Both Neisseria gonorrhoeae and N. meningitidis bind to factor H which enhances their ability to evade complement-dependent killing. While porin is the ligand for human fH on gonococci, meningococci use a lipoprotein called factor H binding protein (fHbp) to bind to factor H and enhance their ability to evade complement-dependent killing. This protein is currently being intensively investigated as a meningococcal vaccine candidate antigen. Consistent with the observation that meningococci cause natural infection only in humans, the organism resists human complement, and are more readily killed by complement from lower animals. This human species-specific complement evasion has important implications for evaluation of vaccine-elicited antibodies using non-human complement sources and development of animal models of disease.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.11.060 | DOI Listing |
J Thromb Haemost
January 2025
Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Cleveland, OH United States. Electronic address:
Background: Hypercoagulation and thrombin generation are major risk factors for venous thrombosis. Sustained thrombin signaling through PAR4 promotes platelet activation, phosphatidylserine exposure, and subsequent thrombin generation. A single-nucleotide polymorphism in PAR4 (rs2227376) changes proline to leucine extracellular loop 3 (P310L), which decreases PAR4 reactivity and is associated with a lower risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in a GWAS meta-analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant Physiol
January 2025
Key Laboratory for Vegetable Biology of Hunan Province, Engineering Research Center for Horticultural Crop Germplasm Creation and New Variety Breeding, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410125, China.
Carotenoids play indispensable roles in the ripening process of fleshy fruits. Capsanthin is a widely distributed and utilized natural red carotenoid. However, the regulatory genes involved in capsanthin biosynthesis remain insufficient.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Mol Sci
December 2024
Department of Biology, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX 77004, USA.
Previous data show that the knockdown of the gene in the MDA-MB-231 cell line leads to the downregulation of gene expression. In addition, and genes are co-expressed and dysregulated in some of the same triple negative breast cancer patient samples. We propose that the co-expression of the two genes is attributed to the MYBL1 transcription factor regulation of the gene.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Mol Sci
December 2024
Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS), University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a respiratory virus that emerged in late 2019 and rapidly spread worldwide, causing the COVID-19 pandemic. The spike glycoprotein (S protein) plays a crucial role in viral target recognition and entry by interacting with angiotensin, converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the functional receptor for the virus, via its receptor binding domain (RBD). The RBD availability for this interaction can be influenced by external factors, such as fatty acids.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMol Med
January 2025
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Reduced lymphoid enhancer-binding factor 1 (LEF1) expression in patients with adenomyosis during the mid-secretory phase leads to impaired endometrial receptivity, affecting embryo implantation. This study investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying reduced endometrial receptivity in 25 adenomyosis patients and 25 controls. Functional experiments were conducted using human endometrial stromal cells (HESCs) and TERT-immortalized HESCs(T-HESCs), with final validation performed using a mouse model.
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