Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory skin disease with skin barrier defects and a misdirected type 2 immune response against harmless antigens. The skin microbiome in AD is characterized by a reduction in microbial diversity with a dominance of staphylococci, including ().
Objective: To assess whether antigens play a role in AD, we screened for candidate allergens and studied the T cell and humoral immune response against the extracellular serine protease (Esp).
Plasma medicine is a developing field that utilizes the effects of cold physical plasma on biological substrates for therapeutic purposes. Approved plasma technology is frequently used in clinics to treat chronic wounds and skin infections. One mode of action responsible for beneficial effects in patients is the potent antimicrobial activity of cold plasma systems, which is linked to their unique generation of a plethora of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFReactive oxygen species (ROS/RNS) are produced during inflammation and elicit protein modifications, but the immunological consequences are largely unknown. Gas plasma technology capable of generating an unmatched variety of ROS/RNS is deployed to mimic inflammation and study the significance of ROS/RNS modifications using the model protein chicken ovalbumin (Ova vs oxOva). Dynamic light scattering and circular dichroism spectroscopy reveal structural modifications in oxOva compared to Ova.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProtection against is determined by the polarization of the anti-bacterial immune effector mechanisms. Virulence factors of can modulate these and induce differently polarized immune responses in a single individual. We proposed that this may be due to intrinsic properties of the bacterial proteins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDue to increasing mupirocin resistance, alternatives for nasal decolonization are urgently needed. Adhesion inhibitors are promising new preventive agents that may be less prone to induce resistance, as they do not interfere with the viability of and therefore exert less selection pressure. We identified promising adhesion inhibitors by screening a library of 4208 compounds for their capacity to inhibit adhesion to A-549 epithelial cells in vitro in a novel automated, imaging-based assay.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF() is a pathobiont of humans as well as a multitude of animal species. The high prevalence of multi-resistant and more virulent strains of necessitates the development of new prevention and treatment strategies for infection. Major advances towards understanding the pathogenesis of diseases have been made using conventional mouse models, i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRats are a reservoir of human- and livestock-associated methicillin-resistant (MRSA). However, the composition of the natural population in wild and laboratory rats is largely unknown. Here, 144 nasal isolates from free-living wild rats, captive wild rats and laboratory rats were genotyped and profiled for antibiotic resistances and human-specific virulence genes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStaphylococcus (S.) aureus is a leading cause of bacterial infection world-wide, and currently no vaccine is available for humans. Vaccine development relies heavily on clinically relevant infection models.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSepsis is frequently complicated by a state of profound immunosuppression, in its extreme form known as immunoparalysis. We have studied the role of the adaptive immune system in the murine acute peritonitis model. To read out adaptive immunosuppression, we primed post-septic and control animals by immunization with the model antigen TNP-ovalbumin in alum, and measured the specific antibody-responses via ELISA and ELISpot assay as well as T-cell responses in a proliferation assay after restimulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe previously reported that laboratory mice from all global vendors are frequently colonized with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Genotyping of a snap sample of murine S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLaboratory mice are the most commonly used animal model for Staphylococcus aureus infection studies. We have previously shown that laboratory mice from global vendors are frequently colonized with S. aureus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStaphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a dangerous pathogen and a leading cause of both nosocomial and community acquired bacterial infection worldwide. However, on the other hand, we are all exposed to this bacterium, often within the first hours of life, and usually manage to establish equilibrium and coexist with it.
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