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Full-Text Articles in Molecular Biology
A Novel Mode Of Action Of C-Reactive Protein In Protecting Against Streptococcus Pneumoniae Infection And Synergy With Antibiotics, Donald Ngwa
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
C-reactive protein (CRP) is a part of the innate immune system, is synthesized in the liver, its blood level increases in inflammatory states, and it binds to Streptococcus pneumoniae. The conformation of CRP is altered under conditions mimicking an inflammatory milieu and this non-native CRP also binds to immobilized/aggregated/pathogenic proteins. Experiments in mice have revealed that one of the functions of CRP is to protect against pneumococcal infection. For protection, CRP must be injected into mice within two hours of administering pneumococci, thus, CRP is protective against early-stage infection but not against late-stage infection. It is unknown how CRP protects …
Protection Against Atherosclerosis By A Non-Native Pentameric Crp That Shares Its Ligand Recognition Functions With An Evolutionarily Distant Crp, Asmita Pathak
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
C-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute phase protein of the innate immune system that has been evolutionarily conserved. Human CRP is known to exist in two different pentameric conformations; native CRP and non-native CRP that possess differential ligand recognition functions. The structure of CRP evolved from arthropods to humans, in terms of subunit composition, disulfide bonds, and glycosylation pattern. Along with change in structure, the gene expression pattern of CRP also evolved from a constitutive protein in lower invertebrates to an acute phase protein in humans. The objective of this study was to determine the function of a non-native pentameric …