Publications by authors named "M A Provost"

SUMMARYInfective endocarditis (IE) is a life-threatening infection that has nearly doubled in prevalence over the last two decades due to the increase in implantable cardiac devices. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is currently one of the most common cardiac procedures. TAVI usage continues to exponentially rise, inevitability increasing TAVI-IE.

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Cell-surface receptor complexes mediated by pro-inflammatory interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-23, both validated therapeutic targets, are incompletely understood due to the lack of structural insights into their complete extracellular assemblies. Furthermore, there is a paucity of structural details describing the IL-12-receptor interaction interfaces, in contrast to IL-23-receptor complexes. Here we report structures of fully assembled mouse IL-12/human IL-23-receptor complexes comprising the complete extracellular segments of the cognate receptors determined by electron cryo-microscopy.

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Intestinal goblet cells are secretory cells specialized in the production of mucins, and as such are challenged by the need for efficient protein folding. Goblet cells express Inositol-Requiring Enzyme-1β (IRE1β), a unique sensor in the unfolded protein response (UPR), which is part of an adaptive mechanism that regulates the demands of mucin production and secretion. However, how IRE1β activity is tuned to mucus folding load remains unknown.

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Article Synopsis
  • Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a disease where the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the nerves, making it hard for muscles to work properly, and researchers tested a high-dose chemotherapy treatment on a patient with severe MG who didn’t get better with other treatments.
  • The patient received chemotherapy and a procedure to help her immune system recover, and after this treatment, she started feeling better really quickly and stayed symptom-free for a long time.
  • The study suggests that this new treatment may help some people with severe MG, and there's interest in doing more research to see if it works for others with the same problem.
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The microbiota refers to all the microorganisms living in and on the human body; its fungal component is known as the mycobiota. The molecular component (mycobiome) has been linked to certain pulmonary diseases. Morphological fungal examination is still common practice and makes it possible to isolate fungi on direct examination or after sample culture.

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