Reconstituting Spore Cortex Peptidoglycan Biosynthesis Reveals a Deacetylase That Catalyzes Transamidation.

Some bacteria survive in nutrient-poor environments and resist killing by antimicrobials by forming spores. The cortex layer of the peptidoglycan cell wall that surrounds mature spores contains a unique modification, muramic-δ-lactam, that is essential for spore germination and outgrowth. Two proteins, the amidase CwlD and the deacetylase PdaA, are required for muramic-δ-lactam synthesis in cells, but their combined ability to generate muramic-δ-lactam has not been directly demonstrated.

Integrative Network Analysis of Predicted miRNA-Targets Regulating Expression of Immune Response Genes in Bovine Coronavirus Infection.

Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) infection that causes disease outbreaks among farm animals, resulting in significant economic losses particularly in the cattle industry, has the potential to become zoonotic. miRNAs, which are short non-coding segments of RNA that inhibits the expression of their target genes, have been identified as potential biomarkers and drug targets, though this potential in BCoV remains largely unknown. We hypothesize that certain miRNAs could simultaneously target multiple genes, are significantly conserved across many species, thereby demonstrating the potential to serve as diagnostic or therapeutic tools for bovine coronavirus infection.

Dissecting Transcription Factor-Target Interaction in Bovine Coronavirus Infection.

Coronaviruses are RNA viruses that cause significant disease within many species, including cattle. Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) infects cattle and wild ruminants, both as a respiratory and enteric pathogen, and possesses a significant economic threat to the cattle industry. Transcription factors are proteins that activate or inhibit transcription through DNA binding and have become new targets for disease therapies.

Evaluation of a Therapeutic Interchange from Fluticasone/Salmeterol to Mometasone/Formoterol in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Background: Combination treatment with an inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting beta2-agonist is among the many treatment options for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that has been shown to improve clinical outcomes. While mometasone/formoterol does not currently have an FDA-approved indication for COPD, evidence from 2 phase 3 trials demonstrated that mometasone/formoterol can improve lung function and was well tolerated in patients with moderate-to-very severe COPD. Based on these data, a therapeutic interchange was implemented in the Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States region to convert patients with a COPD diagnosis from fluticasone/salmeterol to mometasone/formoterol.

Pre-treatment choroidal thickness is not predictive of susceptibility to form-deprivation myopia in chickens.

Purpose: Chicks developing experimentally-induced myopia show profound thinning of the choroid. We observed a wide range of choroidal thicknesses in a sample of normal chicks prior to their use in a pedigree-based study of form-deprivation myopia. Hence, we tested whether pre-treatment choroidal thickness predicted susceptibility to myopia.