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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Urban Biogeography Of Fungal Endophytes In Metrosideros Excelsa Across San Francisco, Emma Gibson
Urban Biogeography Of Fungal Endophytes In Metrosideros Excelsa Across San Francisco, Emma Gibson
Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD
Trees in cities confer health and psychological benefits to the city's inhabitants, so the urban forest is a major component of human health in urban settings. Previous studies have shown that environmental factors can impact endophytic (within-plant) microbial communities of forest trees, but the effects that urban environmental factors may have on these communities are not well understood. Here, we characterized asymptomatic fungal communities in 30 individual Metrosideros excelsa trees from 6 distinct sites using culturing and molecular methods. We found high community diversity both within and among sites, and several patterns within these communities. For example, we found similarities …
The Us27 Protein Of Human Cytomegalovirus Enhances Signaling By Human Chemokine Receptor Cxcr4, Kathleen Arnolds, Juliet V. Spencer
The Us27 Protein Of Human Cytomegalovirus Enhances Signaling By Human Chemokine Receptor Cxcr4, Kathleen Arnolds, Juliet V. Spencer
Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a prevalent pathogen that causes little disease except in immune-compromised hosts. HCMV establishes life-long latency by manipulating host immune responses. We have found that the US27 protein profoundly alters the activity of host chemokine receptor CXCR4. Cells expressing US27 and CXCR4 exhibited greater migration and calcium signaling than cells expressing CXCR4 alone. The mechanism for this enhanced signaling appears to be increased expression of CXCR4, and we are continuing to investigate how US27 causes up-regulation of CXCR4. This work is expected to clarify the role of US27 in immune evasion and provide insights into treatment strategies.