368 results match your criteria: "Hans-Knoell-institute[Affiliation]"

Background: The serine protease like (Spl) proteases of are a family of six proteases whose function and impact on virulence are poorly understood. Here we propose alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT), an important immunomodulatory serine protease inhibitor as target of SplD, E and F. AAT is an acute phase protein, interacting with many proteases and crucial for prevention of excess tissue damage by neutrophil elastase during the innate immune response to infections.

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ProcCluster® and procaine hydrochloride inhibit the growth of species and exert antimicrobial properties during coinfection with influenza A viruses and .

Front Cell Infect Microbiol

October 2024

Section of Experimental Virology, Institute of Medical Microbiology, Center for Molecular Biomedicine (CMB), Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.

Introduction: Influenza-associated pulmonary aspergillosis is associated with high mortality rates and limited treatment options. The current standard practice involves treating each pathogen separately. However, the use of antifungal drugs can lead to serious side effects, and the presence of triazole-resistant strains can complicate antifungal therapy.

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Host cell damage is a key parameter for research in infection biology, drug testing, and substance safety screening. In this study, we introduce a luciferase reporter system as a new and reliable assay to measure cell damage and validate it with the pathogenic yeast, , as a test case. We transduced human epithelial cell lines with a lentiviral vector to stably express an optimized luciferase enzyme, Nanoluc.

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SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid detection tests: test performance during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of COVID-19 vaccination.

EBioMedicine

November 2024

Infection Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship Unit, University Hospital Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Str. 2, 97080 Würzburg, Germany; Institute for Hygiene and Microbiology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Str. 2, 97080 Würzburg, Germany. Electronic address:

Article Synopsis
  • A study conducted from November 2020 to June 2023 assessed the performance of SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests (RDTs) compared to standard RT-qPCR testing among a large group of patients and staff in a hospital setting.
  • The analysis of nearly 78,800 paired results revealed that RDTs had a sensitivity of 34.5% and a specificity of 99.6%, with sensitivity decreasing as fewer symptomatic infections occurred over the course of the pandemic.
  • The findings suggest that RDTs are still effective for diagnosing COVID-19 in symptomatic patients and could be useful for identifying other respiratory infections in the future, despite their declining sensitivity linked to vaccination and the spread of the Omicron variant
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Fungal pathogens cause over 6.5 million life-threatening systemic infections annually, with mortality rates ranging from 20 to 95%, even with medical intervention. The World Health Organization has recently emphasized the urgent need for new antifungal drugs.

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A synthetic peptide mimic kills Candida albicans and synergistically prevents infection.

Nat Commun

August 2024

Department of Microbial Pathogenicity Mechanisms, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans Knoell Institute, Jena, Germany.

More than two million people worldwide are affected by life-threatening, invasive fungal infections annually. Candida species are the most common cause of nosocomial, invasive fungal infections and are associated with mortality rates above 40%. Despite the increasing incidence of drug-resistance, the development of novel antifungal formulations has been limited.

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Healthcare workers (HCWs) are recommended to receive at least three spike-antigen exposures to generate basic immunity and to mediate herd protection of vulnerable patients. So far, less attention has been put on the cellular immune response induced by homologous (three BTN162b2mRNA doses) or heterologous (mRNA-1273 as third dose building on two BTN162bmRNA doses) and the immunological impact of breakthrough infections (BTIs). Therefore, in 356 vaccinated HCWs with or without BTIs the Anti-SARS-CoV-2-Spike-IgG concentrations and avidities and B- and T-cell-reactivity against SARS-CoV-2-Spike-S1- and Nucleocapsid-antigens were assessed with Interferon-gamma-ELISpot and by flow-cytometry.

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Article Synopsis
  • A research study analyzed genomic data from 250 fungal isolates (95 clinical and 155 environmental) across 9 countries to understand the population structure and its connection to pathogenicity in a saprotrophic fungus that's a significant threat to human health and agriculture.! -
  • Five distinct populations were identified, including a new one (Population D), with over 75% of clinical samples belonging to this group, indicating a strong link between population structure and human pathogenicity.! -
  • Population D contained more accessory genes related to zinc binding, lipid metabolism, and hydrolase activity, highlighting the potential for studying how specific genes within populations influence the fungus's ability to cause disease in humans.!
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an opportunistic fungal pathogen, produces the quorum-sensing molecule farnesol, which we have shown alters the transcriptional response and phenotype of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs), including their cytokine secretion and ability to prime T cells. This is partially dependent on the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ), which has numerous ligands, including the sphingolipid metabolite sphingosine 1-phosphate. Sphingolipids are a vital component of membranes that affect membrane protein arrangement and phagocytosis of by DCs.

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and : global priority pathogens.

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

June 2024

MRC Centre for Medical Mycology, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom.

SUMMARYA significant increase in the incidence of -mediated infections has been observed in the last decade, mainly due to rising numbers of susceptible individuals. Recently, the World Health Organization published its first fungal pathogen priority list, with species listed in medium, high, and critical priority categories. This review is a synthesis of information and recent advances in our understanding of two of these species and .

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Insights into invasive fungal infection diagnostic and treatment capacities in tertiary care centres of Germany.

JAC Antimicrob Resist

June 2024

Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), University of Cologne, University Hospital Cologne, Institute of Translational Research, Herderstraße 52, 50931 Cologne, Germany.

Article Synopsis
  • - The rising rate of invasive fungal infections (IFIs) in Germany poses a serious health issue, particularly for immunocompromised patients, and is complicated by diagnostic challenges and increasing antifungal resistance.
  • - A survey of 58 hospitals revealed that while many facilities have adequate diagnostic tools, there are significant differences in resources, particularly for high-risk patients, with specialized hospitals offering better access to necessary services.
  • - The study emphasizes the need for improved diagnostic and treatment practices for IFIs to enhance patient outcomes, highlighting the importance of ongoing research and collaboration in this field.
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Article Synopsis
  • tRNA modifications are super important for making sure proteins are built correctly, and if they're not working right, it can be deadly for some bacteria and change yeast behavior.
  • Researchers found that two types of fungal pathogens, one very harmful and one less so, act differently because of a specific tRNA-modifying enzyme called Hma1.
  • This enzyme helps the harmful fungus grow and infect human cells better, which means understanding it could help scientists find new ways to treat fungal infections that are becoming more common.
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Article Synopsis
  • Urban coastal areas, like the Pearl River Delta, face significant human impacts but are adjacent to biodiverse marine ecosystems, providing important research opportunities.
  • A study utilizing standardized settlement structures and COI metabarcoding identified 7,184 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in benthic biodiversity, revealing high species richness and beta diversity, even in urbanized settings.
  • Pollution negatively affected biodiversity, reducing species diversity by 44%, yet polluted sites still contributed notably to regional animal diversity, especially among certain groups like Arthropoda, indicating that urbanization influences species distribution and ecological dynamics.
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Background: The emergence of the pathogenic yeast Candida auris is of global concern due to its ability to cause hospital outbreaks and develop resistance against all antifungal drug classes. Based on published data for baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, sphingolipid biosynthesis, which is essential for maintaining membrane fluidity and formation of lipid rafts, could offer a target for additive treatment.

Methods: We analysed the susceptibility of C.

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The mycobiota are a critical part of the gut microbiome, but host-fungal interactions and specific functional contributions of commensal fungi to host fitness remain incompletely understood. Here, we report the identification of a new fungal commensal, Kazachstania heterogenica var. weizmannii, isolated from murine intestines.

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The fungus Candida albicans frequently colonizes the human gastrointestinal tract, from which it can disseminate to cause systemic disease. This polymorphic species can transition between growing as single-celled yeast and as multicellular hyphae to adapt to its environment. The current dogma of C.

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The opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans damages host cells via its peptide toxin, candidalysin. Before secretion, candidalysin is embedded in a precursor protein, Ece1, which consists of a signal peptide, the precursor of candidalysin and seven non-candidalysin Ece1 peptides (NCEPs), and is found to be conserved in clinical isolates. Here we show that the Ece1 polyprotein does not resemble the usual precursor structure of peptide toxins.

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Purpose: Fusarium keratitis is a severe infection of the anterior eye, frequently leading to keratoplasty or surgical removal of the affected eye. A major risk factor for infection is the use of contact lenses. Inadequate hygiene precautions and mold-growth permissive storage fluids are important risk factors for fungal keratitis.

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is a Gram-negative rod which may cause invasive infections when they contaminate liquid medical products. After was detected in blood cultures and a stem cell product from three patients in a tertiary care hospital in Germany, whole genome sequencing of these three isolates and two water isolates from the environment was performed. Core genome multilocus sequence typing analysis showed that the three patient isolates were closely related and there was a large distance to the environmental isolates.

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Candida albicans causes opportunistic infections ranging from mucosal mycoses to life-threatening systemic infections in immunocompromised patients. During C. albicans infection, leukotrienes and prostaglandins are formed from arachidonic acid by 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) and cyclooxygenases, respectively to amplify inflammatory conditions, but also to initiate macrophage infiltration to achieve tissue homeostasis.

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Invasive candidiasis is a major hospital-acquired infection. Usually, echinocandins are considered first-line treatment. However, resistant phenotypes have emerged.

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is a leading human fungal pathogen that often causes life-threatening infections in immunocompromised individuals. The ability of to transition between yeast and filamentous forms is key to its virulence, and this occurs in response to many host-relevant cues, including engulfment by host macrophages. While previous efforts identified genes required for filamentation in other conditions, the genes important for this morphological transition upon internalization by macrophages remained largely enigmatic.

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In this paper, a roadmap is provided for the regulatory approval of one of the exciting and dynamic drug delivery fields, microneedles, by using a Quality by Design approach to pharmaceutical product development. In this regard, a quality target product profile (QTPP) and the critical quality attributes (CQA) of microneedles are identified. A case study of the recently patented method of fabricating glass microneedles entirely from a therapeutic agent, thus eliminating the requirement for additional excipients is discussed.

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Background & Aims: Excretory liver failure is frequently associated with poor prognosis in critically ill patients. It is characterized by the loss of canalicular membrane export pumps at the hepatocyte membrane. The membrane export pump Multidrug resistant-associated protein (MRP) 2 is pivotal in hepatocytes for brushed membrane morphology and transport of various metabolites.

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Background: Quarantine is one of the most effective interventions to contain an infectious disease outbreak, yet it is one of the most disruptive. We investigated the quarantine of an entire village to better understand risk communication requirements for groups.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, mixed-methods survey study on a single cohort of adult residents in Neustadt am Rennsteig, Germany, six weeks after the removal of a 14-day mandatory community quarantine.

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