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Articles 91 - 101 of 101

Full-Text Articles in Microbiology

Host Defense Mechanisms Against Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Laurin Nicole Holloway Jan 2009

Host Defense Mechanisms Against Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Laurin Nicole Holloway

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Mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the world's most infectious diseases. Approximately 2 million people die each year from Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and one-third of the world's population remains infected. For decades research has focused on uncovering the tactics used by Mycobacterium tuberculosis to evade host immune responses and defense mechanisms used to fight tuberculosis infection. The following review focuses on the host defense mechanisms used to combat Mycobacterium tuberculosis with an emphasis placed on the roles that Toll-like receptors (TLRs), T cells (gamma delta, CD4, CD8), and macrophages play in mounting the innate and adaptive immune responses necessary to eradicate …

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The Role Of Phospholipase D (Pld) And Grb2 In Chemotaxis, Katie J. Knapek Jan 2008

The Role Of Phospholipase D (Pld) And Grb2 In Chemotaxis, Katie J. Knapek

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Phospholipase D (PLD) is an enzyme that hydrolyzes phosphatidylcholine yielding choline and phosphatidic acid. PLD is activated by mitogens (lead to cell division) and motogens (leading to cell migration). PLD is known to contribute to cellular proliferation and deregulated expression of PLD has been implicated in several human cancers. PLD has been found to play a role in leukocyte chemotaxis and adhesion as studied through the formation of chemokine gradients. We have established a model of cell migration comprising three cell lines: macrophages RAW 264.7 and LR-5 (for innate defense), and fibroblast COS-7 cells (for wound healing). COS-7 cells respond …

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The Response Of Vascular Dermal Enodethial Cells To House Dust Mite Extracts, Aaron Mathew Newman Jan 2008

The Response Of Vascular Dermal Enodethial Cells To House Dust Mite Extracts, Aaron Mathew Newman

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House dust mites are microscopic arthropods that can trigger moderate allergic symptoms such as sneezing, watery eyes, itching, and wheezing in sensitized individuals. People with more serious allergies to house dust mites can develop allergic diseases like atopic dermatitis and asthma. The effects of house dust mites on allergy sufferers make house dust mites and the study of their effects on the human body of great medical and economic importance. A majority of the research that has been done on house dust mite's effects on humans has dealt with the lungs and relevant disease like asthma. Little work has been …

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Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 Productively Infects Mature Terminally Differentiated Eosinophils In Hiv/Aids Patients, Jude N. Atem Jan 2008

Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 Productively Infects Mature Terminally Differentiated Eosinophils In Hiv/Aids Patients, Jude N. Atem

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Eosinophils express membrane CD4 protein and can bind HIV-1 glycoprotein (gp) 120. Therefore, eosinophils could serve as host cells for HIV-1 infection in vivo, especially in the late phase of the infection. In culture, HIV-1 infects eosinophil precursors and primary eosinophils. Additionally HIV-1 proviral DNA sequences have been detected in the eosinophils of some HIV-1 positive patients. Since elevated levels of eosinophils occur during HIV-1 infection and parasitic infections, it implies that co-infection of parasites and HIV-1 could cause a much greater increase in the level of potential HIV-1 susceptible eosinophils. Therefore HIV-1 infection of eosinophils could partly explain the …

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Characteristics Of A Foamy Virus-Derived Vector That Allow For Safe Autologous Gene Therapy To Correct Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency Type 1, Ryan Matthew Mcnichol Jan 2007

Characteristics Of A Foamy Virus-Derived Vector That Allow For Safe Autologous Gene Therapy To Correct Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency Type 1, Ryan Matthew Mcnichol

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The hematopoeitic stem cell is a prime target for gene therapy in the attempt to correct a number of single gene inherited genetic defects that affect the immune system. In persons affected by leukocyte adhesion deficiency type 1 (LAD-1) the gene for the Beta-2 subunit of the integrin molecule is mutated. This autosomal recessive gene defect yields a phenotype with little or no beta-2 integrin expression on leukocytes. Beta-2 integrin expression is essential for leukocytes to travel from the blood to the tissues to fight infection. Persons with this disease have lowered leukocyte counts in the tissues and as a …

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Hsv-1 Infection Of C3h Central Nervous System Cell Lines, Lauren Kay Van Buren Jan 2007

Hsv-1 Infection Of C3h Central Nervous System Cell Lines, Lauren Kay Van Buren

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Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1) can infect the nervous system, resulting in a disease known as herpes encephalitis (HSE). Herpes encephalitis affects thousands of people each year; many cases are fatal or permanently debilitating. Approximately two thousand known cases occur in the United States each year alone (Neuroland online source). Acyclovir has been the drug of choice used to treat herpes encephalitis. Even after the administration of acyclovir, permanent neurological damage and/or death often results. Thousands of individuals would benefit by the discovery of drugs that are more effective at preventing lasting HSE damage and death. Knowledge concerning HSE …

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Hypoxic Induction And The Role Of Hifs In The Activation Of Luciferase Constitutive Reporters In Placental Stem Cells, Diane Michelle Doran Jan 2007

Hypoxic Induction And The Role Of Hifs In The Activation Of Luciferase Constitutive Reporters In Placental Stem Cells, Diane Michelle Doran

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Hypoxia is critically important to the development of the embryo and placenta. Proper placental development is critical for normal fetal growth and embryonic survival. Abnormal placental development has been implicated in numerous obstetric complications, including preeclampsia, which affects about 7% of all pregnancies and can be fatal for both mother and baby. Rodent and murine trophoblast stem cells differentiate into three distinct cell lineages: giant cells, spongiotrophoblasts, and labyrinthine cells, which form different layers and have different functions within the placenta. Recent studies in our laboratory have focused on the invasive giant cell layer using the rodent Rcho-1 choriocarcinoma stem …

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Discovery Of New Antimicrobial Agents Using Combinatorial Chemistry, William I. Northern Jan 2007

Discovery Of New Antimicrobial Agents Using Combinatorial Chemistry, William I. Northern

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Combinatorial chemistry has become an important aspect of medicinal research due to its flexibility and the ability to produce large numbers of potential therapeutic agents. Once compounds are made, they must be screened to determine if there is any biological activity. This research project focused on developing a screening method for chemical agents produced by a graduate student in the chemistry department at Wright State University. After an acceptable screening method was found, the goal of the project was to determine if compounds produced had either antibacterial activity, antifungal activity, or both. Seven compounds exhibited biological activity. Two of these …

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Susceptibility Of Primary Eosinophils To Infection With Hiv-1 Strain Htlv-Iiib, Jai Govind Marathe Jan 2006

Susceptibility Of Primary Eosinophils To Infection With Hiv-1 Strain Htlv-Iiib, Jai Govind Marathe

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Over the past two decades, much research has been done in the field of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). However, many of the aspects of pathogenesis of HIV infection and its persistence in the body, despite treatment, remain a mystery. Recent evidence suggests that HIV positive patients develop eosinophilia, especially in the later stages of infection and AIDS. Eosinophils are CD4 positive cells that have the potential to be infected by HIV. Studies have shown that an eosinophilic cell line, AML14.3D10, can be productively infected with a T-cell tropic, CXCR4-using (X4) strain of HIV-1. In this …

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Phenotypic Characterization Of Escherichia Coli Strains Taken From Human Intestinal And Urinary Tracts, Kruthi Murthy Jan 2006

Phenotypic Characterization Of Escherichia Coli Strains Taken From Human Intestinal And Urinary Tracts, Kruthi Murthy

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Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a gram negative bacterium commonly found as a commensal in the intestinal tract of humans and other warm blooded animals. The commensal strains of E. coli are non-pathogenic and do not cause an infection in the host. However, some strains of E. coli are pathogenic and can cause several diseases in humans that include neonatal meningitis, intestinal infections and urinary tract infections. Almost 80-85% of the uncomplicated urinary tract infections are caused by uropathogenic E. coli. Our project involved the characterization of 12 strains of E. coli, isolated from humans in health and disease. These …

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Cd28 Costimulation Requirement For Interferon-Y Secretion By Natural Killer T Cells During Hepatitis B Virus Infection, Paul J. Renick Jan 2002

Cd28 Costimulation Requirement For Interferon-Y Secretion By Natural Killer T Cells During Hepatitis B Virus Infection, Paul J. Renick

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Natural Killer T cells (NKT cells) are a unique subset of lymphocytes that express natural killer (NK) and T cell receptors (TCR). The NKT cell population includes four separate subclasses. This paper will focus on Category I NKT cells which possess a canonical TCR receptor (Va14Ja281) that recognizes only hydrophobic antigens presented by CD1d molecules. These cells are believed to play an important regulatory role in immunity. A variety of disease conditions, including cancer, infections and Type I diabetes, are controlled by NKT cells. NKT cells are also capable of secreting large quantities of cytokines, namely interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-gamma …

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