Publications by authors named "L Ait Sait"

Voltage-gated sodium channels are targets for a range of pharmaceutical drugs developed for the treatment of neurological diseases. Cannabidiol (CBD), the non-psychoactive compound isolated from cannabis plants, was recently approved for treatment of two types of epilepsy associated with sodium channel mutations. This study used high-resolution X-ray crystallography to demonstrate the detailed nature of the interactions between CBD and the NavMs voltage-gated sodium channel, and electrophysiology to show the functional effects of binding CBD to these channels.

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Campylobacter spp. are frequently carried by poultry, but they are not believed to cause significant disease in these animals. Modern poultry breeds have been selected to grow rapidly under intensive conditions, but recently, consumers have moved toward purchasing birds produced in higher welfare, free-range or organic systems.

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Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium definitive type 2 (DT2) is host restricted to Columba livia (rock or feral pigeon) but is also closely related to S. Typhimurium isolates that circulate in livestock and cause a zoonosis characterized by gastroenteritis in humans. DT2 isolates formed a distinct phylogenetic cluster within S.

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Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis is a major cause of human gastrointestinal disease, infection being due in large part to consumption of contaminated eggs. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Salmonella is known to play a role in colonisation of the host and survival in hostile conditions including egg albumen. We investigated the contribution of LPS O-antigen length to colonisation of the reproductive tract of laying hens, contamination of eggs and survival in albumen.

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The transthyretin-like protein (TLP) from Salmonella enterica subspecies I is a periplasmic protein with high level structural similarity to a protein found in mammals and fish. In humans, the protein homologue, transthyretin, binds and carries retinol and thyroxine, and a series of other, unrelated aromatic compounds. Here we show that the amino acid sequence of the TLP from different species, subspecies and serovars of the Salmonella genus is highly conserved and demonstrate that the TLP gene is constitutively expressed in S.

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