Comparative Analysis of the Global Transcriptomic Response to Oxidative Stress of -Disrupted and Parental Wild Type Strains.

We previously demonstrated that the HtrA (High Temperature Requirement A) protease/chaperone active in the quality control of protein synthesis, represents an important virulence determinant of . Virulence attenuation of -disrupted strains was attributed to susceptibility of Δ strains to stress insults, as evidenced by affected growth under various stress conditions. Here, we report a comparative RNA-seq transcriptomic study generating a database of differentially expressed genes in the -disrupted and wild type parental strains under oxidative stress.

A novel live attenuated anthrax spore vaccine based on an acapsular Bacillus anthracis Sterne strain with mutations in the htrA, lef and cya genes.

We recently reported the development of a novel, next-generation, live attenuated anthrax spore vaccine based on disruption of the htrA (High Temperature Requirement A) gene in the Bacillus anthracis Sterne veterinary vaccine strain. This vaccine exhibited a highly significant decrease in virulence in murine, guinea pig and rabbit animal models yet preserved the protective value of the parental Sterne strain. Here, we report the evaluation of additional mutations in the lef and cya genes, encoding for the toxin components lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF), to further attenuate the SterneΔhtrA strain and improve its compatibility for human use.

Next-Generation Bacillus anthracis Live Attenuated Spore Vaccine Based on the htrA(-) (High Temperature Requirement A) Sterne Strain.

Anthrax is a lethal disease caused by the gram-positive spore-producing bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Live attenuated vaccines, such as the nonencapsulated Sterne strain, do not meet the safety standards mandated for human use in the Western world and are approved for veterinary purposes only. Here we demonstrate that disrupting the htrA gene, encoding the chaperone/protease HtrA (High Temperature Requirement A), in the virulent Bacillus anthracis Vollum strain results in significant virulence attenuation in guinea pigs, rabbits and mice, underlying the universality of the attenuated phenotype associated with htrA knockout.

Circumventing Y. pestis Virulence by Early Recruitment of Neutrophils to the Lungs during Pneumonic Plague.

Pneumonic plague is a fatal disease caused by Yersinia pestis that is associated with a delayed immune response in the lungs. Because neutrophils are the first immune cells recruited to sites of infection, we investigated the mechanisms responsible for their delayed homing to the lung. During the first 24 hr after pulmonary infection with a fully virulent Y.

High dose Anakinra for treatment of severe neonatal Kawasaki disease: a case report.

We report an 11-week-old female who presented with Kawasaki disease (KD) complicated by macrophage activation syndrome (MAS). The infant presented to the hospital with persistent fever, cough, diarrhea, and emesis, among other symptoms. Her condition quickly began to decompensate, and she developed classic features (conjunctivitis, rash, cracked lips, distal extremity edema) prompting a diagnosis of acute KD.