: intriguing aerotolerant gut anaerobe with emerging antimicrobial resistance and pathogenic and probiotic roles in human health.

is the type strain for the genus , a group of gram-negative anaerobic bacteria that commonly colonize the gastrointestinal tract of numerous species. First isolated in the 1930s from a clinical specimen as , the strain was re-classified to form the new genus in 2006. Currently, the genus consists of 15 species, 10 of which are listed as 'validly named' (, and ) and 5 'not validly named' (, and ) by the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature.

Institutional protocols for the oral administration (gavage) of chemicals and microscopic microbial communities to mice: Analytical consensus.

Institutional protocols designed for the oral administration of live microbial communities, either complex or microscopic (microcosmic), to mice do not exist. However, this approach is increasingly employed by investigators focusing on the gut microbiome in experimental research. Herein, we propose two analytically Kappa-based consensus protocols to promote reproducibility and standardization in research practices and describe biologically relevant factors in achieving optimal microbial engraftment of communities in germ-free mice.

Platelets, acting in part via P-selectin, mediate cytomegalovirus-induced microvascular dysfunction.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infects a majority of the population worldwide. It has been implicated in cardiovascular disease, induces microvascular dysfunction, and synergizes with hypercholesterolemia to promote leukocyte and platelet recruitment in venules. Although platelets and platelet-associated P-selectin contribute to cardiovascular disease inflammation, their role in CMV-induced vascular responses is unknown.

Silencing Bruton's tyrosine kinase in alveolar neutrophils protects mice from LPS/immune complex-induced acute lung injury.

Previous observations made by our laboratory indicate that Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) may play an important role in the pathophysiology of local inflammation in acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We have shown that there is cross talk between FcγRIIa and TLR4 in alveolar neutrophils from patients with ALI/ARDS and that Btk mediates the molecular cooperation between these two receptors. To study the function of Btk in vivo we have developed a unique two-hit model of ALI: LPS/immune complex (IC)-induced ALI.

P-selectin mediates the microvascular dysfunction associated with persistent cytomegalovirus infection in normocholesterolemic and hypercholesterolemic mice.

Objective:   Cytomegalovirus has been implicated in cardiovascular disease, possibly through the induction of inflammatory processes. P-selectin and L-selectin are adhesion molecules that mediate early microvascular responses to inflammatory stimuli. This study examined the role of these selectins in the microvascular dysfunction that occurs during persistent CMV infection.

Cytomegalovirus infection leads to microvascular dysfunction and exacerbates hypercholesterolemia-induced responses.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) persistently infects more than 60% of the worldwide population. In immunocompetent hosts, it has been implicated in several diseases, including cardiovascular disease, possibly through the induction of inflammatory pathways. Cardiovascular risk factors promote an inflammatory phenotype in the microvasculature long before clinical disease is evident.

A mouse model for studying viscerotropic disease caused by yellow fever virus infection.

Mosquito-borne yellow fever virus (YFV) causes highly lethal, viscerotropic disease in humans and non-human primates. Despite the availability of efficacious live-attenuated vaccine strains, 17D-204 and 17DD, derived by serial passage of pathogenic YFV strain Asibi, YFV continues to pose a significant threat to human health. Neither the disease caused by wild-type YFV, nor the molecular determinants of vaccine attenuation and immunogenicity, have been well characterized, in large part due to the lack of a small animal model for viscerotropic YFV infection.

Alpha/beta interferon inhibits cap-dependent translation of viral but not cellular mRNA by a PKR-independent mechanism.

The alpha/beta interferon (IFN-alpha/beta) response is critical for host protection against disseminated replication of many viruses, primarily due to the transcriptional upregulation of genes encoding antiviral proteins. Previously, we determined that infection of mice with Sindbis virus (SB) could be converted from asymptomatic to rapidly fatal by elimination of this response (K. D.

Combined prime-boost vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) using a recombinant vaccinia virus and a bacterial plasmid both expressing TBE virus non-structural NS1 protein.

Background: Heterologous prime-boost immunization protocols using different gene expression systems have proven to be successful tools in protecting against various diseases in experimental animal models. The main reason for using this approach is to exploit the ability of expression cassettes to prime or boost the immune system in different ways during vaccination procedures. The purpose of the project was to study the ability of recombinant vaccinia virus (VV) and bacterial plasmid, both carrying the NS1 gene from tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus under the control of different promoters, to protect mice against lethal challenge using a heterologous prime-boost vaccination protocol.

A synthetic peptide based on the NS1 non-structural protein of tick-borne encephalitis virus induces a protective immune response against fatal encephalitis in an experimental animal model.

Linear immunogenic peptides corresponding to amino acid sequences from the NS1 non-structural protein from tick-borne encephalitis virus (strain Sophyin) were predicted using established algorithms and synthesized. Of the 12 peptides predicted, 11 were able to induce peptide-specific antibodies in BALB/c mice but only 1 of these 11 was able to induce antibodies, which reacted with the native protein in a radio-immune precipitation assay. This peptide corresponds to amino acids 37--55, and forms one of the predicted structurally conserved alpha helices of the virus NS1 protein.

Vaccinia virus recombinant expressing gene of tick-borne encephalitis virus non-structural NS1 protein elicits protective activity in mice.

A vaccinia virus recombinant containing the non-structural tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) NS1 gene was developed. The recombinant expressed native dimeric form of the NS1 protein in infected cells and protected mice against lethal infection with TBEV.

Probing contacts of phosphate groups of oligonucleotides from the non-template strand of lac UV5 promoter with E. coli RNA polymerase using regioselective cross-linking.

Contacts of phosphate groups at positions -12, -15, and -18 in relation to the transcription initiation site in the non-template strand of lac UV5 promoter with lysines or histidines of E. coli RNA polymerase in the open complex model were studied. A number of synthetic oligonucleotides from the -10-area of the non-template strand containing activated 5'-terminal phosphate group were cross-linked with holo- or core-enzyme of RNA polymerase.