Shigella flexneri cell-to-cell spread, and growth and inflammation in mice, is limited by the outer membrane protease IcsP.

The Shigella flexneri autotransporter protein IcsA is essential for intra- and intercellular spread, and icsA mutants are attenuated in several models. However, the pathogenic significance of the outer membrane protease IcsP, which orchestrates the polar distribution of IcsA on the bacterial surface, remains unclear. To further examine this point, we constructed icsP mutants in the two most commonly studied S.

Fluticasone Induces Epithelial Injury and Alters Barrier Function in Normal Subjects.

Objective: The airway epithelium has a number of roles pivotal to the pathogenesis of asthma, including provision of a physical and immune barrier to the inhaled environment. Dysregulated injury and repair responses in asthma result in loss of airway epithelial integrity. Inhaled corticosteroids are a corner stone of asthma treatment.

Impact of dynasore an inhibitor of dynamin II on Shigella flexneri infection.

Shigella flexneri remains a significant human pathogen due to high morbidity among children < 5 years in developing countries. One of the key features of Shigella infection is the ability of the bacterium to initiate actin tail polymerisation to disseminate into neighbouring cells. Dynamin II is associated with the old pole of the bacteria that is associated with F-actin tail formation.

Efficacy of a low-cost, inactivated whole-cell oral cholera vaccine: results from 3 years of follow-up of a randomized, controlled trial.

Background: Killed oral cholera vaccines (OCVs) have been licensed for use in developing countries, but protection conferred by licensed OCVs beyond two years of follow-up has not been demonstrated in randomized, clinical trials.

Methods/principal Findings: We conducted a cluster-randomized, placebo-controlled trial of a two-dose regimen of a low-cost killed whole cell OCV in residents 1 year of age and older living in 3,933 clusters in Kolkata, India. The primary endpoint was culture-proven Vibrio cholerae O1 diarrhea episodes severe enough to require treatment in a health care facility.

Conjugated linoleic acid improves airway hyper-reactivity in overweight mild asthmatics.

Background: Conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) are naturally occurring fatty acids that have multiple biological properties including the regulation of metabolic, proliferative and immune processes.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of CLA as a dietary supplement in mild asthma.

Methods: This was a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.