: Opportunistic pathogen or idle bystander? A case analysis with demonstration of galactomannan cross-reactivity.

We present a case of an immunocompromised woman with fever, pulmonary infiltrates and multiple bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cultures positive for with a concomitant high BAL galactomannan level. We report the results of galactomannan testing performed on culture supernatants from her strain that confirmed the suspected cross-reactivity. Finally, we discuss the clinical significance and antifungal susceptibility of in our case and review the literature.

Cleavage of PGRP-LC receptor in the Drosophila IMD pathway in response to live bacterial infection in S2 cells.

Drosophila responds to Gram-negative bacterial infection by activating the immune deficiency (IMD) pathway, leading to production of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). As a receptor for the IMD pathway, peptidoglycan-recognition protein (PGRP), PGRP-LC is known to recognize and bind monomeric peptidoglycan (DAP-type PGN) through its PGRP ectodomain and in turn activate the IMD pathway. The questions remain how PGRP-LC is activated in response to pathogen infection to initiate the IMD signal transduction in Drosophila.

Effect of disrupting seven-in-absentia homolog 2 function on lung cancer cell growth.

Background: Hyperactivated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and/or RAS signaling drives cellular transformation and tumorigenesis in human lung cancers, but agents that block activated EGFR and RAS signaling have not yet been demonstrated to substantially extend patients' lives. The human homolog of Drosophila seven-in-absentia--SIAH-1 and SIAH-2--are ubiquitin E3 ligases and conserved downstream components of the RAS pathway that are required for mammalian RAS signal transduction. We examined whether inhibiting SIAH-2 function blocks lung cancer growth.