Transformed Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites expressing the circumsporozoite protein of Plasmodium knowlesi elicit a specific immune response in rhesus monkeys.

Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites were transformed with the coding sequence of the circumsporozoite (CS) protein of the primate malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi. A single inoculation of live transformed tachyzoites elicited an antibody response directed against the immunodominant repeat epitope (EQPAAGAGG)2 of the P. knowlesi CS protein in rhesus monkeys.

Understanding causal paths between mental illness and violence.

The stigma associated with mental illness is a major concern for patients, families, and providers of health services. One reason for the stigmatization of the mentally ill is the public perception that they are violent and dangerous. Although, traditionally, mental health advocates have argued against this public belief, a recent body of research evidence suggests that patients who suffer from serious mental conditions are more prone to violent behaviour than persons who are not mentally ill.

Multilocus genotypic analysis of Cryptosporidium parvum isolates from different hosts and geographical origins.

The genetic analysis of oocysts recovered from the stools of humans and animals infected with Cryptosporidium parvum has consistently shown the existence of two distinct genotypes. One of the genotypes is found exclusively in some human infections, whereas the other genotype is found in human as well as in animal infections. On the basis of these observations and the results of published epidemiological studies with single polymorphic markers, the existence of two separate transmission cycles has been postulated, one exclusively anthroponotic and the other involving both animals and humans.

Molecular cloning and expression analysis of a Cryptosporidium parvum gene encoding a new member of the thrombospondin family.

The apicomplexan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum invades and multiplies primarily in the brush border cells of the intestinal mucosa causing in AIDS patients a severe diarrhoea that represents a significant contributing factor leading to death. Morphological analysis indicates that the invasion machinery of C. parvum is similar to the apical complex of other parasites of the phylum Apicomplexa.

Antimalarial activity of synthetic analogues of distamycin.

Malaria, one of the most serious diseases transmitted by arthropods, is largely present in tropical and even temperate zones in endemic or epidemic form. More than 40% of the world's population lives in areas at risk for exposure, and the World Health Organization reports that approximately 300 million people are affected by the infection (mostly caused by the species Plasmodium falciparum), with 1-2 million deaths per year. These data, and the fact that malaria is becoming increasingly refractory to treatment through resistance of the parasite to antimalarial agents currently in use, e.

Natural polymorphism in the thrombospondin-related adhesive protein of Plasmodium falciparum.

We have developed a typing system using natural sequence variation in the thrombospondin-related adhesive protein (TRAP) gene of Plasmodium falciparum. This method permits a haplotype to be assigned to any particular TRAP gene. We have applied this method to a hospital-based, case control-study in Mali.

TRAP is necessary for gliding motility and infectivity of plasmodium sporozoites.

Many protozoans of the phylum Apicomplexa are invasive parasites that exhibit a substrate-dependent gliding motility. Plasmodium (malaria) sporozoites, the stage of the parasite that invades the salivary glands of the mosquito vector and the liver of the vertebrate host, express a surface protein called thrombospondin-related anonymous protein (TRAP) that has homologs in other Apicomplexa. By gene targeting in a rodent Plasmodium, we demonstrate that TRAP is critical for sporozoite infection of the mosquito salivary glands and the rat liver, and is essential for sporozoite gliding motility in vitro.

PCR-RFLP analysis of the Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein (COWP) gene discriminates between C. wrairi and C. parvum, and between C. parvum isolates of human and animal origin.

Cryptosporidium wrairi was isolated from guinea pigs during a spontaneous outbreak of cryptosporidiosis. Despite the morphological and antigenic similarities to C. parvum, C.

Cloning of the entire COWP gene of Cryptosporidium parvum and ultrastructural localization of the protein during sexual parasite development.

Molecular cloning and immunoelectron microscopy have been used to clone the full-length gene encoding Cryptosporidium parvum oocyst wall protein (COWP) and to analyse at the ultrastructural level the expression and localization of COWP during development in the gut. COWP is 1622 amino acids long, has a typical leader peptide and consists of 2 amino acidic domains each containing distinct repeated elements possibly originating from a common ancestral precursor. Electron microscopy localized COWP in a large cytoplasmic inclusion and in the wall-forming bodies of early and late macrogametes, respectively.

Cloning and expression of the thrombospondin related adhesive protein gene of Plasmodium berghei.

Sporozoite recognition of host cells is a key step in the life-cycle of malaria parasites. Two sporozoite proteins have so far been characterized in some detail, the circumsporozoite protein (CS) and thrombospondin related adhesive protein (TRAP). We report here the cloning and expression of the TRAP gene homologue from Plasmodium berghei, PbTRAP.

Conserved function of anopheles gambiae midgut-specific promoters in the fruitfly.

Control of malaria by a methodology that would permit the effective blockage of the Anopheles gambiae midgut wall penetration by Plasmodium parasites requires a detailed understanding of both the physiology of the mosquito's digestion, and of the interactions between the parasite and its host. We have transformed Drosophila melanogaster with several constructs that allow the study of the promoter region of two of the major late trypsin genes of A. gambiae.

Constitutive and blood meal-induced trypsin genes in Anopheles gambiae.

Trypsin genes in Anopheles gambiae are arranged as a tightly clustered gene family consisting of seven related coding sequences, devoid of introns. The two blood meal-inducible members of this family, Antryp1 and Antryp2, were shown to play a crucial role in the breakdown of the blood meal constituents. The role of Antryp3,4,5,6, and Antryp7 in the process of blood meal digestion remains to be elucidated.

Molecular cloning and expression of a 70-kilodalton heat shock protein of Candida albicans.

By screening an expression library of the yeast form of Candida albicans with a serum directed against whole fungal cells, a cDNA (2,325 bp) encoding a stress protein of C. albicans was cloned and sequenced. The cloned sequence (CaRLV130) identified a single open reading frame with a length of 1,968 bp coding for a protein containing 656 amino acid residues (70 kDa).

[Computerized stabilometry in the monitoring of antiepileptic therapy in children].

Computerized stabilometry is an useful test to monitor postural effects of anticonvulsant therapy in adults. Our study was carried out on 65 epileptic children: 51 were treated with CBZ or PHT or VPA or PB in monotherapy, and 14 were not on therapy, in the aim to observe abnormalities of postural control in pediatric population. Computerized stabilometry has to be considered auxiliary monitoring to evaluate toxic effect of anticonvulsant therapy in children.

The effects of changes in the law concerning mentally disordered offenders: the Alberta experience with Bill C-30.

Objective: Until recently, the Criminal Code of Canada, enacted in 1892, stood stalwart to social, political and technological changes, particularly with respect to the regulations pertaining to the management of the mentally ill offender. This became more definitely so with the enactment of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1984) as many regulations in the Code about mentally ill offenders contravened the mandates contained in the Charter. The Supreme Court of Canada's decision on Regina v.

Band brain heterotopia. Case report and literature review.

The authors describe the case of an 11-year-old boy with a neuroradiologic pattern of band gray matter heterotopia, clinically characterized by epileptic seizures as well as normal psychomotor development. The clinical history and neurophysiological and neuroradiological investigations are reported. The diagnosis is based on brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, which has proved to be the most specific and sensitive test to describe neuronal migration disorders.