Prototype multi-biomarker test for point-of-care leprosy diagnostics.

To end the decade-long, obstinately stagnant number of new leprosy cases, there is an urgent need for field-applicable diagnostic tools that detect infection with , leprosy's etiologic agent. Since immunity against is characterized by humoral and cellular markers, we developed a lateral flow test measuring multiple host proteins based on six previously identified biomarkers for various leprosy phenotypes. This multi-biomarker test (MBT) demonstrated feasibility of quantitative detection of six host serum proteins simultaneously, jointly allowing discrimination of patients with multibacillary and paucibacillary leprosy from control individuals in high and low leprosy endemic areas.

The decline of leprosy in the Republic of Korea; patterns and trends 1977-2013.

Background: Though the World Health Organization declared the 'elimination of leprosy as public health problem' in 2000, the disease remains endemic in many countries. Current trends in incidence of infection and disease are unclear.

Methods: Data on leprosy prevalence between 1977-2013 and data on new leprosy cases detected in the Republic of Korea between 1989-2013 were analysed by age, sex, clinical types, mode of detection, family history, disability grading and geographical distribution.

Performance of PCR-reverse blot hybridization assay for detection of rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium leprae.

Drug resistance in Mycobacterium leprae is a significant problem in countries where leprosy is endemic. A sensitive, specific, and high-throughput reverse blot hybridization assay (REBA) for the detection of genotypic resistance to rifampicin (RIF) was designed and evaluated. It has been shown that resistance to RIF in M.

Molecular mechanisms and metabolic engineering of glutamate overproduction in Corynebacterium glutamicum.

Glutamate is a commercially important chemical. It is used as a flavor enhancer and is a major raw material for producing industrially useful chemicals. A coryneform bacterium, Corynebacterium glutamicum, was isolated in 1956 by Japanese researchers as a glutamate-overproducing bacterium and since then, remarkable progress in glutamate production has been made using this microorganism.

Preferential growth of skeletal myoblasts and fibroblasts in co-culture on a dendrimer-immobilized surface.

Co-culture of human skeletal muscle myoblasts and fibroblasts was performed on a dendrimer-immobilized surface. Morphological changes by cytoskeletal variation were observed, compared with culture on a conventional tissue culture surface, and preferential growth of myoblasts can be achieved by inhibition of fibroblast growth.

Investigation of phosphorylation status of OdhI protein during penicillin- and Tween 40-triggered glutamate overproduction by Corynebacterium glutamicum.

Glutamate overproduction by Corynebacterium glutamicum is triggered by treatment with penicillin or Tween 40 and is accompanied by a decrease in 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (ODHC) activity. We have reported that de novo synthesis of OdhI, which inhibits ODHC activity by interacting specifically with the E1o subunit of ODHC (OdhA), is induced by penicillin, and that odhI overexpression induces glutamate overproduction in the absence of any triggers for glutamate overproduction. In this study, to determine the function of OdhI in glutamate overproduction by C.

Requirement of de novo synthesis of the OdhI protein in penicillin-induced glutamate production by Corynebacterium glutamicum.

We found that penicillin-induced glutamate production by Corynebacterium glutamicum is inhibited when a de novo protein synthesis inhibitor, chloramphenicol, is added simultaneously with penicillin. When chloramphenicol was added 4 h after penicillin addition, glutamate production was essentially unaffected. (3)H-Leucine incorporation experiments revealed that protein synthesis continued for 1 h after penicillin addition and then gradually decreased.

Effect of odhA overexpression and odhA antisense RNA expression on Tween-40-triggered glutamate production by Corynebacterium glutamicum.

Recent studies have suggested that a decrease in the specific activity of the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (ODHC) is important for glutamate overproduction by Corynebacterium glutamicum. To further investigate the role of the odhA gene and its product in this process, we constructed the recombinant strains of C. glutamicum in which the expression of the odhA and its product could be controlled by odhA overexpression and odhA antisense RNA expression.

Antigen discovery: a postgenomic approach to leprosy diagnosis.

Leprosy is an infectious, neurodegenerative disease of humans caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Despite effective control programs, the incidence of leprosy remains stubbornly high, suggesting that transmission may be more common than expected. The rationale of this work was to use bioinformatics and comparative genomics to identify potentially antigenic proteins for diagnostic purposes.

DNA-PCR and RT-PCR for the 18-kDa gene of Mycobacterium leprae to assess the efficacy of multi-drug therapy for leprosy.

DNA-PCR and reverse transcription (RT)-PCR for the 18-kDa protein of Mycobacterium leprae were used to examine the efficacy of multi-drug therapy (MDT) in leprosy. MDT was administered for 0-24 months. Fourteen (63.