Publications by authors named "Cristina Cerquetti"

Introduction: Salmonella foodborne disease during pregnancy causes a significant fetal loss in domestic livestock and preterm birth, chorioamnionitis and miscarriage in humans. These complications could be associated with alterations in placental structure. This study was aimed to determine how a low dose of Salmonella Enteritidis during late gestation affects placental histomorphometric in mice.

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Dam methylation is an essential factor involved in the virulence of an increasing number of bacterial pathogens including Salmonella enterica. Lack of Dam methylation causes severe attenuation in animal models. It has been proposed that dysregulation of Dam activity is potentially a general strategy for the generation of vaccines against bacterial pathogens.

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Reactive arthritis (ReA) is a sterile inflammation triggered by a distal mucosal infection, which suggests a contribution from bacterial products. Investigation on the pathogenesis of ReA is difficult because of the limited studies that can be performed in humans; therefore the availability of animal models is crucial. We hereby describe a murine model for studying the early stages of Salmonella-induced ReA.

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Although dam mutants of Salmonella have been proposed as live vaccines, their capacity to trigger cell inflammatory cascades has not been fully elucidated. We investigated in detail the ability of Salmonella enterica dam mutant to activate the signalling pathways of the inflammatory response in RAW 264.7 cells.

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The temperature-sensitive dam mutant strain of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis SD1 is highly attenuated and induces innate and protective immunity in mice. SD1 activates NF-kappaB and induces gamma interferon secretion. Early interaction of the SD1 mutant with intestinal epithelial cells was associated with ruffling of enterocytes.

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Local induction of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and apoptosis was examined in the intestine of mice infected with virulent Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis 5694 (S. enteritidis) and its attenuated derivative mutant E/1/3. Both, intestinal iNOS mRNA expression and iNOS activity showed a peak at 4 h only in animals receiving the virulent S.

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Background: Recently, we described the cloning of VMP1 (vacuole membrane protein 1). In vitro expression of VMP1 promotes formation of cytoplasmic vacuoles followed by cell death. In order to test if VMP1 expression is related to the cytoplasmic vacuolization of the acinar cells during acute pancreatitis, we studied the in vivo expression of the new gene during arginine-induced acute pancreatitis.

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Nitric oxide (NO)-derived from T lymphocytes in an autocrine fashion can modulate events in the cell. However, the exact role of NO on the control of lymphocyte growth is controversial since both stimulation and inhibition have been demonstrated. Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity in normal and tumor T lymphocyte proliferation was studied here.

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