排序方式: 共有27条查询结果,搜索用时 15 毫秒
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White Nicholas J Ashley Elizabeth A Recht Judith Delves Michael J Ruecker Andrea Smithuis Frank M Eziefula Alice C Bousema Teun Drakeley Chris Chotivanich Kesinee Imwong Mallika Pukrittayakamee Sasithon Prachumsri Jetsumon Chu Cindy Andolina Chiara Bancone Germana Hien Tran T Mayxay Mayfong Taylor Walter RJ von Seidlein Lorenz Price Ric N Barnes Karen I Djimdé Abdoulaye ter Kuile Feiko Gosling Roly Chen Ingrid Dhorda Mehul J Stepniewska Kasia Guérin Philippe Woodrow Charles J Dondorp Arjen M Day Nicholas PJ Nosten Francois H 《Malaria journal》2014,13(1):1-14
Background
Effective mating between laboratory-reared males and wild females is paramount to the success of vector control strategies aiming to decrease disease transmission via the release of sterile or genetically modified male mosquitoes. However mosquito colonization and laboratory maintenance have the potential to negatively affect male genotypic and phenotypic quality through inbreeding and selection, which in turn can decrease male mating competitiveness in the field. To date, very little is known about the impact of those evolutionary forces on the reproductive biology of mosquito colonies and how they ultimately affect male reproductive fitness.Methods
Here several male reproductive physiological traits likely to be affected by inbreeding and selection following colonization and laboratory rearing were examined. Sperm length, and accessory gland and testes size were compared in male progeny from field-collected females and laboratory strains of Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto colonized from one to over 25 years ago. These traits were also compared in the parental and sequentially derived, genetically modified strains produced using a two-phase genetic transformation system. Finally, genetic crosses were performed between strains in order to distinguish the effects of inbreeding and selection on reproductive traits.Results
Sperm length was found to steadily decrease with the age of mosquito colonies but was recovered in refreshed strains and crosses between inbred strains therefore incriminating inbreeding costs. In contrast, testes size progressively increased with colony age, whilst accessory gland size quickly decreased in males from colonies of all ages. The lack of heterosis in response to crossing and strain refreshing in the latter two reproductive traits suggests selection for insectary conditions.Conclusions
These results show that inbreeding and selection differentially affect reproductive traits in laboratory strains overtime and that heterotic ‘supermales’ could be used to rescue some male reproductive characteristics. Further experiments are needed to establish the exact relationship between sperm length, accessory gland and testes size, and male reproductive success in the laboratory and field settings. 相似文献3.
Cairns M Ghani A Okell L Gosling R Carneiro I Anto F Asoala V Owusu-Agyei S Greenwood B Chandramohan D Milligan P 《PloS one》2011,6(4):e18947
Background
Intermittent preventive treatment in infants (IPTi) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is recommended by WHO where malaria incidence in infancy is high and SP resistance is low. The current delivery strategy is via routine Expanded Program on Immunisation contacts during infancy (EPI-IPTi). However, improvements to this approach may be possible where malaria transmission is seasonal, or where the malaria burden lies mainly outside infancy.Methods and Findings
A mathematical model was developed to estimate the protective efficacy (PE) of IPT against clinical malaria in children aged 2-24 months, using entomological and epidemiological data from an EPI-IPTi trial in Navrongo, Ghana to parameterise the model. The protection achieved by seasonally-targeted IPT in infants (sIPTi), seasonal IPT in children (sIPTc), and by case-management with long-acting artemisinin combination therapies (LA-ACTs) was predicted for Navrongo and for sites with different transmission intensity and seasonality. In Navrongo, the predicted PE of sIPTi was 26% by 24 months of age, compared to 16% with EPI-IPTi. sIPTc given to all children under 2 years would provide PE of 52% by 24 months of age. Seasonally-targeted IPT retained its advantages in a range of transmission patterns. Under certain circumstances, LA-ACTs for case-management may provide similar protection to EPI-IPTi. However, EPI-IPTi or sIPT combined with LA-ACTs would be substantially more protective than either strategy used alone.Conclusion
Delivery of IPT to infants via the EPI is sub-optimal because individuals are not protected by IPT at the time of highest malaria risk, and because older children are not protected. Alternative delivery strategies to the EPI are needed where transmission varies seasonally or the malaria burden extends beyond infancy. Long-acting ACTs may also make important reductions in malaria incidence. However, delivery systems must be developed to ensure that both forms of chemoprevention reach the individuals who are most exposed to malaria. 相似文献4.
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Snake venom is an abundant resource of diverse pharmacologically bioactive proteins and peptides and a good natural source of
drug lead compounds and used as important research tools in the field of toxicology, pharmacology and neuroscience. Three
finger toxins (3FTx) is an important super-family of snake venom proteins which has a conserved three finger like appearance in
three dimensional structures. Members of 3FTx family show a wide array of pharmacological effects by targeting different
receptors and ion channels with high specificity and many of them are being investigated as potential drug target. Therefore, with
a vision to verdict a new edge and attempt we determined the amino acid compositional (%) profile, physiochemical properties,
secondary structural and functional analysis and phylogenetic relationship of three finger toxins present in four different elapid
snake species namely, Naja naja, Astrotia stokesii, Hydrophis cyanocintus and Pelamis platura using different bioinformatics tools. From
the outcome of the current studies, it will be possible to know about a range of biological functions which are responsible mainly
for the glowing amino acid composition profile of these proteins. Amino acid composition (%) profile although represents
differential amount of different amino acid residues which encompasses a family precise model but all the protein sequence have a
conserved amount of cysteine. The analysis of physicochemical properties can be used as a basic approach to contribute in
developing rational drug through protein engineering and understanding different physiological function which will be beneficial
for the welfare of human being. 相似文献
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Snake venoms are cocktails comprising combinations of different proteins, peptides, enzymes and toxins. Snake toxins have
diverse characteristics having different molecular configuration, structure and mode of action. Many toxins derived from snake
venom have distinct pharmacological activities. Venom from Bungarus fasciatus (commonly known as banded krait) is a species of
elapid snake found on the South East Asia and Indian sub-continent, mainly contains neurotoxins. Beta bungartotoxin is the major
fraction of Bungarus venom and particularly act pre-synaptically by obstructing neurotransmitter release. This toxin in other
snake species functionally forms a heterodimer containing two different subunits (A and B). Dimerization of these two chains is a
pre-requisite for the proper functionality of this protein. However, B. fasciatus bungartotoxin contains only B chain and their
structural orientation in yet to be resolved. Therefore, it is of interest to describe the predicted structure model of the toxin for
functional insights. In this work we analyzed the neurotoxic nature, their alignments, secondary and three dimensional structures,
functions, active sites and stability with the help of different bioinformatical tools. A comprehensive analysis of the predicted model
provides approaching to the functional interpretation of its molecular action. 相似文献
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W Stone T Bousema S Jones S Gesase R Hashim R Gosling I Carneiro D Chandramohan T Theander R Ronca D Modiano B Arcà C Drakeley 《PloS one》2012,7(6):e40170
Assessment of exposure to malaria vectors is important to our understanding of spatial and temporal variations in disease transmission and facilitates the targeting and evaluation of control efforts. Recently, an immunogenic Anopheles gambiae salivary protein (gSG6) was identified and proposed as the basis of an immuno-assay determining exposure to Afrotropical malaria vectors. In the present study, IgG responses to gSG6 and 6 malaria antigens (CSP, AMA-1, MSP-1, MSP-3, GLURP R1, and GLURP R2) were compared to Anopheles exposure and malaria incidence in a cohort of children from Korogwe district, Tanzania, an area of moderate and heterogeneous malaria transmission. Anti-gSG6 responses above the threshold for seropositivity were detected in 15% (96/636) of the children, and were positively associated with geographical variations in Anopheles exposure (OR 1.25, CI 1.01-1.54, p?=?0.04). Additionally, IgG responses to gSG6 in individual children showed a strong positive association with household level mosquito exposure. IgG levels for all antigens except AMA-1 were associated with the frequency of malaria episodes following sampling. gSG6 seropositivity was strongly positively associated with subsequent malaria incidence (test for trend p?=?0.004), comparable to malaria antigens MSP-1 and GLURP R2. Our results show that the gSG6 assay is sensitive to micro-epidemiological variations in exposure to Anopheles mosquitoes, and provides a correlate of malaria risk that is unrelated to immune protection. While the technique requires further evaluation in a range of malaria endemic settings, our findings suggest that the gSG6 assay may have a role in the evaluation and planning of targeted and preventative anti-malaria interventions. 相似文献
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Azra C. Ghani Colin J. Sutherland Eleanor M. Riley Chris J. Drakeley Jamie T. Griffin Roly D. Gosling Joao A. N. Filipe 《PloS one》2009,4(2)