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Medical Immunology

2014

Genetics

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Medical Sciences

Site-Specific Mutation Of The Sensor Kinase Gras In Staphylococcus Aureus Alters The Adaptive Response To Distinct Cationic Antimicrobial Peptides, Ambrose L. Cheung, Arnold S. Bayer, Michael R. Yeaman, Yan Q. Xiong, Alan J. Waring, Guido Memmi, Niles Donegan Dec 2014

Site-Specific Mutation Of The Sensor Kinase Gras In Staphylococcus Aureus Alters The Adaptive Response To Distinct Cationic Antimicrobial Peptides, Ambrose L. Cheung, Arnold S. Bayer, Michael R. Yeaman, Yan Q. Xiong, Alan J. Waring, Guido Memmi, Niles Donegan

Dartmouth Scholarship

The Staphylococcus aureus two-component regulatory system, GraRS, is involved in resistance to killing by distinct host defense cationic antimicrobial peptides (HD-CAPs). It is believed to regulate downstream target genes such as mprF and dltABCD to modify the S. aureus surface charge. However, the detailed mechanism(s) by which the histidine kinase, GraS, senses specific HD-CAPs is not well defined. Here, we studied a well-characterized clinical methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strain (MW2), its isogenic graS deletion mutant (ΔgraS strain), a nonameric extracellular loop mutant (ΔEL strain), and four residue-specific ΔEL mutants (D37A, P39A, P39S, and D35G D37G D41G strains). The ΔgraS and …


Contribution Of Teg49 Small Rna In The 5′ Upstream Transcriptional Region Of Sara To Virulence In Staphylococcus Aureus, Samin Kim, Dindo Reyes, Marie Beaume, Patrice Francois, Ambrose Cheung Oct 2014

Contribution Of Teg49 Small Rna In The 5′ Upstream Transcriptional Region Of Sara To Virulence In Staphylococcus Aureus, Samin Kim, Dindo Reyes, Marie Beaume, Patrice Francois, Ambrose Cheung

Dartmouth Scholarship

High-throughput RNA sequencing technology has found the 5' untranslated region of sarA to contain two putative small RNAs (sRNAs), designated teg49 and teg48. Northern blot analysis disclosed that teg49 and teg48 were detectable within the P3-P1 and P1 sarA promoter regions, respectively. Focusing on teg49, we found that this sRNA, consisting of 196 nucleotides, is transcribed in the same direction as the sarA P3 transcript. The expression of both P3 and teg49 transcripts is dependent on sigB and cshA, which encodes a DEAD box RNA helicase. Within the sRNA teg49, there are two putative hairpin-loop structures, HP1 and HP2. Transversion …


The Differential Interferon Responses Of Two Strains Of Stat1-Deficient Mice Do Not Alter Susceptibility To Hsv-1 And Vsv In Vivo, Sarah Katzenell, Yufei Chen, Zachary M. Parker, David A. Leib Feb 2014

The Differential Interferon Responses Of Two Strains Of Stat1-Deficient Mice Do Not Alter Susceptibility To Hsv-1 And Vsv In Vivo, Sarah Katzenell, Yufei Chen, Zachary M. Parker, David A. Leib

Dartmouth Scholarship

Stat1 is a pivotal transcription factor for generation of the interferon (IFN)-dependent antiviral response. Two Stat1 knockout mouse lines have been previously generated, one deleted the N-terminal domain (ΔNTD) and one in the DNA-binding domain (ΔDBD). These widely-used strains are assumed interchangeable, and both are highly susceptible to various pathogens. In this study, primary cells derived from ΔNTD mice were shown to be significantly more responsive to IFN, and established an antiviral state with greater efficiency than cells derived from ΔDBD mice, following infection with vesicular stomatitis virus and herpes simplex virus type-1. Also, while mice from both strains succumbed …


Importance Of Bacillithiol In The Oxidative Stress Response Of Staphylococcus Aureus, Ana C. Posada, Stacey L. Kolar, Renata G. Dusi, Patrica Francois Jan 2014

Importance Of Bacillithiol In The Oxidative Stress Response Of Staphylococcus Aureus, Ana C. Posada, Stacey L. Kolar, Renata G. Dusi, Patrica Francois

Dartmouth Scholarship

In Staphylococcus aureus, the low-molecular-weight thiol called bacillithiol (BSH), together with cognate S-transferases, is believed to be the counterpart to the glutathione system of other organisms. To explore the physiological role of BSH in S. aureus, we constructed mutants with the deletion of bshA (sa1291), which encodes the glycosyltransferase that catalyzes the first step of BSH biosynthesis, and fosB (sa2124), which encodes a BSH-S-transferase that confers fosfomycin resistance, in several S. aureus strains, including clinical isolates. Mutation of fosB or bshA caused a 16- to 60-fold reduction in fosfomycin resistance in these S. aureus strains. High-pressure liquid chromatography analysis, which …