Francisella tularensis is a gram-negative intracellular bacterium that can induce lethal respiratory infection in humans and rodents. However, little is known about the role of innate or adaptive immunity in protection from respiratory tularemia. In the present study, the role of interleukin-12 (IL-12) in inducing protective immunity in the lungs against intranasal infection of mice with the live vaccine strain (LVS) of F. tularensis was investigated. It was found that gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) and IL-12 were strictly required for protection, since mice deficient in IFN-gamma, IL-12 p35, or IL-12 p40 all succumbed to LVS doses that were sublethal for wild-type mice. Furthermore, exogenous IL-12 treatment 24 h before intranasal infection with a lethal dose of LVS (10,000 CFU) significantly decreased bacterial loads in the lungs, livers, and spleens of wild-type BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice and allowed the animals to survive infection; such protection was not observed in IFN-gamma-deficient mice. The resistance induced by IL-12 to LVS infection was still observed in NK cell-deficient beige mice but not in CD8-/- mice. These results demonstrate that exogenous IL-12 delivered intranasally can prevent respiratory tularemia through a mechanism that is at least partially dependent upon the expression of IFN-gamma and CD8 T cells.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/IAI.73.4.2306-2311.2005 | DOI Listing |
Crit Rev Toxicol
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Syngenta, Bracknell, United Kingdom.
While progress has been made in recent years, there are still no suitable and accepted , or models that can be used to accurately predict whether a chemical substance has the intrinsic property to cause immune-mediated chemical respiratory allergy, typically manifested as allergic asthma or allergic rhinitis which represents a severe health hazard. Regulatory authorities have relied primarily on clinical evidence (case reports, clinical databases, worker exposure studies) to classify substances as respiratory sensitizers, but this evidence can lack a proven immunological mechanism which is necessary to identify substances which can cause life-long sensitization and clinically relevant allergic symptoms in the respiratory tract in an exposed population (such respiratory allergens may be considered as "true" sensitizers, in analogy to the definition of skin sensitization, and in contrast to respiratory irritants). In light of this, the European Center for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals convened a Task Force to evaluate the types of clinical methods and data sources and the implications of relying on such data for regulatory decision making from a scientific perspective.
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Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics and Precision Application (MARA), Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Culture Collection and Application, Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiome (MARA), State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510070, PR China.
Three aerobic, pink-pigmented, Gram-negative, motile and rod-shaped bacterial strains, designated SD21, SI9 and SB2, were isolated from the phyllosphere of healthy litchis collected from three main producing sites of Guangdong Province, PR China. The 16S rRNA gene analysis showed that strains SD21 and SI9 belonged to the genus (.) with the highest similarity to DSM 19563 (98.
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Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia.
A prolonged tuberculosis outbreak, linked by whole-genome sequencing, occurred in a Pasifika extended family over 10 years (2013-2022) in Sydney, Australia. Despite Australia's low tuberculosis incidence, social and cultural complexities, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disruptions exacerbated transmission. Control required culturally sensitive, family-centered care and robust health system engagement.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochem Cell Biol
January 2025
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases, Snyder Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Surface receptors in Gram-negative bacteria that bind and extract iron from the host glycoproteins transferrin (Tf) or lactoferrin (Lf) was discovered 35 years ago in pathogenic species and subsequently was discovered in other pathogens of humans and food production animals. These bacterial species reside exclusively on the mucosal surfaces of the respiratory or genitourinary tract of their mammalian host and rely on their host specific Tf and Lf receptors to acquire iron for survival. Since the specificity of the bacterial Tf receptors was shown to be due to selective pressures on the host Tf, their presence in bacteria that reside in both mammals and birds indicates that they arose over 320 million years ago.
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Division of Neurodegenerative Disorders, St. Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
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