Receptor usage of Syncytin-1: ASCT2, but not ASCT1, is a functional receptor and effector of cell fusion in the human placenta.

Syncytin-1, a human fusogenic protein of retroviral origin, is crucial for placental syncytiotrophoblast formation. To mediate cell-to-cell fusion, Syncytin-1 requires specific interaction with its cognate receptor. Two trimeric transmembrane proteins, Alanine, Serine, Cysteine Transporters 1 and 2 (ASCT1 and ASCT2), were suggested and widely accepted as Syncytin-1 cellular receptors.

Balloon dilatation of pediatric subglottic laryngeal stenosis during the artificial apneic pause: experience in 5 children.

Introduction: Balloon dilatation is a method of choice for treatment of laryngeal stenosis in children. The aim of procedure in apneic pause is to avoid new insertion of tracheostomy cannula.

Patients And Methods: The authors performed balloon dilatation of subglottic laryngeal strictures (SGS) in 5 children (3 girls and 2 boys) without tracheotomy.

Prevalence of Coxiella burnetii antibodies in wild ruminants in Kavecany zoo, Kosice, eastern Slovakia.

Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular agent that causes Q fever in humans and animals. The most important reservoirs of C. burnetii in nature are small wild rodents, but infection was also demonstrated in other animals, including ruminants.

Transcriptome of local innate and adaptive immunity during early phase of infectious bronchitis viral infection.

To understand the mechanistic basis of local innate and adaptive immunity against infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) at the molecular level, we examined the gene transcription profile of tracheal epithelial layers 3 d after infection of chickens with an attenuated IBV-Massachusetts strain. Results suggested that the transcription levels of 365 genes were either upregulated or downregulated (2-fold and higher) after IBV infection. Among the upregulated 250 genes, 25 were directly immune-related genes.