AB5075, a Highly Virulent Isolate of Acinetobacter baumannii, as a Model Strain for the Evaluation of Pathogenesis and Antimicrobial Treatments.

Unlabelled: Acinetobacter baumannii is recognized as an emerging bacterial pathogen because of traits such as prolonged survival in a desiccated state, effective nosocomial transmission, and an inherent ability to acquire antibiotic resistance genes. A pressing need in the field of A. baumannii research is a suitable model strain that is representative of current clinical isolates, is highly virulent in established animal models, and can be genetically manipulated.

Validation of a novel murine wound model of Acinetobacter baumannii infection.

Patients recovering from traumatic injuries or surgery often require weeks to months of hospitalization, increasing the risk for wound and surgical site infections caused by ESKAPE pathogens, which include A. baumannii (the ESKAPE pathogens are Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species). As new therapies are being developed to counter A.

Type III secretion systems as targets for novel therapeutics.

Bacterial pathogens use common virulence factors to cause disease. One such virulence factor is the type III secretion system (T3SS), which allows for the direct injection of bacterial proteins, called effector proteins, into the contacting host cell. Pathogens with defective T3SSs are 1000- to 1 million-fold attenuated in animal models of infection.

A cyclic-di-GMP receptor required for bacterial exopolysaccharide production.

Bis-(3',5')-cyclic-dimeric-guanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) has been shown to be a global regulatory molecule that modulates the reciprocal responses of bacteria to activate either virulence pathways or biofilm formation. The mechanism of c-di-GMP signal transduction, including recognition of c-di-GMP and subsequent phenotypic regulation, remain largely uncharacterized. The key components of these regulatory pathways are the various adaptor proteins (c-di-GMP receptors).

Memories affect mood: evidence from covert experimental assignment to positive, neutral, and negative memory recall.

Memory recall has been proposed as a common and effective mood regulation strategy. Although several studies have presented results suggesting that recalling valenced memories affects subsequent mood, their designs allow for alternative interpretations of the observed effects. Two such alternatives include the reverse effect (mood effects on memory due to non-experimental assignment to memory recall condition) and demand characteristics of the experiment.