Cytoadhesion Involves SICA Variant Proteins.

poses a health threat throughout Southeast Asian communities and currently causes most cases of malaria in Malaysia. This zoonotic parasite species has been studied in (rhesus monkeys) as a model for severe malarial infections, chronicity, and antigenic variation. The phenomenon of antigenic variation was first recognized during rhesus monkey infections.

Clinicopathologic characteristics of pancreatic islet amyloidosis in the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) and sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys).

Background: Diabetes mellitus type 2 has been linked to pancreatic islet amyloid deposition in humans and nonhuman primates. The authors hypothesized that diabetic primates would have significant differences in pathology than non-diabetic groups.

Methods: This retrospective study used histopathology and immunohistochemistry to characterize and compare pancreatic islet amyloidosis in 58 diabetic and non-diabetic rhesus macaque (RM) and sooty mangabeys (SM).

Clinical recovery of Macaca fascicularis infected with Plasmodium knowlesi.

Background: Kra monkeys (Macaca fascicularis), a natural host of Plasmodium knowlesi, control parasitaemia caused by this parasite species and escape death without treatment. Knowledge of the disease progression and resilience in kra monkeys will aid the effective use of this species to study mechanisms of resilience to malaria. This longitudinal study aimed to define clinical, physiological and pathological changes in kra monkeys infected with P.

Parasite Load Is Associated With Histopathology in With Findings Comparable to Pathogenesis in Humans.

Background: can cause severe malaria with multisystem organ dysfunction and death. Clinical reports suggest that parasite accumulation in tissues may contribute to pathogenesis and disease severity, but direct evidence is scarce.

Methods: We present quantitative parasitological and histopathological analyses of tissue sections from a cohort of naive, mostly splenectomized infected with to define the relationship of tissue parasite load and histopathology.

Cross-Reactive Dengue Virus Antibodies Augment Zika Virus Infection of Human Placental Macrophages.

Zika virus (ZIKV), which emerged in regions endemic to dengue virus (DENV), is vertically transmitted and results in adverse pregnancy outcomes. Antibodies to DENV can cross-react with ZIKV, but whether these antibodies influence ZIKV vertical transmission remains unclear. Here, we find that DENV antibodies increase ZIKV infection of placental macrophages (Hofbauer cells [HCs]) from 10% to over 80% and enhance infection of human placental explants.

mTOR regulates metabolic adaptation of APCs in the lung and controls the outcome of allergic inflammation.

Antigen-presenting cells (APCs) occupy diverse anatomical tissues, but their tissue-restricted homeostasis remains poorly understood. Here, working with mouse models of inflammation, we found that mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR)-dependent metabolic adaptation was required at discrete locations. mTOR was dispensable for dendritic cell (DC) homeostasis in secondary lymphoid tissues but necessary to regulate cellular metabolism and accumulation of CD103 DCs and alveolar macrophages in lung.

Immune Complex-Induced, Nitric Oxide-Mediated Vascular Endothelial Cell Death by Phagocytes Is Prevented with Decoy FcγReceptors.

Autoimmune vasculitis is an endothelial inflammatory disease that results from the deposition of immune-complexes (ICs) in blood vessels. The interaction between Fcgamma receptors (FcγRs) expressed on inflammatory cells with ICs is known to cause blood vessel damage. Hence, blocking the interaction of ICs and inflammatory cells is essential to prevent the IC-mediated blood vessel damage.

The amino acid sensor GCN2 controls gut inflammation by inhibiting inflammasome activation.

The integrated stress response (ISR) is a homeostatic mechanism by which eukaryotic cells sense and respond to stress-inducing signals, such as amino acid starvation. General controlled non-repressed (GCN2) kinase is a key orchestrator of the ISR, and modulates protein synthesis in response to amino acid starvation. Here we demonstrate in mice that GCN2 controls intestinal inflammation by suppressing inflammasome activation.

Extraintestinal campylobacteriosis in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).

Two cases of clinical disease associated with extraintestinal Campylobacter infection were recently encountered in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). The first case was that of a 3-y-old, male, rhesus macaque experimentally infected with SIV, who presented with abdominal pain and a midabdominal mass and was euthanized. Pathology findings included an abscess within the median liver lobe, fibrinopurulent peritonitis, and intestinal serositis with isolation of Campylobacter fetus from the blood, liver, and the hepatic abscess.

Expression of membrane anchored cytokines and B7-1 alters tumor microenvironment and induces protective antitumor immunity in a murine breast cancer model.

Many studies have shown that the systemic administration of cytokines or vaccination with cytokine-secreting tumors augments an antitumor immune response that can result in eradication of tumors. However, these approaches are hampered by the risk of systemic toxicity induced by soluble cytokines. In this study, we have evaluated the efficacy of 4TO7, a highly tumorigenic murine mammary tumor cell line, expressing glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored form of cytokine molecules alone or in combination with the costimulatory molecule B7-1 as a model for potential cell or membrane-based breast cancer vaccines.

Differential role of lipocalin 2 during immune complex-mediated acute and chronic inflammation in mice.

Objective: Lipocalin 2 (LCN-2) is an innate immune protein that is expressed by a variety of cells and is highly up-regulated during several pathologic conditions, including immune complex (IC)-mediated inflammatory/autoimmune disorders. However, the function of LCN-2 during IC-mediated inflammation is largely unknown. Therefore, this study was undertaken to investigate the role of LCN-2 in IC-mediated diseases.

Hydrodynamic delivery of plasmid DNA encoding human FcγR-Ig dimers blocks immune-complex mediated inflammation in mice.

Therapeutic use and function of recombinant molecules can be studied by the expression of foreign genes in mice. In this study, we have expressed human Fcγ receptor-Ig fusion molecules (FcγR-Igs) in mice by administering FcγR-Ig plasmid DNAs hydrodynamically and compared their effectiveness with purified molecules in blocking immune-complex (IC)-mediated inflammation in mice. The concentration of hydrodynamically expressed FcγR-Igs (CD16A(F)-Ig, CD32A(R)-Ig and CD32A(H)-Ig) reached a maximum of 130 μg ml(-1) of blood within 24 h after plasmid DNA administration.

A nonstop mutation in the factor (F)X gene of a severely haemorrhagic patient with complete absence of coagulation FX.

We identified a previously unknown mutation by sequencing the factor (F)X gene in a severely haemorrhagic 14-year-old male African-American individual with undetectable plasma FX-activity and -antigen levels. This mutation, called F10-Augusta, was homozygote and is a combination of an 8bp insertion in flanking 3'-genomic-DNA and a 5bp terminal exon-8 deletion involving codons 437 and 438. Sequencing of RT-PCR and 3'-RACE products showed that the F10-Augusta transcript is normally processed but lacks an in-frame stop codon.

A sequence variation scan of the coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) structural gene and associations with plasma FVIII activity levels.

Plasma factor VIII coagulant activity (FVIII:C) level is a highly heritable quantitative trait that is strongly correlated with thrombosis risk. Polymorphisms within only 1 gene, the ABO blood-group locus, have been unequivocally demonstrated to contribute to the broad population variability observed for this trait. Because less than 2.

The anti-snake venom properties of Tamarindus indica (leguminosae) seed extract.

In Indian traditional medicine, various plants have been used widely as a remedy for treating snake bites. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Tamarindus indica seed extract on the pharmacological as well as the enzymatic effects induced by V. russelli venom.

Genetic determinants of normal variation in coagulation factor (F) IX levels: genome-wide scan and examination of the FIX structural gene.

Background: High-normal and elevated plasma FIX activity (FIX:C) levels are associated with increased risk for venous- and possibly arterial-thrombosis.

Objective: Because the broad normal range for FIX:C involves a substantial unknown genetic component, we sought to identify quantitative-trait loci (QTLs) for this medically important hemostasis trait.

Methods: We performed a genome-wide screen and a resequencing-based variation scan of the known functional regions of every distinct FIX gene (F9) in the genetic analysis of idiopathic thrombophilia project (GAIT), a collection of 398 Spanish-Caucasians from 21 pedigrees.

A glycoprotein from a folk medicinal plant, Withania somnifera, inhibits hyaluronidase activity of snake venoms.

Venom hyaluronidases help in rapid spreading of the toxins by destroying the integrity of the extra-cellular matrix of the tissues in the victims. A hyaluronidase inhibitor (WSG) is purified from a folk medicinal plant, Withania somnifera. The glycoprotein inhibited the hyaluronidase activity of cobra (Naja naja) and viper (Daboia russelii) venoms, which was demonstrated by zymogram assay and staining of the skin tissues for differential activity.

Purification of a post-synaptic neurotoxic phospholipase A2 from Naja naja venom and its inhibition by a glycoprotein from Withania somnifera.

A post-synaptic neurotoxic phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) has been purified from Indian cobra Naja naja venom. It was associated with a peptide in the venom. The association was disrupted using 8 M urea.