SARS-CoV-2 Prevalence on and Incidence after Arrival in Travelers on Direct Flights from Cape Town, South Africa to Munich, Germany Shortly after Occurrence of the Omicron Variant in November/December 2021: Results from the OMTRAIR Study.

The highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2-variant B.1.1.

Epidemiological and Serological Analysis of a SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak in a Nursing Home: Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination and Enhanced Neutralizing Immunity Following Breakthrough Infection.

Background: Despite a vaccination rate of 82.0% (n = 123/150), a SARS-CoV-2 (Alpha) outbreak with 64.7% (n = 97/150) confirmed infections occurred in a nursing home in Bavaria, Germany.

Alanine screening of the intracellular loops of the human bradykinin B receptor--effects on receptor maintenance, G protein activation and internalization.

The bradykinin B(2) receptor is coupled to G protein G(q/11) and becomes sequestered into intracellular compartments after activation. To more closely define the receptor sequences involved in these processes and their functions, we systematically mutated all three intracellular loops (ICLs), either as point mutations or in groups of three to five amino acids to Ala, obtaining a total of 14 mutants. All constructs were stably expressed in HEK 293 cells and, with the exception of triple mutant DRY --> AAA, retained the ability to specifically bind [(3)H]bradykinin.

C-terminal fusion of eGFP to the bradykinin B2 receptor strongly affects down-regulation but not receptor internalization or signaling.

A functional comparison was made between the wild-type bradykinin B2 receptor (B2wt) and the chimera B2eGFP (enhanced green-fluorescent protein fused to the C-terminus of B2wt), both stably expressed in HEK 293 cells. There was almost no difference in terms of ligand-inducible receptor phosphorylation and internalization, signal transduction (accumulation of inositol phosphates) or expression and affinity. However, stimulation for up to 8 h with 10 microM bradykinin (BK) resulted in a strong decrease in surface receptors (by 60% within 5 h) in B2wt, but not in B2eGFP.

The role of helix 8 and of the cytosolic C-termini in the internalization and signal transduction of B(1) and B(2) bradykinin receptors.

Determinants for desensitization and sequestration of G protein-coupled receptors often contain serine or threonine residues located in their C-termini. The sequence context, however, in which these residues have to appear, and the receptor specificity of these motifs are largely unknown. Mutagenesis studies with the B(2) bradykinin receptor (B(2)wt), stably expressed in HEK 293 cells, identified a sequence distal to N338 (NSMGTLRTSI, including I347 but not the basally phosphorylated S348) and in particular the TSI sequence therein, as a major determinant for rapid agonist-inducible internalization and the prevention of receptor hypersensitivity.

Inhibition of sequestration of human B2 bradykinin receptor by phenylarsine oxide or sucrose allows determination of a receptor affinity shift and ligand dissociation in intact cells.

Depending on their interaction with intracellular proteins, G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) often display different affinities for agonists at 37 degrees C. Determining the affinity at that temperature is often difficult in intact cells as most GPCRs are internalized after activation. When sequestration of the B2 bradykinin receptor (B2R) was inhibited by either 0.