Harnessing Bioinformatic Approaches to Design Novel Multi-epitope Subunit Vaccine Against Leishmania infantum

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Kala-azar or visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is the most important vector-borne protozoan disease and a life-threatening problem in the...     

Novel Predicted B-Cell Epitopes of PSMA for Development of Prostate Cancer Vaccine

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers around the world. Vaccines are a new hope for prevention of this cancer. In the case...     

Pbx Proteins in Cryptococcus neoformans Cell Wall Remodeling and Capsule Assembly

The cryptococcal capsule is a critical virulence factor of an important pathogen, but little is known about how it is associated with the cell or released into the environment. Two mutants lacking PBX1 and PBX2 were found to shed reduced amounts of the capsule polysaccharide glucuronoxylomannan (GXM). Nuclear magnetic resonance, composition, and physical analyses showed that the shed material was of normal mass but was slightly enriched in xylose. In contrast to previous reports, this material contained no glucose. Notably, the capsule fibers of pbxΔ mutant cells grown under capsule-inducing conditions were present at a lower than usual density and were loosely attached to the cell wall. Mutant cell walls were also defective, as indicated by phenotypes including abnormal cell morphology, reduced mating filamentation, and altered cell integrity. All observed phenotypes were shared between the two mutants and exacerbated in a double mutant. Consistent with a role in surface glycan synthesis, the Pbx proteins localized to detergent-resistant membrane domains. These results, together with the sequence motifs in the Pbx proteins, suggest that Pbx1 and Pbx2 are redundant proteins that act in remodeling the cell wall to maintain normal cell morphology and precursor availability for other glycan synthetic processes. Their absence results in aberrant cell wall growth and metabolic imbalance, which together impact cell wall and capsule synthesis, cell morphology, and capsule association. The surface changes also lead to increased engulfment by host phagocytes, consistent with the lack of virulence of pbx mutants in animal models.     

The dynamical consequences of developmental variability and demographic stochasticity for host-parasitoid interactions

Few age-structured models of species dynamics incorporate variability and uncertainty in population processes. Motivated by laboratory data for an insect and its parasitoid, we investigate whether such assumptions are appropriate when considering the population dynamics of a single species and its interaction with a natural enemy. Specifically, we examine the effects of developmental variability and demographic stochasticity on different types of cyclic dynamics predicted by traditional models. We show that predictions based on the deterministic fixed-development approach are differentially sensitive to variability and noise in key life stages. In particular, we find that the demonstration of half-generation cycles in the single-species model and the multigeneration cycles in the host-parasitoid model are sensitive to the introduction of developmental variability and noise, whereas generation cycles are robust to the intrinsic variability and uncertainty that may be found in nature.     

A koinobiont parasitoid mediates competition and generates additive mortality in healthy host populations

Insects are subject to attack from a range of natural enemies. Many natural enemies, such as parasitoids, do not immediately, or ever, kill their victims but they are nevertheless important in structuring biological communities. The lag that often occurs between attack and host death results in mixed populations of healthy and parasitised hosts. However, little is understood about how the effects of parasitism during this lag period affect the competitive ability of parasitised hosts and how this, in turn, affects the survival and dynamics of the surviving healthy host populations. Here we investigate the impact of the timing of introduction, and the strength of that introduction, of a parasitoid natural enemy Venturia canescens (Gravenhorst) on the outcome of intraspecific competition between larvae of the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner). In contrast to healthy hosts alone, we find reduced survival of healthy larvae with increasing periods of exposure to greater numbers of parasitised conspecifics. This represents indirect mortality of the host, which is in addition to that imposed by parasitism itself. Furthermore, longer periods of exposure to parasitised larvae resulted in an increase in development time of healthy individuals and they were larger when they emerged as adults. These results are relevant to both insect–parasitoid and insect–pathogen systems where there is a lag in host death following infection or attack.     

A mechanistic study of in situ chemical cleaning-in-place for a PTFE flat sheet membrane: fouling mitigation and membrane characterization

This study aimed at unfolding the role and mechanisms of chemically enhanced cleaning-in-place (CIP) regimes in fouling control of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) made flat sheet (FS) membrane bio-reactors (MBRs). The trans-membrane pressure (TMP) was successfully maintained below 10 kPa using a daily CIP regime consisting of 100 to 600 mg l^?1 of NaOCl and cake layer resistance control was shown to be critical for effective high-flux MBR operation. In contrast, in the control unit without the CIP, the TMP exceeded 35 kPa at a flux of 40 LMH. The extracellular polymeric substances associated with proteins (EPS_protein) were also controlled effectively with a daily application of the CIP to the fouled membrane. Moreover, the CIP prompted a thinner and looser bio-cake layer on the membrane surface, suggesting that in situ CIP can be a favorable method to control FS membrane fouling at high-flux MBR operation.     

Influence of thidiazuron on callus induction and crocin production in corm and style explants of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Crocus sativus</Emphasis> L.

Crocus sativus L., mostly famous as saffron, has gained more attention due to its crocin (crocetin ester) pigment responsible for its extensive pharmaceutical properties. In this study, we established two different callus cultures from corm and style explants of saffron to find out the best explant as a suitable source for crocin production. Comparative analyses of total phenolic, flavonoid, carotenoid and anthocyanin contents were also performed in the two callus cultures. For callus induction, different combinations of MS medium with name thidiazuron (TDZ), benzylaminopurine (BA), 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) alone or in combination were tested. Of the used media, all the combinations containing TDZ and NAA gave 100% callus induction. HPLC-DAD and HPLC–ESI-MS analysis were used for identification of crocin esters in established callus cultures. The highest amount of 0.35 mg g^?1 DW crocin was detected in style originated calli grown on the medium containing 3 mg L^?1 NAA?+?1 mg L^?1 TDZ while the corm calli showed the most abundant total carotenoid (0.73 mg g^?1 DW), phenolic (15.04 mg gallic acid equivalent g^?1 DW) and flavonoid (0.76 mg rutin equivalent g^?1 DW) contents. In general, style-derived calli showed longer time survival with a fine texture and good quality compared to corm-derived calli.