Inter-individual and inter-regional variability of breast milk antibody reactivity to bacterial lipopolysaccharides.

Breast milk is a vital source of nutrients, prebiotics, probiotics, and protective factors, including antibodies, immune cells and antimicrobial proteins. Using bacterial lipopolysaccharide arrays, we investigated the reactivity and specificity of breast milk antibodies towards microbial antigens, comparing samples from rural Kenya and urban Switzerland. Results showed considerable variability in antibody reactivity both within and between these locations.

Identification of Compounds Preventing Biofilm Formation by Inhibition of the Galactosaminogalactan Deacetylase Agd3.

The opportunistic fungus causes a set of diseases ranging from allergy to lethal invasive mycosis. Within the human airways, is embedded in a biofilm that forms not only a barrier against the host immune defense system, but also creates a physical barrier protecting the fungi from chemicals such as antifungal drugs. Novel therapeutic strategies aim at combining drugs that inhibit biofilm synthesis or disrupt existing biofilm with classical antimicrobials.

Characterization of a gene cluster involved in Aspergillus fumigatus zwitterionic glycosphingolipid synthesis.

The human pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus synthesizes the zwitterionic glycolipid Manα1,3Manα1,6GlcNα1,2IPC, named Af3c. Similar glycosphingolipids having a glucosamine (GlcN) linked in α1,2 to inositolphosphoceramide (IPC) as core structure have only been described in a few pathogenic fungi. Here, we describe an A.

FGFR2 signaling enhances the SHH-BMP4 signaling axis in early ureter development.

The patterned array of basal, intermediate and superficial cells in the urothelium of the mature ureter arises from uncommitted epithelial progenitors of the distal ureteric bud. Urothelial development requires signaling input from surrounding mesenchymal cells, which, in turn, depend on cues from the epithelial primordium to form a layered fibro-muscular wall. Here, we have identified FGFR2 as a crucial component in this reciprocal signaling crosstalk in the murine ureter.

-Mannosylation of proteins promotes attachment to host cells and parasite virulence.

Mannosylation is a common modification of thrombospondin type 1 repeats present in metazoans and recently identified also in apicomplexan parasites. This glycosylation is mediated by enzymes of the DPY19 family that transfer α-mannoses to tryptophan residues in the sequence WWC, which is part of the structurally essential tryptophan ladder. Here, deletion of the gene in the parasite abolished -mannosyltransferase activity and reduced levels of the micronemal protein MIC2.

Correction: Depletion of UDP-Glucose and UDP-Galactose Using a Degron System Leads to Growth Cessation of Leishmania major.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.

Depletion of UDP-Glucose and UDP-Galactose Using a Degron System Leads to Growth Cessation of Leishmania major.

Interconversion of UDP-glucose (UDP-Glc) and UDP-galactose (UDP-Gal) by the UDP-Glc 4´-epimerase intimately connects the biosynthesis of these two nucleotide sugars. Their de novo biosynthesis involves transformation of glucose-6-phosphate into glucose-1-phosphate by the phosphoglucomutase and subsequent activation into UDP-Glc by the specific UDP-Glc pyrophosphorylase (UGP). Besides UGP, Leishmania parasites express an uncommon UDP-sugar pyrophosphorylase (USP) able to activate both galactose-1-phosphate and glucose-1-phosphate in vitro.

Leishmania major UDP-sugar pyrophosphorylase salvages galactose for glycoconjugate biosynthesis.

Leishmaniases are a set of tropical and sub-tropical diseases caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania whose severity ranges from self-healing cutaneous lesions to fatal visceral infections. Leishmania parasites synthesise a wide array of cell surface and secreted glycoconjugates that play important roles in infection. These glycoconjugates are particularly abundant in the promastigote form and known to be essential for establishment of infection in the insect midgut and effective transmission to the mammalian host.

Leishmania UDP-sugar pyrophosphorylase: the missing link in galactose salvage?

The Leishmania parasite glycocalyx is rich in galactose-containing glycoconjugates that are synthesized by specific glycosyltransferases that use UDP-galactose as a glycosyl donor. UDP-galactose biosynthesis is thought to be predominantly a de novo process involving epimerization of the abundant nucleotide sugar UDP-glucose by the UDP-glucose 4-epimerase, although galactose salvage from the environment has been demonstrated for Leishmania major. Here, we present the characterization of an L.