Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor in vaginally collected amniotic fluid predicting fetal inflammatory response syndrome: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Improving noninvasive antenatal diagnosis of fetal inflammatory response syndrome (FIRS) can assist in the evaluation of prenatal risk and reduce perinatal outcomes. This study aimed to determine whether soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) in vaginally collected amniotic fluid is significant in identifying FIRS after preterm premature rupture of membranes before 34 weeks of gestation.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of 114 pregnant women and their newborns after preterm premature rupture of membranes at 22-34 weeks of gestation.

BCG masking phenomena might depend on the species of Mycobacterium.

This study investigated BCG masking dependency on the species of Mycobacterium through the immune response to the mycobacterial region of deletion 1 (RD-1) associated growth affecting proteins (GEP).To evaluate the effects of GEP, 8-week old female BALB/c mice were immunized with either the wild type Mycobacterium bovis (MBGEP) or the ATCC Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium (MAGEP) strain and then subjected to further exposure with Mycobacterium terrae or M.

High-yield expression in Escherichia coli, purification and application of budding yeast K2 killer protein.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae K2 toxin is a highly active extracellular protein, important as a biocontrol agent for biotechnological applications in the wine industry. This protein is produced at negligible levels in yeast, making difficult to isolate it in amounts sufficient for investigation and generation of analysis tools. In this work, we demonstrate the use of a bacterial system for expression of the recombinant K2 protein, suitable for generation of antibodies specific for toxin of the yeast origin.