Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli: Frequent, yet underdiagnosed pathotype among E. coli O111 strains isolated from children with gastrointestinal disorders in the Czech Republic.

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) strains including those of serogroup O111 are important causes of diarrhea in children. In the Czech Republic, no information is available on the etiological role of EAEC in pediatric diarrhea due to the lack of their targeted surveillance. To fill this gap, we determined the proportion of EAEC among E.

Identifying optimal reference genes for gene expression studies in Eurasian spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae).

Eurasian spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus [L.]) causes substantial damage to spruce forests worldwide. Undoubtedly, more aggressive measures are necessary to restrict the enduring loss.

Reference Gene Selection for Normalizing Gene Expression in (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) Under Different Experimental Conditions.

(Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) is one of the most destructive and economically important forest pests. A better understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying its adaptation to toxic host compounds may unleash the potential for future management of this pest. Gene expression studies could be considered as one of the key experimental approaches for such purposes.

Is Betula carpatica genetically distinctive? A morphometric, cytometric and molecular study of birches in the Bohemian Massif with a focus on Carpathian birch.

Until recently, Czech taxonomists often treated Betula carpatica as a distinct species. Several morphological traits for distinguishing B. carpatica from B.

Characterization of the S100A1 protein binding site on TRPC6 C-terminus.

The transient receptor potential (TRP) protein superfamily consists of seven major groups, among them the "canonical TRP" family. The TRPC proteins are calcium-permeable nonselective cation channels activated after the emptying of intracellular calcium stores and appear to be gated by various types of messengers. The TRPC6 channel has been shown to be expressed in various tissues and cells, where it modulates the calcium level in response to external signals.

Integrative binding sites within intracellular termini of TRPV1 receptor.

TRPV1 is a nonselective cation channel that integrates wide range of painful stimuli. It has been shown that its activity could be modulated by intracellular ligands PIP2 or calmodulin (CaM). The detailed localization and description of PIP2 interaction sites remain unclear.

Characterization of calmodulin binding domains in TRPV2 and TRPV5 C-tails.

The transient receptor potential channels TRPV2 and TRPV5 belong to the vanilloid TRP subfamily. TRPV2 is highly similar to TRPV1 and shares many common properties with it. TRPV5 (and also its homolog TRPV6) is a rather distinct member of the TRPV subfamily.

Synthetic N-acetyl-D-glucosamine based fully branched tetrasaccharide, a mimetic of the endogenous ligand for CD69, activates CD69+ killer lymphocytes upon dimerization via a hydrophilic flexible linker.

On the basis of the highly branched ovomucoid-type undecasaccharide that had been shown previously to be an endogenous ligand for CD69 leukocyte receptor, a systematic investigation of smaller oligosaccharide mimetics was performed based on linear and branched N-acetyl-d-hexosamine homooligomers prepared synthetically using hitherto unexplored reaction schemes. The systematic structure-activity studies revealed the tetrasaccharide GlcNAcbeta1-3(GlcNAcbeta1-4)(GlcNAcbeta1-6)GlcNAc (compound 52) and its alpha-benzyl derivative 49 as the best ligand for CD69 with IC(50) as high as 10(-9) M. This compound thus approaches the affinity of the classical high-affinity neoglycoprotein ligand GlcNAc(23)BSA.

Cooperation between subunits is essential for high-affinity binding of N-acetyl-D-hexosamines to dimeric soluble and dimeric cellular forms of human CD69.

CD69 is an earliest lymphocyte activation antigen and a universal leukocyte triggering molecule expressed at sites of active immune response. The binding of GlcNAc to the dimeric human CD69 was followed by equilibrium dialysis, fluorescence titration, and NMR. Clear cooperation was observed in the high-affinity binding (K(d) = 4.