Publications by authors named "M F d'Andon"

Neisseria meningitidis is a life-threatening human bacterial pathogen responsible for pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis. Meningococcal strains with reduced susceptibility to penicillin G (Pen(I)) carry a mutated penicillin-binding protein (PBP2) resulting in a modified peptidoglycan structure. Despite their antibiotic resistance, Pen(I) strains have failed to expand clonally.

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Leptospira interrogans is responsible for a zoonotic disease known to induce severe kidney dysfunction and inflammation. In this work, we demonstrate that L. interrogans induces NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent secretion of IL-1β through the alteration of potassium transport in bone marrow-derived macrophages.

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Leptospirosis is a widespread zoonosis caused by pathogenic Leptospira interrogans that are transmitted by asymptomatic infected rodents. Leptospiral lipoproteins and LPS have been shown to stimulate murine cells via TLRs 2 and 4. Host defense mechanisms remain obscure, although TLR4 has been shown to be involved in clearing Leptospira.

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Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) expression is controlled at the transcriptional level, however, the TdT core promoter combining D, D', an initiator (Inr) and downstream basal elements (DBE) does not recapitulate the whole complex regulation of TdT expression. We hypothesized that important cis-regulatory elements of the gene are located outside of the TdT promoter. In an attempt to identify these elements, we performed DNase I hypersensitivity assays over 24kb including a 10kb region located upstream of the transcription start site (+1) and a 14kb region spanning exons and introns I to VI.

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