Human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1) is a retrovirus that infects cells of the host's immune system leading to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and potentially death. Although treatments are available to prevent its progression, HIV-1 remains a major burden on health resources worldwide. Continued emergence of drug-resistance mutations drives the need for novel drugs that can inhibit HIV-1 replication through new pathways.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic activation of beta-adrenergic receptors by the sympathetic nervous system results in the apoptosis of cardiomyocytes. Due to the inability of cardiomyocytes to regenerate, this can result in heart failure. Upregulation of the pro-apoptotic protein Bim has been implicated as the cause of cardiomyocyte apoptosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe gastrointestinal mucosa is critical for maintaining the integrity and functions of the gut. Disruption of this barrier is a hallmark and a risk factor for many intestinal and chronic inflammatory diseases. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and HIV infection are characterized by microbial translocation and systemic inflammation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe role of the immunoproteasome is perceived as confined to adaptive immune responses given its ability to produce peptides ideal for MHC Class-I binding. Here, we demonstrate that the immunoproteasome subunit, LMP2, has functions beyond its immunomodulatory role. Using LMP2-deficient mice, we demonstrate that LMP2 is crucial for lymphocyte development and survival in the periphery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response constitutes cellular reactions triggered by a wide variety of stimuli that disturb folding of proteins, often leading to apoptosis. ER stress-induced apoptotic cell death is thought to be an important contributor to many human pathological conditions. The molecular mechanism of this apoptosis process has been highly controversial with both the receptor and the mitochondrial pathways being implicated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMethods Mol Biol
December 2017
Heart failure (HF) is a common clinical endpoint to several underlying causes including aging, hypertension, stress, and cardiomyopathy. It is characterized by a significant decline in the cardiac output. Cardiomyocytes are terminally differentiated cells and therefore, apoptotic death due to beta adrenergic (β-AR) signaling contributes to high attrition rate of these cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStandard therapy for malaria in Uganda changed from chloroquine to chloroquine + sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in 2000, and artemether-lumefantrine in 2004, although implementation of each change was slow. Plasmodium falciparum genetic polymorphisms are associated with alterations in drug sensitivity. We followed the prevalence of drug resistance-mediating P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Malaria remains a major public health problem, and its control has been hampered by drug resistance. For a number of drugs, Plasmodium falciparum single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are associated with altered drug sensitivity and can be used as markers of drug resistance. Several techniques have been studied to assess resistance markers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe explored associations between Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance-mediating polymorphisms and clinical presentations in parasitemic children enrolled in a cross-sectional survey in Tororo, Uganda, using a retrospective case-control design. All 243 febrile children (cases) and 243 randomly selected asymptomatic children (controls) were included. In a multivariate analysis adjusting for age, complexity of infection, and parasite density, the prevalence of wild-type genotypes was significantly higher in febrile children compared to asymptomatic children (pfcrt K76T: odds ratio [OR] 4.
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