Using whole blood cultures in interferon gamma release assays to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex infection in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus).

Elephants are susceptible to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) complex (MTBC) infections. Diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in elephants is difficult, and most approaches used for human TB diagnosis are not applicable.

Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex infection in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) using an interferon gamma release assay in a captive elephant herd.

Tuberculosis is highly contagious disease that can be transmitted between humans and animals. Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in captivity live in close contact with humans in many Asian countries. In this study, we developed an interferon gamma release assay (IGRA) for elephant TB detection using antigens from the MTB complex (MTBC) and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) as stimulating antigens (PPD, ESAT6, CFP10) to elicit a cell-mediated immune response (CMIR).

Biosurfactant-Producing Capability and Prediction of Functional Genes Potentially Beneficial to Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery in Indigenous Bacterial Communities of an Onshore Oil Reservoir.

Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is a bio-based technology with economic and environmental benefits. The success of MEOR depends greatly on the types and characteristics of indigenous microbes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of applying MEOR at Mae Soon Reservoir, an onshore oil reservoir experiencing a decline in its production rate.

A simple grid implementation with Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing using BLAST as a model.

Development of high-throughput technologies, such as Next-generation sequencing, allows thousands of experiments to be performed simultaneously while reducing resource requirement. Consequently, a massive amount of experiment data is now rapidly generated. Nevertheless, the data are not readily usable or meaningful until they are further analysed and interpreted.

Kinetic mechanism and the rate-limiting step of Plasmodium vivax serine hydroxymethyltransferase.

Serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) is a pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme that catalyzes a hydroxymethyl group transfer from L-serine to tetrahydrofolate (H4folate) to yield glycine and 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate (CH2-H4folate). SHMT is crucial for deoxythymidylate biosynthesis and a target for antimalarial drug development. Our previous studies indicate that PvSHMT catalyzes the reaction via a ternary complex mechanism.

Suppression of shrimp melanization during white spot syndrome virus infection.

The melanization cascade, activated by the prophenoloxidase (proPO) system, plays a key role in the production of cytotoxic intermediates, as well as melanin products for microbial sequestration in invertebrates. Here, we show that the proPO system is an important component of the Penaeus monodon shrimp immune defense toward a major viral pathogen, white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). Gene silencing of PmproPO(s) resulted in increased cumulative shrimp mortality after WSSV infection, whereas incubation of WSSV with an in vitro melanization reaction prior to injection into shrimp significantly increased the shrimp survival rate.

Matrigel induces L-plastin expression and promotes L-plastin-dependent invasion in human cholangiocarcinoma cells.

The function of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in the tumor microenvironment is not limited to forming a barrier against tumor invasion. As demonstrated in pathological specimens, cholangiocarcinoma samples exhibit an enrichment of the ECM surrounding the tumor cells. In this study, we examined involvement of the ECM in the regulation of the invasiveness of cholangiocarcinoma cells.

Up-regulation of microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 in COX-1 and COX-2 knock-out mouse fibroblast cell lines.

In this paper we investigated the possible involvement of prostaglandin E synthases (PGESs) in compensatory mechanism. Our findings showed that microsomal (m)PGES-1 expression was significantly up-regulated in COX knock-out (K/O) cells whereas the expression of cytosolic PGES was not changed indicating that the induction of mPGES-1 may, at least in part, contribute to the substantial increase of PGE(2) production in COX K/O cell lines. The selective up-regulation of mPGES-1 in COX-2 K/O cells suggests that mPGES-1 may be metabolically coupled with COX-1 for PGE(2) formation.

Positive feedback regulation of COX-2 expression by prostaglandin metabolites.

Objectives: Previous studies in cell lines and tissues derived from mice lacking genes encoding cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 or -2 have demonstrated compensatory regulation between the two isoenzymes. To determine whether this compensation was driven by a mechanism that controls prostaglandin (PG) levels, we investigated the effects of PG availability on the regulation of COX and cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2), an upstream enzyme in the PG pathway.

Materials And Methods: Mouse lung fibroblast cells were treated with various concentrations of PG metabolites including prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), 15-deoxy-delta(12,14)-prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2), 6-keto PGF1alpha and PGF2alpha.