An unusual case of meningitis.

Pasteurella multocida is a rare cause of bacterial meningitis. A 56-year-old man with several pets developed a profoundly decreased level of consciousness following left tympanomastoidectomy. Lumbar puncture produced cerebrospinal fluid with the typical findings of meningitis (low glucose, high protein, high leukocytes).

Activity-based labeling of matrix metalloproteinases in living vertebrate embryos.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling is a physiologically and developmentally essential process mediated by a family of zinc-dependent extracellular proteases called matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). In addition to complex transcriptional control, MMPs are subject to extensive post-translational regulation. Because of this, classical biochemical, molecular and histological techniques that detect the expression of specific gene products provide useful but limited data regarding the biologically relevant activity of MMPs.