Functional MAIT Cells Are Associated With Reduced Simian-Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection.

Mucosa-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are recently characterized as a novel subset of innate-like T cells that recognize microbial metabolites as presented by the MHC-1b-related protein MR1. The significance of MAIT cells in anti-bacterial defense is well-understood but not clear in viral infections such as SIV/HIV infection. Here we studied the phenotype, distribution, and function of MAIT cells and their association with plasma viral levels during chronic SHIV infection in rhesus macaques (RM).

Conformational changes in a multidrug resistance ABC transporter DrrAB: Fluorescence-based approaches to study substrate binding.

Bacterial multidrug transporter DrrAB exhibits overlapping substrate specificity with mammalian P-glycoprotein. DrrA hydrolyzes ATP, and the energy is transduced to carrier DrrB resulting in export of drugs. Previous studies suggested that DrrB contains a large and flexible drug-binding pocket made of aromatic residues contributed by several transmembrane helices with different drugs binding to both specific and shared residues in this pocket.

Metagenomic Approaches to Identify Novel Organisms from the Soil Environment in a Classroom Setting.

Molecular Microbial Metagenomics is a research-based undergraduate course developed at Georgia State University. This semester-long course provides hands-on research experience in the area of microbial diversity and introduces molecular approaches to study diversity. Students are part of an ongoing research project that uses metagenomic approaches to isolate clones containing 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) genes from a soil metagenomic library.