A Review of the Effects of Physical Therapy on Self-Esteem in Postpartum Women With Lumbopelvic Dysfunction.

This study sought to determine the impact of physical therapy for lumbopelvic dysfunction on self-esteem in postpartum women. Systematic searches were carried out in CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, Medline (OVID), Cochrane, and Web of Science by a health sciences librarian using various combinations of subject headings and key words. A dual review process was used first to assess titles and abstracts and then to examine the full text.

Merozoite Surface Protein 1 from Plasmodium falciparum Is a Major Target of Opsonizing Antibodies in Individuals with Acquired Immunity against Malaria.

Naturally acquired immunity against malaria is largely mediated by serum antibodies controlling levels of blood-stage parasites. A limited understanding of the antigenic targets and functional mechanisms of protective antibodies has hampered the development of efficient malaria vaccines. Besides directly inhibiting the growth of parasites, antibodies can opsonize merozoites and recruit immune effector cells such as monocytes and neutrophils.

Multiple Plasmodium falciparum Merozoite Surface Protein 1 Complexes Mediate Merozoite Binding to Human Erythrocytes.

Successful invasion of human erythrocytes byPlasmodium falciparummerozoites is required for infection of the host and parasite survival. The early stages of invasion are mediated via merozoite surface proteins that interact with human erythrocytes. The nature of these interactions are currently not well understood, but it is known that merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1) is critical for successful erythrocyte invasion.

Processing of Plasmodium falciparum Merozoite Surface Protein MSP1 Activates a Spectrin-Binding Function Enabling Parasite Egress from RBCs.

The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum replicates within erythrocytes, producing progeny merozoites that are released from infected cells via a poorly understood process called egress. The most abundant merozoite surface protein, MSP1, is synthesized as a large precursor that undergoes proteolytic maturation by the parasite protease SUB1 just prior to egress. The function of MSP1 and its processing are unknown.

Reductions in microfilaridermia by repeated ivermectin treatment are associated with lower Plasmodium-specific Th17 immune responses in Onchocerca volvulus-infected individuals.

Background: 37 million individuals are currently infected with Onchocerca volvulus (O. volvulus), a parasitic nematode that elicits various dermal manifestations and eye damage in man. Disease control is primarily based on distributing ivermectin in mass drug administration (MDA) programmes which aim at breaking transmission by eliminating microfilariae (MF), the worm's offspring.

Unspecific abdominal symptoms and pneumobilia: a rare case of gastrointestinal obstruction.

The case of a 77-year-old woman with symptoms of gastric outlet obstruction is presented. Transabdominal ultrasonography findings were suspicious of Bouveret's syndrome. Upper endoscopy confirmed this diagnosis.

The merozoite surface protein 1 complex is a platform for binding to human erythrocytes by Plasmodium falciparum.

Plasmodium falciparum is the causative agent of the most severe form of malaria in humans. The merozoite, an extracellular stage of the parasite lifecycle, invades erythrocytes in which they develop. The most abundant protein on the surface of merozoites is merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1), which consists of four processed fragments.

ΔE1 and high-capacity adenoviral vectors expressing full-length codon-optimized merozoite surface protein 1 for vaccination against Plasmodium falciparum.

Background: The merozoite surface protein (MSP)-1 of Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria tropica, is considered to be a promising vaccine candidate. Although its stable cloning and expression has been difficult in the past, adenoviral vectors expressing the complex protein are described in the present study.

Methods: Codon-optimized msp-1 was used to construct a set of first generation (ΔE1Ad) and high-capacity adenovirus (HC-Ad) vectors, and cellular and humoral immune responses induced by the vectors were characterized in detail in mice.

Phase Ia clinical evaluation of the Plasmodium falciparum blood-stage antigen MSP1 in ChAd63 and MVA vaccine vectors.

Efficacy trials of antibody-inducing protein-in-adjuvant vaccines targeting the blood-stage Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite have so far shown disappointing results. The induction of cell-mediated responses in conjunction with antibody responses is thought to be one alternative strategy that could achieve protective efficacy in humans. Here, we prepared chimpanzee adenovirus 63 (ChAd63) and modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) replication-deficient vectors encoding the well-studied P.

Regulated maturation of malaria merozoite surface protein-1 is essential for parasite growth.

The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum invades erythrocytes where it replicates to produce invasive merozoites, which eventually egress to repeat the cycle. Merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP1), a prime malaria vaccine candidate and one of the most abundant components of the merozoite surface, is implicated in the ligand-receptor interactions leading to invasion. MSP1 is extensively proteolytically modified, first just before egress and then during invasion.

New candidate vaccines against blood-stage Plasmodium falciparum malaria: prime-boost immunization regimens incorporating human and simian adenoviral vectors and poxviral vectors expressing an optimized antigen based on merozoite surface protein 1.

Although merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP-1) is a leading candidate vaccine antigen for blood-stage malaria, its efficacy in clinical trials has been limited in part by antigenic polymorphism and potentially by the inability of protein-in-adjuvant vaccines to induce strong cellular immunity. Here we report the design of novel vectored Plasmodium falciparum vaccines capable of overcoming such limitations. We optimized an antigenic insert comprising the four conserved blocks of MSP-1 fused to tandemly arranged sequences that represent both allelic forms of the dimorphic 42-kDa C-terminal region.

Antibodies against multiple merozoite surface antigens of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum inhibit parasite maturation and red blood cell invasion.

Background: Plasmodium falciparum merozoites expose at their surface a large protein complex, which is composed of fragments of merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP-1; called MSP-183, MSP-130, MSP-138, and MSP-142) plus associated processing products of MSP-6 and MSP-7. During erythrocyte invasion this complex, as well as an integral membrane protein called apical membrane antigen-1 (AMA-1), is shed from the parasite surface following specific proteolysis. Components of the MSP-1/6/7 complex and AMA-1 are presently under development as malaria vaccines.

Chromatin associated sense and antisense noncoding RNAs are transcribed from the var gene family of virulence genes of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

Antigenic variation by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum results from switches in expression between members of the multicopy var gene family. These genes encode the variant surface protein PfEMP-1, the primary determinant of the antigenic and cytoadherent properties of infected erythrocytes. Only a single var gene is expressed at a time while the remaining members of the family remain transcriptionally silent.

A regulatable transgene expression system for cultured Plasmodium falciparum parasites.

Background: The ability to transfect and create transgenic cultured malaria parasites has transformed the study of Plasmodium falciparum over the last decade. With the completion of the annotated genome sequence, the process of gene discovery now routinely includes gene knockouts, over-expression and complementation analysis. However, while this technology has proven extremely valuable, significant limitations exist.

Nuclear non-coding RNAs are transcribed from the centromeres of Plasmodium falciparum and are associated with centromeric chromatin.

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) play an important role in a variety of nuclear processes, including genetic imprinting, RNA interference-mediated transcriptional repression, and dosage compensation. These transcripts are thought to influence chromosome organization and, in some cases, gene expression by directing the assembly of specific chromatin modifications to targeted regions of the genome. In the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, little is known about the regulation of nuclear organization or gene expression, although a notable scarcity of identifiable transcription factors encoded in its genome has led to speculation that this organism may be unusually reliant on chromatin modifications as a mechanism for regulating gene expression.

Deciphering the export pathway of malaria surface proteins.

The intra-erythrocytic stages of Plasmodium falciparum assemble a unique protein trafficking system that targets parasite proteins to the red cell cytoplasm and cell surface. It is through this trafficking pathway that the primary virulence determinants of P. falciparum infections are targeted to the erythrocyte surface to mediate adhesion to host endothelial cells.

Analysis of antibodies directed against merozoite surface protein 1 of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

The 190-kDa merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP-1) of Plasmodium falciparum, an essential component in the parasite's life cycle, is a primary candidate for a malaria vaccine. Rabbit antibodies elicited by the heterologously produced MSP-1 processing products p83, p30, p38, and p42, derived from strain 3D7, were analyzed for the potential to inhibit in vitro erythrocyte invasion by the parasite and parasite growth. Our data show that (i) epitopes recognized by antibodies, which inhibit parasite replication, are distributed throughout the entire MSP-1 molecule; (ii) when combined, antibodies specific for different regions of MSP-1 inhibit in a strictly additive manner; (iii) anti-MSP-1 antibodies interfere with erythrocyte invasion as well as with the intraerythrocytic growth of the parasite; and (iv) antibodies raised against MSP-1 of strain 3D7 strongly cross-inhibit replication of the heterologous strain FCB-1.

The merozoite surface protein 1 complex of human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum: interactions and arrangements of subunits.

The major protein component at the surface of merozoites, the infectious form of blood stage malaria parasites, is the merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP-1) complex. In the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, this complex is generated by proteolytic cleavage of a 190-kDa glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored precursor into four major fragments, which remain non-covalently associated. Here, we describe the in vitro reconstitution of the MSP-1 complex of P.

Expression and purification of Plasmodium falciparum MSP-1(42): A malaria vaccine candidate.

The C-terminal 42.10(3) Da portion of the merozoite surface protein (MSP-1) of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is of interest, not only because it may constitute an essential part of a future anti-malaria vaccine, but also due to its role during the infection of erythrocytes by the parasite. We have cloned and expressed two synthetic DNA sequences encoding the two prototypic MSP-1(42) variants in E.

Aberrant regulation of synthesis and degradation of viral proteins in coliphage lambda-infected UV-irradiated cells and in minicells.

The patterns of bacteriophage lambda proteins synthesized in UV-irradiated Escherichia coli cells and in anucleate minicells are significantly different; both systems exhibit aberrations of regulation in lambda gene expression. In unirradiated cells or cells irradiated with low UV doses (less than 600 J/m2), regulation of lambda protein synthesis is controlled by the regulatory proteins CI, N, CII, CIII, Cro, and Q. As the UV dose increases, activation of transcription of the cI, rexA, and int genes by CII and CIII proteins fails to occur and early protein synthesis, normally inhibited by the action of Cro, continues.

Fatal diphtheria in an older woman.

A previously healthy 68-year-old woman presented with fever and sore throat. Her condition was initially diagnosed as necrotizing streptococcal tonsillitis and was treated with penicillin G, given intravenously. A swab of her throat taken for culture at the time of admission yielded Corynebacterium diphtheriae 48 hours later.