A randomized clinical trial of the impact of melatonin on influenza vaccine: Outcomes from the melatonin and vaccine response immunity and chronobiology study (MAVRICS).

Vaccine immunogenicity is affected by a variety of factors. Melatonin has been reported to affect immune responses to vaccines and infection. This was a randomized open-label trial - in which adults scheduled to receive the influenza vaccine were randomized to 5 mg melatonin or control to evaluate the effect of post-vaccination melatonin on humoral (hemagglutination-inhibition assays, HAI) and cellular (FluoroSpot) vaccine-specific cytokine responses 14-21 days post-vaccination.

Immunogenicity and Protective Efficacy of Psoralen-Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine in Nonhuman Primates.

COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has significantly impacted public health and the economy worldwide. Most of the currently licensed COVID-19 vaccines act by inhibiting the receptor-binding function of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The constant emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants resulting from mutations in the receptor-binding domain (RBD) leads to vaccine immune evasion and underscores the importance of broadly acting COVID-19 vaccines.

Right to Left Cardiac Power Output- New Prognosticator in STEMI Patients With Cardiogenic Shock (R-Shock).

ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a leading cause of cardiogenic shock (CS) and carries substantial mortality. Cardiac power output (CPO) is the strongest predictor of clinical outcome in CS, and worse outcomes result from concomitant right and left ventricular failure. Right ventricular performance is calculated using right sided CPO.

Enhanced Immunogenicity of Inactivated Dengue Vaccines by Novel Polysaccharide-Based Adjuvants in Mice.

Dengue fever, caused by any of four dengue viruses (DENV1-4), is a major global burden. Currently, there is no effective vaccine that prevents infection in dengue naïve populations. We tested the ability of two novel adjuvants (Advax-PEI and Advax-2), using aluminum hydroxide (alum) as control, to enhance the immunogenicity of formalin- or psoralen-inactivated (PIV or PsIV) DENV2 vaccines in mice.

Immunogenicity of Adjuvanted Psoralen-Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines and SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein DNA Vaccines in BALB/c Mice.

The development of a safe and effective vaccine to protect against COVID-19 is a global priority due to the current high SARS-CoV-2 infection rate. Currently, there are over 160 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates at the clinical or pre-clinical stages of development. Of these, there are only three whole-virus vaccine candidates produced using β-propiolactone or formalin inactivation.

Comparison of purified psoralen-inactivated and formalin-inactivated dengue vaccines in mice and nonhuman primates.

Dengue fever, caused by dengue viruses (DENV 1-4) is a leading cause of illness and death in the tropics and subtropics. Therefore, an effective vaccine is urgently needed. Currently, the only available licensed dengue vaccine is a chimeric live attenuated vaccine that shows varying efficacy depending on serotype, age and baseline DENV serostatus.

Enhanced immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a tetravalent dengue DNA vaccine using electroporation and intradermal delivery.

Phase 1 clinical trials with a DNA vaccine for dengue demonstrated that the vaccine is safe and well tolerated, however it produced less than optimal humoral immune responses. To determine if the immunogenicity of the tetravalent dengue DNA vaccine could be enhanced, we explored alternate, yet to be tested, methods of vaccine administration in non-human primates. Animals were vaccinated on days 0, 28 and 91 with either a low (1 mg) or high (5 mg) dose of vaccine by the intradermal or intramuscular route, using either needle-free injection or electroporation devices.

Urothelial Carcinoma With Villoglandular Differentiation: A Rare Entity.

Urothelial neoplasms are the commonest neoplasms of the urinary bladder. Many variants of urothelial neoplasms have been described in the literature with diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic significance. We describe a rare case of urothelial neoplasm with villoglandular differentiation along with its immunohistochemical profile arising in an elderly male.

Application of atmospheric pressure matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry for rapid identification of Neisseria species.

Atmospheric pressure matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (AP-MALDI MS) was applied to develop a proteomics-based method to detect and identify Neisseria species. Heat-inactivated clinical isolate cell suspensions of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and strains belonging to five serogroups (A, B, C, W135, and Y) of Neisseria meningitidis were subjected to on-probe protein/peptide extraction and tryptic digestion followed by AP-MALDI tandem MS (MS/MS)-based proteomic analysis. Amino acid sequences derived from three protonated peptides with m/z values of 1743.

Development of a rapid and sensitive immunoassay for detection and subsequent recovery of Bacillus anthracis spores in environmental samples.

Bacillus anthracis is considered a major threat as an agent of bioterrorism. B. anthracis spores are readily dispersed as aerosols, are very persistent, and are resistant to normal disinfection treatments.

Characterization of N-acetylneuraminic acid synthase isoenzyme 1 from Campylobacter jejuni.

Escherichia coli NeuNAc (N-acetylneuraminic acid) synthase catalyses the condensation of PEP (phosphoenolpyruvate) and ManNAc (N-acetylmannosamine) to form NeuNAc and is encoded by the neuB gene. Campylobacter jejuni has three neuB genes, one of which is very similar to the E. coli neuB gene.

Functional and biochemical characterization of a recombinant Arabidopsis thaliana 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonate 8-phosphate synthase.

An open reading frame, encoding for KDOPS (3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonate 8-phosphate synthase), from Arabidopsis thaliana was cloned into a T7-driven expression vector. The protein was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. Recombinant A.

Mechanistic insight into 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonate-8-phosphate synthase and 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate-7-phosphate synthase utilizing phosphorylated monosaccharide analogues.

Escherichia coli 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonate 8-phosphate (KDO8-P) synthase is able to utilize the five-carbon phosphorylated monosaccharide, 2-deoxyribose 5-phosphate (2dR5P), as an alternate substrate, but not D-ribose 5-phosphate (R5P) nor the four carbon analogue D-erythrose 4-phosphate (E4P). However, E. coli KDO8-P synthase in the presence of either R5P or E4P catalyzes the rapid consumption of approximately 1 mol of PEP per active site, after which consumption of PEP slows to a negligible but measurable rate.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase does not catalyze the formation of the ribo analogue.

[figure: see text] Neisseria gonorrhoeae 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAH 7-P) synthase catalyzes an aldol-type condensation between D-erythrose 4-phosphate and phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to form 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate and not 3-deoxy-D-riboheptulosonate 7-phosphate. Similar to the Escherichia coli enzyme, N. gonorrhoeae DAH 7-P synthase condenses D-arabinose 5-phosphate with PEP to give 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonate 8-phosphate.

Probing the stereochemistry of E. coli 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase (phenylalanine-sensitive)-catalyzed synthesis of KDO 8-P analogues.

The five-carbon phosphorylated monosaccharide analogues, D-arabinose 5-phosphate, D-ribose 5-phosphate, and 2-deoxy-D-ribose 5-phosphate, were separately condensed with (Z)- and (E)-[3-(2)H]-phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) in the presence of Escherichia coli 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAH 7-P) synthase (phe) to give in the case of (Z)-[3-(2)H]-PEP (3S)-[3-(2)H]-3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonate 8-phosphate, (3S)-[3-(2)H]-3-deoxy-D-altro-octulosonate 8-phosphate, and (3S)-[3-(2)H]-3,5-dideoxy-D-altro-octulosonate 8-phosphate, respectively, whereas incubation with (E)-[3-(2)H]-PEP gives the corresponding (3R)-monosaccharides. These results are in complete agreement with the observed facial selectivity of DAH 7-P synthase for its normal substrates D-erythrose 4-phosphate and PEP and provide direct evidence that DAH 7-P synthase (phe) catalyzes the si face addition of the C3 of PEP to the re face of C1 of the phosphorylated monosaccharides tested. Products formed by DAH 7-P synthase (phe)-catalyzed condensation of (Z)- and (E)-[3-F]-PEP with E 4-P were completely characterized by (1)H and (19)F NMR analysis for the first time.

Substrate ambiguity of 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonate 8-phosphate synthase from Neisseria gonorrhoeae revisited.

Homogeneous, recombinant 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonate 8-phosphate synthase from Neisseria gonorrhoeae is shown to catalyze the formation of 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonate 8-phosphate from phosphoenolpyruvate and D-arabinose 5-phosphate as determined from (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of the product. This enzyme does not catalyze the condensation of D-erythrose 4-phosphate and phosphoenolpyruvate to form 3-deoxy-D-ribo-heptulosonate 7-phosphate, as was previously reported (P. S.

NMR studies of retinoid-protein interactions: the conformation of [13C]-beta-ionones bound to beta-lactoglobulin B.

Purpose: Vitamin A (retinol) and its metabolites comprise the natural retinoids. While the biological action of these molecules are thought to be primarily mediated by ca. 55 kDa nuclear retinoic acid receptors, a number of structurally similar 15-20 kDa proteins are involved in the transport, and possibly metabolism, of these compounds.

Probing the potential metal binding site in Escherichia coli 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase (phenylalanine-sensitive).

The active site residues of the proposed metal binding site of DAH 7-P synthase (phe) were probed by site-directed mutagenesis of C61 to glycine and serine, H64 to glycine, and with the double mutant C61H/H64C. While C61S and C61H/ H64C were inactive, both C61G and H64G were active. All mutants, regardless of enzymatic activity, bound one equivalent of Fe2+ per monomeric unit.