Digital Commons Network^™

Transferrin Receptor In Primary And Metastatic Breast Cancer: Evaluation Of Expression And Experimental Modulation To Improve Molecular Targeting, Francesca Fontana, Alison K. Esser, Christopher Egbulefu, Partha Karmakar, Xinming Su, John S. Allen, Yalin Xu, Jennifer L. Davis, Ariel Gabay, Jingyu Xiang, Kristin A. Kwakwa, Brad Manion, Suzanne Bakewell, Shunqiang Li, Haeseong Park, Gregory M. Lanza, Samuel Achilefu, Katherine N. Weilbaecher

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Conjugation of transferrin (Tf) to imaging or nanotherapeutic agents is a promising strategy to target breast cancer. Since the efficacy of these biomaterials often depends on the overexpression of the targeted receptor, we set out to survey expression of transferrin receptor (TfR) in primary and metastatic breast cancer samples, including metastases and relapse, and investigate its modulation in experimental models.

METHODS: Gene expression was investigated by datamining in twelve publicly-available datasets. Dedicated Tissue microarrays (TMAs) were generated to evaluate matched primary and bone metastases as well as and pre and post chemotherapy tumors from the same patient. TMA were …

Introducing Sonhr-Reporting Guidelines For Social Networks In Health Research, Douglas A. Luke, Edward Tsai, Bobbi J. Carothers, Sara Malone, Beth Prusaczyk, Todd B. Combs, Mia T Vogel, Jennifer Watling Neal, Zachary P. Neal

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: The overall goal of this work is to produce a set of recommendations (SoNHR-Social Networks in Health Research) that will improve the reporting and dissemination of social network concepts, methods, data, and analytic results within health sciences research.

METHODS: This study used a modified-Delphi approach for recommendation development consistent with best practices suggested by the EQUATOR health sciences reporting guidelines network. An initial set of 28 reporting recommendations was developed by the author team. A group of 67 (of 147 surveyed) experienced network and health scientists participated in an online feedback survey. They rated the clarity and importance of …

The Role Of Vaccination Route With An Adenovirus-Vectored Vaccine In Protection, Viral Control, And Transmission In The Sars-Cov-2/K18-Hace2 Mouse Infection Model, Alexandria Dickson, Elizabeth Geerling, E Taylor Stone, Mariah Hassert, Tara L Steffen, Taneesh Makkena, Madeleine Smither, Katherine E Schwetye, Jianfeng Zhang, Bertrand Georges, M Scot Roberts, John J Suschak, Amelia K Pinto, James D Brien

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Vaccination is the most effective mechanism to prevent severe COVID-19. However, breakthrough infections and subsequent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 remain a significant problem. Intranasal vaccination has the potential to be more effective in preventing disease and limiting transmission between individuals as it induces potent responses at mucosal sites.

METHODS: Utilizing a replication-deficient adenovirus serotype 5-vectored vaccine expressing the SARS-CoV-2 RBD (AdCOVID) in homozygous and heterozygous transgenic K18-hACE2, we investigated the impact of the route of administration on vaccine immunogenicity, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and survival.

RESULTS: Mice vaccinated with AdCOVID via the intramuscular or intranasal route and subsequently challenged with SARS-CoV-2 showed …

X-Ray And Mr Contrast Bearing Nanoparticles Enhance The Therapeutic Response Of Image-Guided Radiation Therapy For Oral Cancer, Gayatri Sharma, Mir Hadi Razeghi Kondelaji, Guru P. Sharma, Christopher Hansen, Abdul K. Parchur, Shayan Shafiee, Jaidip M. Jagtap, Brian Fish, Carmen Bergom, Eric Paulson, William A. Hall, Heather A. Himburg, Amit Joshi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Radiation therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is constrained by radiotoxicity to normal tissue. We demonstrate 100 nm theranostic nanoparticles for image-guided radiation therapy planning and enhancement in rat head and neck squamous cell carcinoma models.

METHODS: PEG conjugated theranostic nanoparticles comprising of Au nanorods coated with Gadolinium oxide layers were tested for radiation therapy enhancement in 2D cultures of OSC-19-GFP-luc cells, and orthotopic tongue xenografts in male immunocompromised Salt sensitive or SS rats via both intratumoral and intravenous delivery. The radiation therapy enhancement mechanism was investigated.

RESULTS: Theranostic nanoparticles demonstrated both X-ray/magnetic resonance contrast in a …

A Pilot Phase Ib Study To Evaluate Tadalafil To Overcome Immunosuppression During Chemoradiotherapy For Idh-Wild-Type Glioblastoma, Subhajit Ghosh, Tanner M Johanns, Milan G Chheda, Eric Liu, Omar Butt, Christopher Abraham, Shahed Badiyan, Yi Huang, David Denardo, Albert H Kim, Dennis Hallahan, Dinesh Thotala, Jiayi Huang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are critical regulators of immunosuppression and radioresistance in glioblastoma (GBM). The primary objective of this pilot phase Ib study was to validate the on-target effect of tadalafil on inhibiting MDSCs in peripheral blood and its safety when combined with chemoradiotherapy in GBM patients.

METHODS: Patients with newly diagnosed IDH-wild-type GBM received radiation therapy (RT) and temozolomide (TMZ) combined with oral tadalafil for 2 months. A historical cohort of 12 GBM patients treated with RT and TMZ was used as the comparison group. The ratio of MDSCs, T cells, and cytokines at week 6 of RT …

Transplantation Of Gut Microbiota From Old Mice Into Young Healthy Mice Reduces Lean Mass But Not Bone Mass, Lina Lawenius, Carrie Cowardin, Jeffrey I Gordon, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Aging is associated with low bone and lean mass as well as alterations in the gut microbiota (GM). In this study, we determined whether the reduced bone mass and relative lean mass observed in old mice could be transferred to healthy young mice by GM transplantation (GMT). GM from old (21-month-old) and young adult (5-month-old) donors was used to colonize germ-free (GF) mice in three separate studies involving still growing 5- or 11-week-old recipients and 17-week-old recipients with minimal bone growth. The GM of the recipient mice was similar to that of the donors, demonstrating successful GMT. GM from old …

Cognition And Education Benefits Of Increased Hemoglobin And Blood Oxygenation In Children With Sickle Cell Disease, Joanna P. Macewan, Allison A. King, Andy Nguyen, Anuj Mubayi, Irene Agodoa, Kim Smith-Whitley

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Among individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD), decreased hemoglobin is associated with lower oxygen saturation (SpO2) and increased risk of stroke, both of which are associated with lower intelligence quotient (IQ) scores. Thus, increasing hemoglobin and SpO2 in individuals with SCD may increase IQ and educational attainment.

METHODS: A cohort simulation model was built to determine academic performance and educational attainment based on cognitive function (measured by IQ) of a pediatric SCD cohort randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. The model contained two key stages: childhood (<10 years) and adolescence (≥10 years). In stage 1, increased hemoglobin and increased SpO2 (assigned to the treatment group) were determinants of higher IQ, prevention of IQ deterioration over time. Increased hemoglobin was also a determinant of decreased stroke risk. In stage 2, improvement in adolescent IQ as a result of treatment was a determinant of academic performance.

RESULTS: In a simulated cohort of 2000 children and adolescents with …

Mitochondrial Reactivity Following Acute Exposure To Experimental Pain Testing In People With Hiv And Chronic Pain, Shannon R Gilstrap, Joanna M Hobson, Michael A Owens, Dyan M White, Melissa J Sammy, Scott Ballinger, Robert E Sorge, Burel R Goodin

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Controversies And Progress On Standardization Of Large-Scale Brain Network Nomenclature, Lucina Q. Uddin, Evan M. Gordon, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Progress in scientific disciplines is accompanied by standardization of terminology. Network neuroscience, at the level of macroscale organization of the brain, is beginning to confront the challenges associated with developing a taxonomy of its fundamental explanatory constructs. The Workgroup for HArmonized Taxonomy of NETworks (WHATNET) was formed in 2020 as an Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM)-endorsed best practices committee to provide recommendations on points of consensus, identify open questions, and highlight areas of ongoing debate in the service of moving the field toward standardized reporting of network neuroscience results. The committee conducted a survey to catalog current practices in …

An Image-Based Modeling Framework For Predicting Spatiotemporal Brain Cancer Biology Within Individual Patients, Kamila M Bond, Lee Curtin, Sara Ranjbar, Ariana E Afshari, Leland S Hu, Joshua B Rubin, Kristin R Swanson

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Imaging is central to the clinical surveillance of brain tumors yet it provides limited insight into a tumor's underlying biology. Machine learning and other mathematical modeling approaches can leverage paired magnetic resonance images and image-localized tissue samples to predict almost any characteristic of a tumor. Image-based modeling takes advantage of the spatial resolution of routine clinical scans and can be applied to measure biological differences within a tumor, changes over time, as well as the variance between patients. This approach is non-invasive and circumvents the intrinsic challenges of inter- and intratumoral heterogeneity that have historically hindered the complete assessment of …

Vancomycin-Induced Gut Microbial Dysbiosis Alters Enteric Neuron-Macrophage Interactions During A Critical Period Of Postnatal Development, Ellen Merrick Schill, Elisabeth L Joyce, Alexandria N Floyd, Sreeram Udayan, Brigida Rusconi, Shreya Gaddipati, Bibiana E Barrios, Vini John, Mitchell E Kaye, Devesha H Kulkarni, Jocelyn T Pauta, Keely G Mcdonald, Rodney D Newberry

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Vancomycin is a broad-spectrum antibiotic widely used in cases of suspected sepsis in premature neonates. While appropriate and potentially lifesaving in this setting, early-life antibiotic exposure alters the developing microbiome and is associated with an increased risk of deadly complications, including late-onset sepsis (LOS) and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Recent studies show that neonatal vancomycin treatment disrupts postnatal enteric nervous system (ENS) development in mouse pups, which is in part dependent upon neuroimmune interactions. This suggests that early-life antibiotic exposure could disrupt these interactions in the neonatal gut. Notably, a subset of tissue-resident intestinal macrophages, muscularis macrophages, has been identified as …

Rare Predicted Loss-Of-Function Variants Of Type I Ifn Immunity Genes Are Associated With Life-Threatening Covid-19, Daniela Matuozzo, Megan A. Cooper, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Forging A Future Title Ix, Naomi M. Mann

Faculty Scholarship

Title IX is in transition. Fifty years after its passage, Title IX is at the center of multiple culture wars, notably those around the definition of sex¹ and the contours of due process² in schools. Since 2011, the federal Department of Education (“ED”) has issued multiple guidance documents, containing widely divergent obligations for schools.³ In the last decade, the meaning of Title IX has been highly contested, appearing sometimes more dependent on the administration in power than on the statute’s text and purpose.⁴ This pendulum swing has diverted attention away from Title IX’s core goal: equal …

Enrollment Of Underrepresented Racial And Ethnic Groups In The Rare And Atypical Diabetes Network (Radiant), Mustafa Tosur, Laura Gandolfo, Ashok Balasubramanyam, Rochelle N Naylor, Toni I Pollin, Neda Rasouli, Sara J Cromer, John B Buse, Maria J Redondo, Radiant Study Group

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes mellitus in underrepresented racial and ethnic groups (URG) is rapidly increasing in incidence and has worse outcomes than diabetes in non-Hispanic White individuals. Rare and Atypical Diabetes Network (RADIANT) established recruitment targets based on the racial and ethnic distribution of the USA to enroll a diverse study population. We examined participation of URG across RADIANT study stages and described strategies to enhance recruitment and retention of URG.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: RADIANT is a multicenter NIH-funded study of people with uncharacterized forms of atypical diabetes. RADIANT participants consent online and progress through three sequential study stages, as eligible.

RESULTS: …

Emerging Issues In Probiotic Safety: 2023 Perspectives, Daniel Merenstein, Bruno Pot, Gregory Leyer, Arthur C Ouwehand, Geoffrey A Preidis, Christopher A Elkins, Colin Hill, Zachery T Lewis, Andi L Shane, Niv Zmora, Mariya I Petrova, Maria Carmen Collado, Lorenzo Morelli, Gina A Montoya, Hania Szajewska, Daniel J Tancredi, Mary Ellen Sanders

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Probiotics are used for both generally healthy consumers and in clinical settings. However, theoretical and proven adverse events from probiotic consumption exist. New probiotic strains and products, as well as expanding use of probiotics into vulnerable populations, warrants concise, and actionable recommendations on how to work toward their safe and effective use. The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics convened a meeting to discuss and produce evidence-based recommendations on potential acute and long-term risks, risks to vulnerable populations, the importance for probiotic product quality to match the needs of vulnerable populations, and the need for adverse event reporting related …

Cardiac Function, Structural, And Electrical Remodeling By Microgravity Exposure, Mary R Sy, Joshua A Keefe, Jeffrey P Sutton, Xander H T Wehrens

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Space medicine is key to the human exploration of outer space and pushes the boundaries of science, technology, and medicine. Because of harsh environmental conditions related to microgravity and other factors and hazards in outer space, astronauts and spaceflight participants face unique health and medical challenges, including those related to the heart. In this review, we summarize the literature regarding the effects of spaceflight on cardiac structure and function. We also provide an in-depth review of the literature regarding the effects of microgravity on cardiac calcium handling. Our review can inform future mechanistic and therapeutic studies and is applicable to …

The Ali Principles Of The Law Of Family Dissolution: Addressing Inequality Through Functional Regulation, Linda C. Mcclain, Douglas Nejamie

Faculty Scholarship

As part of a volume commemorating the American Law Institute on its centennial, this Essay reflects on the ALI Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution. We show how the Principles’ drafters intervened in cutting-edge issues at a time of flux in family law in ways that elaborated a progressive agenda that would continue to gain traction in the years after the Principles’ publication in 2000. Beginning from the assumption that family law should reflect how people actually live, the drafters developed a functional, rather than formal, approach to legal regulation. Such an approach, they believed, could vindicate commitments to …

Genetic Variation In Environmental Enteropathy And Stunting In Zambian Children: A Pilot Genome Wide Association Study Using The H3africa Chip, Monica N. Mweetwa, Talin Haritunians, Shishir Dube, Kanta Chandwe, Beatrice Amadi, Kanekwa Zyambo, Ta-Chiang Liu, Dermot Mcgovern, Paul Kelly

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: Stunting is known to be heavily influenced by environmental factors, so the genetic contribution has received little attention. Here we report an exploration of genetic influences in stunted Zambian children with environmental enteropathy.

METHOD: Children with stunting (LAZ < -2) were enrolled and given nutritional therapy. Those that were non-responsive to therapy were designated as cases, and children with good growth (LAZ > -1) from the same community as controls. Blood and stool samples were taken to measure biomarkers of intestinal inflammation, epithelial damage, and microbial translocation. Single nucleotide polymorphism array genotyping was carried out on saliva samples using the H3Africa consortium array.

RESULTS: Genome wide associations were analysed in 117 cases and 41 controls. While no significant associations with stunting were observed at …

Cytosolic Epcam Cooperates With H-Ras To Regulate Epithelial To Mesenchymal Transition Through Zeb1, Fatma A. Omar, Taylor C. Brown, William E. Gillanders, Timothy P. Fleming, Michael A. Smith, Ross M. Bremner, Narendra V. Sankpal

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Next generation sequencing of human cancer mutations has identified novel therapeutic targets. Activating Ras oncogene mutations play a central role in oncogenesis, and Ras-driven tumorigenesis upregulates an array of genes and signaling cascades that can transform normal cells into tumor cells. In this study, we investigated the role of altered localization of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) in Ras-expressing cells. Analysis of microarray data demonstrated that Ras expression induced EpCAM expression in normal breast epithelial cells. Fluorescent and confocal microscopy showed that H-Ras mediated transformation also promoted epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) together with EpCAM. To consistently localize EpCAM in the cytosol, …

Evolution And Implementation Of Radiographic Response Criteria In Neuro-Oncology, Divya Ramakrishnan, Marc Von Reppert, Mark Krycia, Matthew Sala, Sabine Mueller, Sanjay Aneja, Ali Nabavizadeh, Norbert Galldiks, Philipp Lohmann, Cyrus Raji, Ichiro Ikuta, Fatima Memon, Brent D Weinberg, Mariam S Aboian

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Radiographic response assessment in neuro-oncology is critical in clinical practice and trials. Conventional criteria, such as the MacDonald and response assessment in neuro-oncology (RANO) criteria, rely on bidimensional (2D) measurements of a single tumor cross-section. Although RANO criteria are established for response assessment in clinical trials, there is a critical need to address the complexity of brain tumor treatment response with multiple new approaches being proposed. These include volumetric analysis of tumor compartments, structured MRI reporting systems like the Brain Tumor Reporting and Data System, and standardized approaches to advanced imaging techniques to distinguish tumor response from treatment effects. In …

Genetics Of Vegetarianism: A Genome-Wide Association Study, Nabeel R. Yaseen, Catriona L. K. Barnes, Lingwei Sun, Akiko Takeda, John P. Rice

2020-Current year OA Pubs

A substantial body of evidence points to the heritability of dietary preferences. While vegetarianism has been practiced for millennia in various societies, its practitioners remain a small minority of people worldwide, and the role of genetics in choosing a vegetarian diet is not well understood. Dietary choices involve an interplay between the physiologic effects of dietary items, their metabolism, and taste perception, all of which are strongly influenced by genetics. In this study, we used a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify loci associated with strict vegetarianism in UK Biobank participants. Comparing 5,324 strict vegetarians to 329,455 controls, we identified …

Risk And Protection Of Different Rare Protein-Coding Variants Of Complement Component C4a In Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Johanna M Seddon, Dikha De, William Casazza, Shun-Yun Cheng, Claudio Punzo, Mark Daly, Danlei Zhou, Samantha L Coss, John P Atkinson, Chack-Yung Yu

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

The Association Of Radiation Dose With Overall Survival For Patients Treated With Prostate Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy, Michael R. Waters, Neal Andruska, Benjamin W. Fischer-Valuck, Temitope Agabalogun, Randall J. Brenneman, Hiram Gay, Jeff M. Michalski, Brian Baumann

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Introduction Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for prostate adenocarcinoma (PCa) has demonstrated excellent biochemical recurrence-free survival, with studies showing improved BRFS with higher-dose SBRT. However, current studies have been underpowered to evaluate the relationship of SBRT dose to overall survival (OS). In this retrospective study using the National Cancer Database (NCDB), we hypothesize that, given the low alpha/beta ratio of PCa, a relatively small increase in the dose-per-fraction would be associated with improved survival outcomes for intermediate-risk PCa (IR-PCa) comparing 36.25 Gy/5 fx [biologically equivalent dose (BEDα/β = 1.5 = 211.46 Gy vs. 35 Gy (BED1.5 = 198.33 Gy)]. Materials …

Open-Source Statistical And Data Processing Tools For Wide-Field Optical Imaging Data In Mice, Lindsey M. Brier, Joseph P. Culver

2020-Current year OA Pubs

SIGNIFICANCE: Wide-field optical imaging (WOI) can produce concurrent hemodynamic and cell-specific calcium recordings across the entire cerebral cortex in animal models. There have been multiple studies using WOI to image mouse models with various environmental or genetic manipulations to understand various diseases. Despite the utility of pursuing mouse WOI alongside human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and the multitude of analysis toolboxes in the fMRI literature, there is not an available open-source, user-friendly data processing and statistical analysis toolbox for WOI data.

AIM: To assemble a MATLAB toolbox for processing WOI data, as described and adapted to combine techniques from …

Barriers To And Solutions For Representative Inclusion Across The Lifespan And In Life Course Research: The Need For Structural Competency Highlighted By The Covid-19 Pandemic, Madison N Lecroy, Ebony B Carter, Sarah S Farabi, Dominic N Reeds, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Exclusion of special populations (older adults; pregnant women, children, and adolescents; individuals of lower socioeconomic status and/or who live in rural communities; people from racial and ethnic minority groups; individuals from sexual or gender minority groups; and individuals with disabilities) in research is a pervasive problem, despite efforts and policy changes by the National Institutes of Health and other organizations. These populations are adversely impacted by social determinants of health (SDOH) that reduce access and ability to participate in biomedical research. In March 2020, the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute hosted the "Lifespan and Life Course Research: integrating …

How Penalizing Substance Use In Pregnancy Affects Treatment And Research: A Qualitative Examination Of Researchers' Perspectives, Seema K Shah, Leishla Perez-Cardona, Khrystyna Helner, Suena H Massey, Ashish Premkumar, Renee Edwards, Elizabeth S Norton, Cynthia E Rogers, Emily S Miller, Christopher D Smyser, Matthew M Davis, Lauren S Wakschlag

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Laws regulating substance use in pregnancy are changing and may have unintended consequences on scientific efforts to address the opioid epidemic. Yet, how these laws affect care and research is poorly understood.

METHODS: We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews using purposive and snowball sampling of researchers who have engaged pregnant people experiencing substance use. We explored views on laws governing substance use in pregnancy and legal reform possibilities. Interviews were double coded. Data were examined using thematic analysis.

RESULTS: We interviewed 22 researchers (response rate: 71 per cent) and identified four themes: (i) harms of punitive laws, (ii) negative legal …

Microbiome-Targeting Therapies In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Safety And Efficacy, Anna Deveaux, Jian Ryou, Gautam Dantas, Barbara B Warner, Phillip I Tarr

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Microbiome-targeting therapies have received great attention as approaches to prevent disease in infants born preterm, but their safety and efficacy remain uncertain. Here we summarize the existing literature, focusing on recent meta-analyses and systematic reviews that evaluate the performance of probiotics, prebiotics, and/or synbiotics in clinical trials and studies, emphasizing interventions for which the primary or secondary outcomes were prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis, late-onset sepsis, feeding intolerance, and/or reduction in hospitalization length or all-cause mortality. Current evidence suggests that probiotics and prebiotics are largely safe but conclusions regarding their effectiveness in the neonatal intensive care unit have been mixed. To …

Characterization Of Cerebrospinal Fluid (Csf) Microbiota At The Time Of Initial Surgical Intervention For Children With Hydrocephalus, Shailly Pandey, Kathryn B. Whitlock, Matthew R. Test, Paul Hodor, Christopher E. Pope, David D. Limbrick, Patrick J. Mcdonald, Jason S. Hauptman, Lucas R. Hoffman, Tamara D. Simon, Cerebrospinal Fluid Microbiota In Shunts (Climb) Study Group

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the microbiota of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from children with hydrocephalus at the time of initial surgical intervention.

STUDY DESIGN: CSF was obtained at initial surgical intervention. One aliquot was stored in skim milk-tryptone-glucose-glycerol (STGG) medium and the second was unprocessed; both were then stored at -70°C. Bacterial growth for CSF samples stored in STGG were subsequently characterized using aerobic and anaerobic culture on blood agar and MALDI-TOF sequencing. All unprocessed CSF samples underwent 16S quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) sequencing, and a subset underwent standard clinical microbiological culture. CSF with culture growth (either after storage in …

Structural And Biophysical Characterization Of The Secreted, Β-Helical Adhesin Etpa Of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia Coli, Clifford Manyo Ntui, James M. Fleckenstein, Wolf-Dieter Schubert

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a diarrhoeal pathogen associated with high morbidity and mortality especially among young children in developing countries. At present, there is no vaccine for ETEC. One candidate vaccine antigen, EtpA, is a conserved secreted adhesin that binds to the tips of flagellae to bridge ETEC to host intestinal glycans. EtpA is exported through a Gram-negative, two-partner secretion system (TPSS, type Vb) comprised of the secreted EtpA passenger (TpsA) protein and EtpB (TpsB) transporter that is integrated into the outer bacterial membrane. TpsA proteins share a conserved, N-terminal TPS domain followed by an extensive C-terminal domain with …

Phosphorus Speciation And Heavy Metal Levels In Ogun River Sediments At Different Anthropogenic Locations In Abeokuta, Ogun State, Olayinka Oluwafunmilayo Olasunbo, Opatoyinbo Oluwabamise Esther, Olujimi Olarenwaju Olusoji, Azeez Jamiu Oladipupo, Oyebanji Adedayo Olamide

Applied Environmental Research

Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for phytoplankton growth in water bodies and an important element in biochemical processes. Also, excessive P in river causes eutrophication which endangers aquatic organisms while sediment acts as sink for inorganic and organic pollutants and nutrients. To assess the availability of P and heavy metals (HMs) in Ogun River, surface sediment samples were collected at twelve anthropogenic sites for three months. The surface sediment samples were sequentially extracted to determine five phosphorus fractions [loosely-sorbed P (LS-P), iron-bound P (Fe-P), authigenic apatite, biogenic apatite and CaCO3-bound P (CFA-P), detrital apatite (Det-P) and other inorganic P …