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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Rhodococcus Equi Infection And Interferon-Gamma Regulation In Foals, Lingshuang Sun Jan 2012

Rhodococcus Equi Infection And Interferon-Gamma Regulation In Foals, Lingshuang Sun

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Rhodococcus equi (R. equi) is one of the most serious causes of pneumonia in young foals. The clinical disease is of great concern to breeding farms worldwide due to the impact of mortality on economic losses. While adult horses are resistant to R. equi, foals exhibit a distinct age-associated susceptibility. The mechanism underlying this susceptibility in foals is not well understood. Interferon-gamma (IFNg) plays an important role in the clearance of R. equi, but its expression is impaired in neonatal foals. Moreover, the regulation of this age-related IFNg expression in foals remains unknown. In humans, IFNg …


Effects On Semen Quality And On Establishment Of Persistent Equine Arteritis Virus (Eav) Infection In Stallions Following Experimental Challenge With The Kentucky 84 (Ky84) Strain, Juliana Roberta Campos Jan 2012

Effects On Semen Quality And On Establishment Of Persistent Equine Arteritis Virus (Eav) Infection In Stallions Following Experimental Challenge With The Kentucky 84 (Ky84) Strain, Juliana Roberta Campos

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is the causal agent of equine viral arteritis (EVA), a disease of equids. Following EAV infection, up to 70% of stallions may become carriers and continuously shed the virus in their semen for varying time periods. The long-term carrier stallion has an important role in the transmission and maintenance of EAV in horse populations. Recently, it has been demonstrated a correlation between in vitro susceptibility of CD3+ T lymphocytes to EAV infection and establishment of long-term persistent infection among stallions following natural infections. In this study, we investigated whether stallions with in vitro EAV susceptible …


Protein Based Biomimetic Approachs To Surface Hemocompatibility And Biocompatibility Enhancement, Matthew Thomas Dickerson Jan 2012

Protein Based Biomimetic Approachs To Surface Hemocompatibility And Biocompatibility Enhancement, Matthew Thomas Dickerson

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

T. pallidum can survive a primary immune response and continue growing in the host for an extended period of time. T. pallidum is thought to bind serum fibronectin (FN) through Tp0483 on the surface to obscure antigens. A Tp0483 fragment (rTp0483) was adsorbed onto functionalized self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) with FN. FN capture by adsorbed rTp0483 depended greatly on surface chemistry with COO- groups being best for FN binding. Hemocompatibility was determined by analysis of plasma protein adsorption, intrinsic pathway activation, and platelet activation. rTp0483+FN bound an equal or lesser amount of fibrinogen (Fg), human serum albumin (HSA), and factor XII …


The Role Of Intestinal Epithelial Cells And The Regulation Of The Polymeric Immunoglobulin Receptor In Homeostasis And Inflammation, Aubrey Leigh Frantz Jan 2012

The Role Of Intestinal Epithelial Cells And The Regulation Of The Polymeric Immunoglobulin Receptor In Homeostasis And Inflammation, Aubrey Leigh Frantz

Theses and Dissertations--Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics

The mammalian intestine harbors an estimated 100 trillion microorganisms, which normally maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with the host. The intestinal epithelium consists of a single layer of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) that provides a physical barrier as well as innate immune defense, preventing this vast community of microbes from entering host tissues. Secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) acts as the first line of antigen-specific immunity at the interface between the gut microbiota and the intestinal epithelium. Polymeric IgA secreted by plasma cells in the intestinal lamina propria is transported across IECs by the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR). Defects in epithelial …