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In addition to acting as a physical barrier against microorganisms, the skin produces antimicrobial peptides and proteins. After wounding, growth factors are produced to stimulate the regeneration of tissue. The growth factor response ceases after regeneration of the tissue, when the physical barrier protecting against microbial infections is re-established. We found that the growth factors import

Rodent models have been developed to study the pathogenesis of diseases caused by Helicobacter pylori, as well as by other gastric and intestinal Helicobacter spp., but some murine enteric Helicobacter spp. cause hepatobiliary and intestinal tract diseases in specific inbred strains of laboratory mice. To identify these murine Helicobacter spp., we developed an assay based on PCR-denaturing gradie

CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP)alpha is a myeloid-specific transcription factor that couples lineage commitment to terminal differentiation and cell cycle arrest, and is found mutated in 9% of patients who have acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We previously showed that mutations which dissociate the ability of C/EBP alpha to block cell cycle progression through E2F inhibition from its function

In both collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and rheumatoid arthritis, T cells recognize a galactosylated peptide from type II collagen (CII). In this study, we demonstrate that the CII259-273 peptide, galactosylated at lysine 264, in complex with Aq molecules prevented development of CIA in mice and ameliorated chronic relapsing disease. In contrast, nonglycosylated CII259-273/Aq complexes had no suc

Objectives To obtain reference data representative of normal findings at anal endosonography in pregnant and non-pregnant women. To determine intraobserver and interobserver agreement in the detection of endosonographic anal sphincter defects in asymptomatic women. Methods Twenty-five non-pregnant nulliparous women and 25 non-pregnant parous women (age range, 20-67 years) and 47 pregnant women (a

Objective Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a recognized risk factor for neurological deficits later in life. Abnormal fetal blood flow in the presence of IUGR helps to distinguish fetuses with true growth impairment from those that are small but normally grown. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of IUGR with abnormal fetal blood flow on cognitive function and psychological develop

The authors assessed determinants of ergosterol, 3-OH fatty acids (FAs), and viable microbes in vacuum cleaner dust, and investioated the association between these microbial markets and childhood asthma. The authors studied the homes of 36 children who were new cases of childhood asthma and the homes of 36 controls. Home characteristics explained 34% to 44% of the variation in levels of different

Objective To standardize the evaluation of regional fetal brain blood perfusion, using power Doppler ultrasound (PDU) to estimate the fractional moving blood volume (FMBV) and to evaluate the reproducibility of this estimation. Methods Brain blood perfusion was evaluated in 35 normally grown fetuses at 28-30 weeks of gestation, using PDU. The following cerebral regions were included in the PDU col

TB PNA FISH is a new fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) method using peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes for differentiation between species of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in acid-fast bacillus-positive (AFB+) cultures is described. The test is based on fluorescein-labelled PNA probes that target the rRNA of MTC or NTM species applied to

An indirect 125I-labeled protein A assay for detection of cell surface-bound rat immunoglobulins is presented. The assay is quantitative and rapid and detects as little as 1 ng of cell surface-bound Ig. It discriminates between antibodies belonging to different IgG subclasses, IgM and IgA. We describe the production and specificity control of the reagents used and show that the test can be used fo

Antibody microarray based technology is a powerful emerging tool in proteomics, target discovery, and differential analysis. Here, we report the first study where recombinant antibody fragments have been used to construct large scale antibody microarrays, composed of 127 different antibodies against mostly immunoregulatory antigens. The arrays were based on single framework recombinant antibody fr

Genotypic and phenotypic analyses were carried out to clarify the taxonomic position of the naturally transformable Acinetobacter sp. strain ADP1. Transfer tDNA-PCR fingerprinting, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, and selective restriction fragment amplification (amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis) indicate that strain ADP1 and a second transformable strain, designated 93A2, are membe

Lumbar arteries are important because they are the main source of blood supply to the lumbar spine structures. However, these vessels and their flow characteristics have received little attention and their role in conditions such as low back pain remains unclear. The present study 1. describes the application of duplex ultrasonography in the assessment of lumbar artery blood flow and 2. evaluates

Members of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta family play pivotal roles in the control of differentiation, proliferation and tolerance in peripheral T cells. Recently, they have been implicated in thymic selection, but their role is so far not well characterized. In the present study, we demonstrate that specific thymocyte populations are under the influence of either the TGF-beta and/or Ac

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with certain MHC class II alleles and is characterized by a chronic autoimmune response in the joints. Using transgenic mice expressing human DR4 (DRB1*0401) and human CD4, but lacking endogenous MHC class II, we show that posttranslational glycosylation of type II collagen (CII) influences the level of T cell tolerance to this candidate cartilage-specific a

Some fungal species have been listed as a problem causing fungi in indoor air and most of this group are known to produce mycotoxins. So far, mycotoxins have been found in building materials and in samples representing settled indoor air dust, as well in air samples from industrial or agricultural environments. The present paper presents the results of a mycological study and mycotoxin analyses of

Helicobacter pylori has been proposed as a causative agent of gastric cancer. The aim of this study was to define serum antibodies response against different H. pylori antigens in patients with gastric cancer. Serum samples were collected from 115 Lithuanian patients with non-cardia gastric cancer and 110 age- and sex-matched controls without cancer. Heat-stable, low-molecular-mass, and outer memb