[Progranulin attenuated asthma inflammation by inhibiting the expression of IL-6].

To investigate the role and mechanism of progranulin (PGRN) in asthma. Control group and model group were set up in wild and IL-6 knockout (IL-6 ko) mice, respectively. For asthma model, mice were intraperitoneally sensitized with 100 μg OVA on days 0 and 7, followed by aerosol challenges with 5% OVA for 30 min per day from day 14 to 21, and mice were sacrificed 24 h after the last challenge.

Molecular epidemiology of pneumococcal isolates from children in China.

Objectives: To investigate the molecular epidemiology of pneumococcal isolates in Chongqing, China.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 51 invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) strains were from children with invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and 32 carriage strains from healthy children from January 2010 to December 2013 at the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.

Screening and identification of DnaJ interaction proteins in Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Streptococcus pneumoniae DnaJ is recognized as a virulence factor whose role in pneumococcal virulence remains unclear. Here, we attempted to reveal the contribution of DnaJ in pneumococcal virulence from the identification of its interacting proteins using co-immunoprecipitation method. dnaJ was cloned into plasmid pAE03 generating pAE03-dnaJ-gfp which was used to transform S.

Synergy of IL-27 and TNF-α in regulating CXCL10 expression in lung fibroblasts.

IL-27 is involved in inflammatory reactions. CXCL10 is an important chemokine contributing to airway inflammatory disease. In this study, we investigated whether IL-27 modulated the synthesis of CXCL10 in primary human lung fibroblasts (HLFs).

SP0454, a putative threonine dehydratase, is required for pneumococcal virulence in mice.

Increasing pressure in antibiotic resistance and the requirement for the design of new vaccines are the objectives of clarifying the putative virulence factors in pneumococcal infection. In this study, the putative threonine dehydratase sp0454 was inactivated by erythromycin-resistance cassette replacement in Streptococcus pneumoniae CMCC 31203 strain. The sp0454 mutant was tested for cell growth, adherence, colonization, and virulence in a murine model.

In vivo characterization of Streptococcus pneumoniae genes involved in the pathogenesis of meningitis by differential fluorescence induction.

Objective: To further understand the pathogenesis of pneumococcal meningitis, and provide some target candidates for the development of drugs.

Methods: This study was performed at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Key Laboratory of Diagnostic Medicine (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China from March 2006 to December 2007. A promoter-trap library of Streptococcus pneumoniae TIGR4, reported by green fluorescent protein was constructed, and used to infect BALB/c mice (n=15) intranasally, to set up a meningitis model.

Contribution of ClpE to virulence of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

The ATP-dependent caseinolytic proteases (Clp) play a fundamental role in stress tolerance and virulence in many pathogenic bacteria. Although ClpE of Streptococcus pneumoniae is required for growth at high temperatures, little is known about the role of ClpE in pathogenesis. In this study, we observed that the virulence of the clpE mutant of S.

[Effect of ClpE depletion on the bacterial protein expression profiles of Streptococcus pneumoniae].

Objective: To investigate the effect of ClpE on the protein expression profiles of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Methods: clpE-deficient Streptococcus pneumoniae strain was constructed by long flanking homology-polymerase chain reaction (LFH-PCR) and identified by PCR and sequencing. The total bacterial proteins were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and imaging analysis, and the differentially expressed protein spots were excised by dot-gel digestion with trypsin.