Intra-abdominal infection (peritonitis) is a leading cause of severe disease in surgical intensive care units, as over 70% of patients diagnosed with peritonitis develop septic shock. A critical role of the immune system is to return to homeostasis after combating infection. S100A8/A9 (calprotectin) is an antimicrobial and pro-inflammatory protein complex used as a biomarker for diagnosis of numerous inflammatory disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPPM1B is a metal-dependent serine/threonine protein phosphatase, with a similar structure and function to the well-known oncogene in breast cancer, PPM1D (WIP1). However, clinical significance of PPM1B as a pharmacological target in cancer therapy has not been explored. To test if PPM1B can be a drug target in the cellular proliferation and death pathway, the lentiviral PPM1B shRNA was stably expressed in cancer cell lines and its regulatory function in the RB1-E2F1 pathway was examined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe fungal pathogen Candida albicans causes macrophage death and escapes, but the molecular mechanisms remained unknown. Here we used live-cell imaging to monitor the interaction of C. albicans with macrophages and show that C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRegulation of the FLO11 adhesin is a model for gene expression control by extracellular signals and developmental switches. We establish that the major mRNA decay pathway regulates FLO11 expression. mRNA deadenylation of transcriptional repressors of FLO11 by the exonuclease Ccr4 keeps their levels low, thereby allowing FLO11 transcription.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Mediator complex is an essential co-regulator of RNA polymerase II that is conserved throughout eukaryotes. Here we present the first study of Mediator in the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans. We focused on the Middle domain subunit Med31, the Head domain subunit Med20, and Srb9/Med13 from the Kinase domain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMol Microbiol
February 2011
The cell wall is essential for viability of fungi and is an effective drug target in pathogens such as Candida albicans. The contribution of post-transcriptional gene regulators to cell wall integrity in C. albicans is unknown.
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