described were originally discussed at a 1-day european tissue culture society (etcs-uk) workshop that was held at university college london on 1st april 2009. recombinant-deficient viral vectors ... | 2009 | 19830583 |
| viralorfeome: an integrated database to generate a versatile collection of viral orfs. | large collections of protein-encoding open reading frames (orfs) established in a versatile recombination-based cloning system have been instrumental to study protein functions in high-throughput assays. such 'orfeome' resources have been developed for several organisms but in virology, plasmid collections covering a significant fraction of the virosphere are still needed. in this perspective, we present viralorfeome 1.0 (http://www.viralorfeome.com), an open-access database and management syste ... | 2009 | 20007148 |
| culturing thick brain slices: an interstitial 3d microperfusion system for enhanced viability. | brain slice preparations are well-established models for a wide spectrum of in vitro investigations in the neuroscience discipline. however, these investigations are limited to acute preparations or thin organotypic culture preparations due to the lack of a successful method that allows culturing of thick organotypic brain slices. thick brain slice cultures suffer necrosis due to ischemia deep in the tissue resulting from a destroyed circulatory system and subsequent diffusion-limited supply of ... | 2009 | 19443039 |
| the evolution of viruses in multi-host fitness landscapes. | provided that generalist viruses will have access to potentially unlimited hosts, the question is why most viruses specialize in few hosts. it has been suggested that selection should favor specialists because there are tradeoffs limiting the fitness of generalists in any of the alternative hosts or because evolution proceeds faster with narrower niches. here we review experiments showing that virus adaptation to a specific host is often coupled with fitness losses in alternative ones. in most i ... | 2009 | 19572052 |
| alphaviruses in gene therapy. | alphaviruses are enveloped single stranded rna viruses, which as gene therapy vectors provide high-level transient gene expression. semliki forest virus (sfv), sindbis virus (sin) and venezuelan equine encephalitis (vee) virus have been engineered as efficient replication-deficient and -competent expression vectors. alphavirus vectors have frequently been used as vehicles for tumor vaccine generation. moreover, sfv and sin vectors have been applied for intratumoral injections in animals implante ... | 2009 | 21994535 |
| autophagy, immunity, and microbial adaptations. | autophagy adjusts cellular biomass and function in response to diverse stimuli, including infection. autophagy plays specific roles in shaping immune system development, fueling host innate and adaptive immune responses, and directly controlling intracellular microbes as a cell-autonomous innate defense. as an evolutionary counterpoint, intracellular pathogens have evolved to block autophagic microbicidal defense and subvert host autophagic responses for their survival or growth. the ability of ... | 2009 | 19527881 |
| autophagy as an antimicrobial strategy. | autophagy is a process of lysosomal degradation that was originally described as a cellular response to adapt to a lack of nutrients and to enable the elimination of damaged organelles. autophagy is increasingly recognized as a process that is also involved in innate and adaptive immune responses against pathogens. studies on the regulation of autophagy have uncovered components of the autophagic cascade that can be manipulated pharmacologically. approaches to modulate autophagy may result in no ... | 2009 | 19681702 |
| probing protein structure by amino acid-specific covalent labeling and mass spectrometry. | for many years, amino acid-specific covalent labeling has been a valuable tool to study protein structure and protein interactions, especially for systems that are difficult to study by other means. these covalent labeling methods typically map protein structure and interactions by measuring the differential reactivity of amino acid side chains. the reactivity of amino acids in proteins generally depends on the accessibility of the side chain to the reagent, the inherent reactivity of the label ... | 2009 | 19016300 |
| bunyaviruses and the type i interferon system. | the family bunyaviridae contains more than 350 viruses that are distributed throughout the world. most members of the family are transmitted by arthopods, and several cause disease in man, domesticated animals and crop plants. despite being recognized as an emerging threat, details of the virulence mechanisms employed by bunyaviruses are scant. in this article we summarise the information currently available on how these viruses are able to establish infection when confronted with a powerful ant ... | 2009 | 21994579 |
| prophylactic and therapeutic vaccination against hepatitis c virus (hcv): developments and future perspectives. | studies in patients and chimpanzees that spontaneously clear hepatitis c virus (hcv) have demonstrated that natural immunity to the virus is induced during primary infections and that this immunity can be cross protective. these discoveries led to optimism regarding prophylactic hcv vaccines and a number of studies in the chimpanzee model have been performed, all of which resulted in modified infections after challenge but did not always prevent persistence of the virus. therapeutic vaccine stra ... | 2009 | 21994543 |
| activation of the antiviral kinase pkr and viral countermeasures. | the interferon-induced double-stranded (ds)rna-dependent protein kinase (pkr) limits viral replication by an eif2a-mediated block of translation. although many negative-strand rna viruses activate pkr, the responsible rnas have long remained elusive, as dsrna, the canonical activator of pkr, has not been detected in cells infected with such viruses. in this review we focus on the activating rna molecules of different virus families, in particular the negative-strand rna viruses. we discuss the r ... | 2009 | 21994559 |
| susceptibility of colorectal cancer cells to sindbis virus infection. | sindbis virus (sin), a member of the togaviridae family, infects a broad range of cells and has been shown to be an effective anti-tumor agent. the infection efficiency of the virus, however, varies greatly among target cells. in this report, we compared the ability of sin to infect colorectal cancer cells and cells of other cancer origin. while tumor cells from breast, leukemia, and prostate cancers were largely resistant to sin infection, nine of the ten colorectal cancer cell lines tested wer ... | 2009 | 20192123 |
| optogenetic dissection of neuronal circuits in zebrafish using viral gene transfer and the tet system. | the conditional expression of transgenes at high levels in sparse and specific populations of neurons is important for high-resolution optogenetic analyses of neuronal circuits. we explored two complementary methods, viral gene delivery and the itet-off system, to express transgenes in the brain of zebrafish. high-level gene expression in neurons was achieved by sindbis and rabies viruses. the tet system produced strong and specific gene expression that could be modulated conveniently by doxycyc ... | 2009 | 20126518 |
| the role of nitric oxide in mycobacterial infections. | although tuberculosis poses a significant health threat to the global population, it is a challenge to develop new and effective therapeutic strategies. nitric oxide (no) and inducible no synthase (inos) are important in innate immune responses to various intracellular bacterial infections, including mycobacterial infections. it is generally recognized that reactive nitrogen intermediates play an effective role in host defense mechanisms against tuberculosis. in a murine model of tuberculosis, n ... | 2009 | 20107543 |
| focus on flaviviruses: current and future drug targets. | infection by mosquito-borne flaviviruses (family flaviviridae) is increasing in prevalence worldwide. the vast global, social and economic impact due to the morbidity and mortality associated with the diseases caused by these viruses necessitates therapeutic intervention. there is currently no effective clinical treatment for any flaviviral infection. therefore, there is a great need for the identification of novel inhibitors to target the virus life cycle. | 2009 | 20165556 |
| hepatitis c virus blocks interferon effector function by inducing protein kinase r phosphorylation. | hepatitis c virus (hcv) is a single-stranded rna virus encoding a single polyprotein whose translation is driven by an internal ribosome entry site (ires). hcv infection strongly induces antiviral interferon-stimulated gene (isg) expression in the liver, yet it persists, suggesting that hcv can block isg effector function. we now show that hcv infection triggers phosphorylation and activation of the rna-dependent protein kinase pkr, which inhibits eukaryotic translation initiation factor eif2 al ... | 2009 | 20006840 |
| hiv-1 gag-specific immunity induced by a lentivector-based vaccine directed to dendritic cells. | lentivectors (lvs) have attracted considerable interest for their potential as a vaccine delivery vehicle. in this study, we evaluate in mice a dendritic cell (dc)-directed lv system encoding the gag protein of human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) (lv-gag) as a potential vaccine for inducing an anti-hiv immune response. the dc-directed specificity is achieved through pseudotyping the vector with an engineered sindbis virus glycoprotein capable of selectively binding to the dc-sign protein. a singl ... | 2009 | 19918062 |
| autophagy in immunity against mycobacterium tuberculosis: a model system to dissect immunological roles of autophagy. | the recognition of autophagy as an immune mechanism has been affirmed in recent years. one of the model systems that has helped in the development of our current understanding of how autophagy and more traditional immunity systems cooperate in defense against intracellular pathogens is macrophage infection with mycobacterium tuberculosis. m. tuberculosis is a highly significant human pathogen that latently infects billions of people and causes active disease in millions of patients worldwide. th ... | 2009 | 19802565 |
| transgenic expression of glud1 (glutamate dehydrogenase 1) in neurons: in vivo model of enhanced glutamate release, altered synaptic plasticity, and selective neuronal vulnerability. | the effects of lifelong, moderate excess release of glutamate (glu) in the cns have not been previously characterized. we created a transgenic (tg) mouse model of lifelong excess synaptic glu release in the cns by introducing the gene for glutamate dehydrogenase 1 (glud1) under the control of the neuron-specific enolase promoter. glud1 is, potentially, an important enzyme in the pathway of glu synthesis in nerve terminals. increased levels of glud protein and activity in cns neurons of hemizygou ... | 2009 | 19890003 |
| beclin 1 gene transfer activates autophagy and ameliorates the neurodegenerative pathology in alpha-synuclein models of parkinson's and lewy body diseases. | accumulation of the synaptic protein alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) is a hallmark of parkinson's disease (pd) and lewy body disease (lbd), a heterogeneous group of disorders with dementia and parkinsonism, where alzheimer's disease and pd interact. accumulation of alpha-syn in these patients might be associated with alterations in the autophagy pathway. therefore, we postulate that delivery of beclin 1, a regulator of the autophagy pathway, might constitute a strategy toward developing a therapy fo ... | 2009 | 19864570 |
| e1 mutants identify a critical region in the trimer interface of the semliki forest virus fusion protein. | the alphavirus semliki forest virus (sfv) uses a membrane fusion reaction to infect host cells. fusion of the virus and cell membranes is triggered by low ph in the endosome and is mediated by the viral membrane protein e1. during fusion, e1 inserts into the target membrane, trimerizes, and refolds into a hairpin conformation. formation of the e1 homotrimer is critical to membrane fusion, but the mechanism of trimerization is not understood. the crystal structure of the postfusion e1 trimer show ... | 2009 | 19692469 |
| reverse genetic characterization of the natural genomic deletion in sars-coronavirus strain frankfurt-1 open reading frame 7b reveals an attenuating function of the 7b protein in-vitro and in-vivo. | during the outbreak of sars in 2002/3, a prototype virus was isolated from a patient in frankfurt/germany (strain frankfurt-1). as opposed to all other sars-coronavirus strains, frankfurt-1 has a 45-nucleotide deletion in the transmembrane domain of its orf 7b protein. when over-expressed in hek 293 cells, the full-length protein but not the variant with the deletion caused interferon beta induction and cleavage of procaspase 3. to study the role of orf 7b in the context of virus replication, we ... | 2009 | 19698190 |
| silencing viral microrna as a novel antiviral therapy? | viruses are intracellular parasites that ensure their existence by converting host cells into viral particle producing entities or into hiding places rendering the virus invisible to the host immune system. some viruses may also survive by transforming the infected cell into an immortal tumour cell. micrornas are small non-coding transcripts that function as posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression. viruses encode mirnas that regulate expression of both cellular and viral genes, and con ... | 2009 | 19704916 |
| matrix protein 2 of influenza a virus blocks autophagosome fusion with lysosomes. | influenza a virus is an important human pathogen causing significant morbidity and mortality every year and threatening the human population with epidemics and pandemics. therefore, it is important to understand the biology of this virus to develop strategies to control its pathogenicity. here, we demonstrate that influenza a virus inhibits macroautophagy, a cellular process known to be manipulated by diverse pathogens. influenza a virus infection causes accumulation of autophagosomes by blockin ... | 2009 | 19837376 |
| prophylactic and therapeutic activity of fully human monoclonal antibodies directed against influenza a m2 protein. | influenza virus infection is a prevalent disease in humans. antibodies against hemagglutinin have been shown to prevent infection and hence hemagglutinin is the major constituent of current vaccines. antibodies directed against the highly conserved extracellular domain of m2 have also been shown to mediate protection against influenza a infection in various animal models. active vaccination is generally considered the best approach to combat viral diseases. however, passive immunization is an at ... | 2009 | 20025741 |
| pathogenesis of aerosolized eastern equine encephalitis virus infection in guinea pigs. | mice and guinea pigs were experimentally exposed to aerosols containing regionally-distinct strains (nj1959 or argm) of eastern equine encephalitis virus (eeev) at two exclusive particle size distributions. mice were more susceptible to either strain of aerosolized eeev than were guinea pigs; however, clinical signs indicating encephalitis were more readily observed in the guinea pigs. lower lethality was observed in both species when eeev was presented at the larger aerosol distribution (> 6 mu ... | 2009 | 19852817 |
| characterization of untranslated regions of the salmonid alphavirus 3 (sav3) genome and construction of a sav3 based replicon. | salmonid alphavirus (sav) causes disease in farmed salmonid fish and is divided into different genetic subtypes (sav1-6). here we report the cloning and characterization of the 5'- and 3'- untranslated regions (utr) of a sav3 isolated from atlantic salmon in norway. the sequences of the utrs are very similar to those of sav1 and sav2, but single nucleotide polymorphisms are present, also in the 3' - conserved sequence element (3'-cse). prediction of the rna secondary structure suggested putative ... | 2009 | 19860871 |
| reverse genetics technology for rift valley fever virus: current and future applications for the development of therapeutics and vaccines. | the advent of reverse genetics technology has revolutionized the study of rna viruses, making it possible to manipulate their genomes and evaluate the effects of these changes on their biology and pathogenesis. the fundamental insights gleaned from reverse genetics-based studies over the last several years provide a new momentum for the development of designed therapies for the control and prevention of these viral pathogens. this review summarizes the successes and stumbling blocks in the devel ... | 2009 | 19682499 |
| [using real-time pcr to evaluate the effect of viral inactivation by methylene blue with visible light]. | to investigate the feasibility of using real-time pcr to evaluate the effectiveness of sindbis virus inactivation by methylene blue with visible light. sindbis virus was treated by methylene blue with different intensity of visible light and the transcribed cdna was quantified by real-time pcr. residual infectivity of treated virus was tested by cell infection method as parallel control at the same time. the residual infectivity of virus decreased from 6.50 lgtcid50/ml to under the limit of dete ... | 2009 | 19769162 |