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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Step-Wise Loss Of Bacterial Flagellar Torsion Confers Progressive Phagocytic Evasion, Rustin R. Lovewell, Ryan M. Collins, Julie L. Acker, George A. O'Toole, Matthew J. Wargo, Brent Berwin, Craig R. Roy
Step-Wise Loss Of Bacterial Flagellar Torsion Confers Progressive Phagocytic Evasion, Rustin R. Lovewell, Ryan M. Collins, Julie L. Acker, George A. O'Toole, Matthew J. Wargo, Brent Berwin, Craig R. Roy
Dartmouth Scholarship
Phagocytosis of bacteria by innate immune cells is a primary method of bacterial clearance during infection. However, the mechanisms by which the host cell recognizes bacteria and consequentially initiates phagocytosis are largely unclear. Previous studies of the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa have indicated that bacterial flagella and flagellar motility play an important role in colonization of the host and, importantly, that loss of flagellar motility enables phagocytic evasion. Here we use molecular, cellular, and genetic methods to provide the first formal evidence that phagocytic cells recognize bacterial motility rather than flagella and initiate phagocytosis in response to this motility. We demonstrate …
Alpha-Defensins 1-3 Release By Dendritic Cells Is Reduced By Estrogen, Maria M. Escribese, Marta Rodríguez-García, Rhoda Sperling, Stephanie M. Engel
Alpha-Defensins 1-3 Release By Dendritic Cells Is Reduced By Estrogen, Maria M. Escribese, Marta Rodríguez-García, Rhoda Sperling, Stephanie M. Engel
Dartmouth Scholarship
During pregnancy the immune system of the mother must protect any activation that may negatively affect the fetus. Changes in susceptibility to infection as well as resolution of some autoimmune disorders represent empirical evidence for pregnancy related alterations in immunity. Sex hormones reach extremely high levels during pregnancy and have been shown to have direct effects on many immune functions including the antiviral response of dendritic cells. Among the immunologically active proteins secreted by monocyte derived DCs (MDDC) are the alpha-defensins 1-3. This family of cationic antimicrobial peptides has a broad spectrum of microbicidal activity and has also been shown …