A new role for PGRP-S (Tag7) in immune defense: lymphocyte migration is induced by a chemoattractant complex of Tag7 with Mts1

PGRP-S (Tag7) is an innate immunity protein involved in the antimicrobial defense systems, both in insects and in mammals. We have previously shown that Tag7 specifically interacts with several proteins, including Hsp70 and the calcium binding protein S100A4 (Mts1), providing a number of novel cellular functions. Here we show that Tag7–Mts1 complex causes chemotactic migration of lymphocytes, with NK cells being a preferred target. Cells of either innate immunity (neutrophils and monocytes) or acquired immunity (CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ lymphocytes) can produce this complex, which confirms the close connection between components of the 2 branches of immune response.     

Serum endothelial adhesion molecules levels correlate with lesion burden in multiple sclerosis patients treated with interferon beta-1b

The levels of serum-soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1 and soluble endothelial-leukocyte adhesion molecule-1, and the Gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted MRI were studied in a group of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis treated with interferon beta-1b and compared to a non-treated control group. The levels of serum-soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1 and soluble endothelial-leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 increased, after three months treatment, as compared to baseline and the non-treated MS patients. A significant correlation was found in the treated group between serum-soluble endothelial-leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 and the lesion area in the Gadolinium-enhancing (T2 weighted scan) MRI.     

Amino Acids from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mytilus galloprovincialis</Emphasis> (L.) and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rapana venosa</Emphasis> Molluscs Accelerate Skin Wounds Healing via Enhancement of Dermal and Epidermal Neoformation

Wound healing consists of re-epithelialization, contraction and formation of granulation and scar tissue. Amino acids from proteins are involved in these events, but their exact roles are not well understood. The present study was undertaken to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of some amino acids from two molluscs, Mytilus galloprovincialis (L.) (Mediterranean mussel) and Rapana venosa (hard shell-clam) employed in induced skin burn injuries in Wistar rats. The treatment was evaluated in terms of essential amino acids composition which rendered the extracts very efficient in healing skin burns. The healing process was examined by periodic acid Schiff’s, Verhoeff’s Van Gieson and immunohistochemistry stains for collagen IV, CD 34 and CD 117 antibodies. According to the obtained results, as expressed by histological studies, the most abundant blood vessels, collagen fibres, basal and stem cells were found only for treated animals with amino acids from Rapana venosa extracts. The rich composition of amino acids from the two molluscs merits consideration as therapeutic agents in the treatment of skin burns.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas aeruginosa</Emphasis> inhibits <Emphasis Type="Italic">in-vitro Candida</Emphasis> biofilm development

Background  

Elucidation of the communal behavior of microbes in mixed species biofilms may have a major impact on understanding infectious diseases and for the therapeutics. Although, the structure and the properties of monospecies biofilms and their role in disease have been extensively studied during the last decade, the interactions within mixed biofilms consisting of bacteria and fungi such as Candida spp. have not been illustrated in depth. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the interspecies interactions of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and six different species of Candida comprising C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, and C. dubliniensis in dual species biofilm development.     

Molecular determinants of caste differentiation in the highly eusocial honeybee <Emphasis Type="Italic">Apis mellifera</Emphasis>

Background  

In honeybees, differential feeding of female larvae promotes the occurrence of two different phenotypes, a queen and a worker, from identical genotypes, through incremental alterations, which affect general growth, and character state alterations that result in the presence or absence of specific structures. Although previous studies revealed a link between incremental alterations and differential expression of physiometabolic genes, the molecular changes accompanying character state alterations remain unknown.     

Mitochondrial haplotype diversity in the tortoise species <Emphasis Type="Italic">Testudo graeca</Emphasis> from North Africa and the Middle East

Background  

To help conservation programs of the endangered spur-thighed tortoise and to gain better insight into its systematics, genetic variation and evolution in the tortoise species Testudo graeca (Testudines: Testudinidae) was investigated by sequence analysis of a 394-nucleotide fragment of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene for 158 tortoise specimens belonging to the subspecies Testudo graeca graeca, Testudo graeca ibera, Testudo graeca terrestris, and a newly recognized subspecies Testudo graeca whitei. A 411-nucleotide fragment of the mitochondrial D-loop was additionally sequenced for a subset of 22 T. graeca, chosen because of their 12S gene haplotype and/or geographical origin.     

A network-based approach to identify substrate classes of bacterial glycosyltransferases

Background

Bacterial interactions with the environment- and/or host largely depend on the bacterial glycome. The specificities of a bacterial glycome are largely determined by glycosyltransferases (GTs), the enzymes involved in transferring sugar moieties from an activated donor to a specific substrate. Of these GTs their coding regions, but mainly also their substrate specificity are still largely unannotated as most sequence-based annotation flows suffer from the lack of characterized sequence motifs that can aid in the prediction of the substrate specificity.

Results

In this work, we developed an analysis flow that uses sequence-based strategies to predict novel GTs, but also exploits a network-based approach to infer the putative substrate classes of these predicted GTs. Our analysis flow was benchmarked with the well-documented GT-repertoire of Campylobacter jejuni NCTC 11168 and applied to the probiotic model Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG to expand our insights in the glycosylation potential of this bacterium. In L. rhamnosus GG we could predict 48 GTs of which eight were not previously reported. For at least 20 of these GTs a substrate relation was inferred.

Conclusions

We confirmed through experimental validation our prediction of WelI acting upstream of WelE in the biosynthesis of exopolysaccharides. We further hypothesize to have identified in L. rhamnosus GG the yet undiscovered genes involved in the biosynthesis of glucose-rich glycans and novel GTs involved in the glycosylation of proteins. Interestingly, we also predict GTs with well-known functions in peptidoglycan synthesis to also play a role in protein glycosylation.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-349) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Molecular processes in the streptokinase thrombolytic therapy

The aim of this research is to evaluate the current streptokinase thrombolytic treatment and to identify or improve new techniques that will base new approaches with a higher efficiency in this area of expertise. In order to be as realistic as possible a new method was set up using magnetic vectorized nanoparticles streptokinase and human blood thrombus. The experimental data confirm the maximum 83% thrombus lyses whenever increase streptokinase concentration. It is very probable to happen because of the presence of high concentration of antiplasmin in the blood that neutralizes around half of the thrombolytic potential of the sanguine plasminogen. The experiment shows also that only free serum plasminogen are available for streptokinase action in order to generate plasmin.