Publications by authors named "T Wentz"

Unlabelled: Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are a class of toxins produced by () and other species of . BoNT/X is a putative novel botulinum neurotoxin identified through genome sequencing and capable of SNARE cleavage, but its neurotoxic potential in humans and vertebrates remained unclear. The strain producing BoNT/X, Strain 111, encodes both a plasmid-borne as well as the chromosomal putative .

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Adoptive immunotherapy using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells has made significant success in treating hematological malignancies, paving the way for solid tumors like prostate cancer. However, progress is impeded by a paucity of suitable target antigens. A novel carbohydrate antigen, F77, is expressed on both androgen-dependent and androgen-independent prostate cancer cells, making it a potential immunotherapy target.

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Article Synopsis
  • Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) from bacteria can cause lethal botulism in humans and animals, mainly through contaminated food consumption.
  • Ensuring food safety is vital to prevent botulism, but there are few established guidelines for testing food products against these toxins.
  • The study analyzed a mix of ten strains of BoNT-producing bacteria, finding that while some strains compete for growth, the combination still produced high levels of BoNTs.
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Most strains of proteolytic group I (G1 ) and some strains of possess genes encoding botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT), a potent neuroparalytic agent. Within G1 , conserved gene clusters of three major toxin serotypes (/A/B/F) can be found on conjugative plasmids and/or within chromosomal pathogenicity islands. CRISPR-Cas systems enable site-specific targeting of previously encountered mobile genetic elements (MGE) such as plasmids and bacteriophage through the creation of a spacer library complementary to protospacers within the MGEs.

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Clostridial neurotoxins (CNTs), which include botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) and tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT), are the most potent toxins known to science and are the causative agents of botulism and tetanus, respectively. The evolutionary origins of CNTs and their relationships to other proteins remains an intriguing question. Here we present a large-scale bioinformatic screen for putative toxin genes in all currently available genomes.

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