Evaluation of the protective effect of the intranasal vaccines adjuvanted with bacterium-like particles against intestinal infection.

Mucosal vaccination presents a promising complement to parenteral vaccination. Bacterium-like particles (BLPs), peptidoglycan structures prepared from lactic acid bacteria, are explored as potential nasal vaccine adjuvants for respiratory infections. To date, studies on BLP-adjuvanted nasal vaccines against intestinal infections have remained limited.

Evaluation of Toxoplasma gondii IgG avidity assays through a comparison of IgM serostatus.

Primary Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infection during pregnancy could result in congenital disease with severe clinical complications. IgM antibodies are one of the indices of primary infection.

The adjuvant effect of bacterium-like particles depends on the route of administration.

Direct administration of vaccines to mucosal surfaces, such as oral or nasal vaccination, represents an attractive alternative, or complement, to current parenteral vaccination because it has a potential to induce antigen-specific immunity both at mucosal and systemic tissues. Although bacterium-like particles (BLPs), peptidoglycan structures derived from lactic acid bacteria, have been investigated as a novel adjuvant for oral or nasal vaccines, it remains unclear whether the administration routes differ the adjuvant effect of BLPs. Here, we showed that the adjuvant effect of BLPs from NZ9000 is greater with the nasal administration than with the oral administration.

The C-Terminal Penta-Peptide Repeats of Major Royal Jelly Protein 3 Ameliorate the Progression of Inflammation in Vivo and in Vitro.

Royal jelly (RJ) has been used as a functional foodstuff and in cosmetics for many years. RJ contains various molecules, including major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs), and affords a number of health benefits such as anti-inflammatory activity. As MRJP3 has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory properties by the in vitro analysis, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of MRJP3 and its derived peptides both in vitro and in vivo.

Intimate Adhesion Is Essential for the Pathogen-Specific Inflammatory and Immune Responses in the Gut of Mice Infected with .

is a murine pathogenic bacterium that adheres to intestinal epithelial cells, resulting in loss of microvilli and pedestal formation, and alters multiple cellular processes, including actin dynamics. Translocated intimin receptor (Tir), one of its virulence factors, functions as receptor for intimin, a bacterial adhesin, thereby mediating bacterial adhesion to epithelial cells. Although robust immune responses are induced to eliminate pathogenic bacteria in the host, they are suppressed against harmless commensal bacteria.

Human cytomegalovirus UL42 protein inhibits the degradation of glycoprotein B through inhibition of Nedd4 family ubiquitin E3 ligases.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a globally ubiquitous pathogen and causes congenital infection as well as opportunistic infection in immunocompromised patients. The HCMV UL42 gene encodes a membrane protein that regulates the function of Nedd4 family ubiquitin E3 ligases through its PPxY motif. As HCMV envelope glycoprotein B (gB) also has a PPxY motif at its C-terminal cytoplasmic domain, we examined whether there was any relationship between UL42 protein and gB.

The Guinea pig cytomegalovirus GP119.1 gene encodes an IgG-binding glycoprotein that is incorporated into the virion.

Cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) encode various immunoevasins, including viral receptors for the Fc domain of host IgG (vFcγR), to evade host immune responses. Although guinea pig CMV (GPCMV) provides a useful animal model for congenital CMV infection, the GPCMV genes encoding such receptors have not yet been characterized. In this study, we analyzed a locus that may encode gene products for the GPCMV immune evasion mechanisms and identified the following.

Protection of Fatty Liver by the Intake of Fermented Soybean Paste, , and Its Pre-Fermented Mixture.

Soybeans and fermented soy-derived foodstuffs contain many functional components and demonstrate various beneficial effects. In this report, we demonstrate the anti-fatty liver effect of a traditional fermented product made from soybeans and rice molded in and forming a common part of the Japanese diet. After acclimation for 2 weeks, male and female C57BL/6J mice were fed with a normal diet (ND), a high-fat diet (HFD), a HFD containing 5% (HFD+M), or a HFD containing 5% pre-fermented (HFD+PFM) for 20 weeks.

The Carboxyl-Terminal Penta-Peptide Repeats of Major Royal Jelly Protein 3 Enhance Cell Proliferation.

Royal jelly (RJ) is known as an important functional foodstuff that promotes several health benefits and contains various bioactive substances, including major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs). Among the MRJPs, MRJP3 possesses both cell proliferation and wound healing effects. As the carboxyl domain of MRJP3 contains tandem penta-peptide repeat (TPR) sequences unique to MRJP3 among the MRJPs, we purified the TPRs as glutathione-S-transferase (GST)-fusion proteins and demonstrated their dose-dependent effects on THP-1 and Vero cell proliferation.

Identification and functional analyses of a cell-death inhibitor encoded by guinea pig cytomegalovirus gp38.1 in cell culture and in animals.

Cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) employ an array of strategies designed to interfere with host defence responses against pathogens. Studies on such evasion mechanisms are important for understanding the pathogenesis of CMV diseases. Although guinea pig CMV (GPCMV) provides a useful animal model for congenital CMV infection, its evasion strategies are not fully elucidated.

Enhancement of guinea pig cytomegalovirus infection by two endogenously expressed components of the pentameric glycoprotein complex in epithelial cells.

A better understanding of the mechanisms underlying cell tropisms and the efficiency of viral infection is critical for the development of vaccines and antiviral drugs for viral diseases. In this study, we worked on the entry mechanisms of guinea pig cytomegalovirus and found that endogenous expression of a combination of two components (GP131 and GP133) of the pentameric glycoprotein complex, which is required for non-fibroblast cell tropisms, enhanced viral infection more than 10-fold. In addition, D138A alteration in GP131 increased this enhancement by an additional 10-fold.

Activation of c-Jun by human cytomegalovirus UL42 through JNK activation.

c-Jun is a major component of the AP-1 transactivator complex. In this report, we demonstrated that AP-1 was activated by the expression of UL42, a human cytomegalovirus-encoded membrane protein that has two PPXY (PY) motifs and a C-terminal transmembrane domain (TMD). Although UL42 interacts with Itch, an ubiquitin E3 ligase, through the PY motifs, UL42 phosphorylated c-Jun and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in the absence of any interaction with Itch.

Relationship Between Human β-Defensin 2 and the Vaginal Environment.

As one of the main antimicrobial peptides, human β-defensin 2 (HBD2) plays multiple roles in the lower genital tract. Based on the Nugent score as a diagnostic criterion for bacterial vaginosis, we sought to clarify the correlations among the Nugent score and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and HBD2 levels in vaginal secretions in association with various types of infection. Ninety-eight women were recruited for this study.

Evaluation of the indirect and IgM-capture anti-human cytomegalovirus IgM ELISA methods as confirmed by cytomegalovirus IgG avidity.

Primary cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection during pregnancy often results in congenital CMV infection with severe clinical complications. IgM antibodies are one of the indices of primary infection. The IgG avidity index (AI) is also known to remain low for 3 months after primary infection.

Detection of engraftment of donor-derived antibody producing cells in a lung transplant recipient by anti-cytomegalovirus IgG avidity test.

Transplant recipients become immunocompromised through the use of immunosuppressive therapy to prevent allograft rejection. These recipients readily experience human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection or reactivation. Therefore, CMV represents a life-threatening pathogen in transplant recipients.

A Double-Blind Controlled Study to Evaluate the Effects of Yogurt Enriched with 11/19-B1 and on Serum Low-Density Lipoprotein Level and Antigen-Specific Interferon-γ Releasing Ability.

In order to clarify the effects of the () 11/19-B1 strain, a double-blind controlled study of yogurt fermented with the strain was carried out. For the study, two kinds of yogurt, the control and test yogurt, were prepared; the control yogurt was fermented with , subspecies bulgaricus, and , and the test yogurt was enriched with 11/19-B1 and () BB-12 strains. Seventy-six volunteers who had not received treatment with pharmaceuticals were randomly divided into two groups with each group ingesting 80 g of either the test or control yogurt every day for 8 weeks.

Congenital cytomegalovirus infection via a re-infected mother with original antigenic sin: A case report.

A 27-year-old pregnant woman who was positive for anti-cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibodies gave birth to a congenitally CMV-infected neonate at 40 weeks of gestation. According to strain-specific serological analysis, which is able to determine the two types of CMV glycoprotein H (gH), the mother possessed anti-gH(To) antibodies only, but the neonate possessed anti-gH(AD) and anti-gH(To) antibodies at 4 weeks after birth. As the anti-gH(To) IgG was decreased in the neonate at 8 months post-delivery, these antibodies are thought to have been transferred from the mother as maternal antibodies.

A two-step culture method utilizing secreted luciferase recombinant virus for detection of anti-cytomegalovirus compounds.

Quantification of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) replication by plaque assay reflects viral infectivity but has several drawbacks. Recombinant virus expressing reporter genes can facilitate quantification of HCMV replication. In this study, a recombinant virus, Towne-BAC(dTT)-MetLuc, was constructed and the secretable Metridia luciferase (MetLuc) gene inserted into it under UL146 promoter.

Analysis of relationships between polymorphisms in the genes encoding the pentameric complex and neutralization of clinical cytomegalovirus isolates.

Introduction: As congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is one of the major causes of birth defects and developmental abnormalities, it is essential to develop vaccines and therapeutic antibodies against CMV. Clinical trials demonstrated that the subunit vaccine based on glycoprotein B, which had been believed to be the major target for neutralization, did not induce sufficient protective immunity. On the other hand, it has been reported that the immunization of animals with the Pentamer, the pentameric complex of gH/gL/UL128/UL130/UL131A, induced strong neutralizing antibodies.

Herpesviruses possess conserved proteins for interaction with Nedd4 family ubiquitin E3 ligases.

Nedd4 is a family of ubiquitin E3 ligases that regulate numerous cellular processes. In this report, we showed that alpha- and beta-herpesviruses have membrane proteins that regulate the function of the Nedd4 family members. Although the homology search score was quite low, UL56 of herpes simplex virus type 1 and 2, ORF0 of varicella-zoster virus, UL42 of human cytomegalovirus, and U24 of human herpesvirus 6A, 6B, and 7 all possess at least one PPxY (PY) motif in their cytoplasmic domain, and are able to bind with Itch, a member of the Nedd4 family.

Antibacterial effects of the artificial surface of nanoimprinted moth-eye film.

The antibacterial effect of a nanostructured film, known as "moth-eye film," was investigated. The moth-eye film has artificially formed nano-pillars, consisting of hydrophilic resin with urethane acrylate and polyethylene glycol (PEG) derivatives, all over its surface that replicates a moth's eye. Experiments were performed to compare the moth-eye film with a flat-surfaced film produced from the same materials.