Microbiology Commons^™

Mcp-1 And App Involvement Of Glial Differentiation And Migration Of Neuroprogenitor Cells, Emmanuel Vrotsos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Neuroprogenitor cells are an important resource because of their potential to replace damaged cells in the brain caused by trauma and disease. It is of great importance to better understand which factors influence the differentiation and migration of these cells. Previously it has been reported that neuroprogenitor cells undergoing apoptotic stress have increased levels of Amyloid precursor protein (APP) and increased APP expression results in glial differentiation. APP activity was also shown to be required for staurosporine induced glial differentiation of neuroprogenitor cells. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a chemokine that is expressed during inflammatory. The binding of MCP-1 to …

In Step With Hiv Vaccines? A Content Analysis Of Local Recruitment Campaigns For An International Hiv Vaccine Study, Paula M. Frew, Wendy Macias, Kayshin Chan, Ashley Harding

Environmental & Global Health Faculty Research

During the past two decades of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, several recruitment campaigns were designed to generate community involvement in preventive HIV vaccine clinical trials. These efforts utilized a blend of advertising and marketing strategies mixed with public relations and community education approaches to attract potential study participants to clinical trials (integrated marketing communications). Although more than 30,000 persons worldwide have participated in preventive HIV vaccine studies, no systematic analysis of recruitment campaigns exists. This content analysis study was conducted to examine several United States and Canadian recruitment campaigns for one of the largest-scale HIV vaccine trials to date (the “Step …

Electroporation For The Delivery Of Dna-Based Vaccines And Immunotherapeutics: Current Clinical Developments, Angela M. Bodles-Brakhop, Richard Heller, Ruxandra Draghia-Akli

Bioelectrics Publications

Electroporation (EP) has been used in basic research for the past 25 years to aid in the transfer of DNA into cells in vitro. EP in vivo enhances transfer of DNA vaccines and therapeutic plasmids to the skin, muscle, tumors, and other tissues resulting in high levels of expression, often with serological and clinical benefits. the recent interest in nonviral gene transfer as treatment options for a vast array of conditions has resulted in the refinement and optimization of EP technology. current research has revealed that EP can be successfully used in many species, including humans. clinical trials are …

Implication For The Role Of Leptin-Induced Signaling As A Negative Regulator Of Dendritic Cell Function, Oscar Ramirez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The incidence of obesity among the distinct world populations has become an ever growing concern. Central to the regulation of obesity is the adipocyte-derived hormone, and in more recent years cytokine, leptin. Leptin plays a central role in the maintenance of food consumption as well as the efficient use of peripheral energy stores. Leptin exerts its physiological role in energy homeostasis by regulating the expression of orexigenic peptides in the central nervous system. However, recent research has implicated leptin in other physiological roles including those of the immune system. As a pleiotropic cytokine, the absence of leptin has been shown …

Letter From The Dean, Lalit Verma

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Aerobic Respiration In Great Basin Hot Springs, Caitlin N. Murphy

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Despite a wide diversity of possible electron donors available to fuel chemolithotrophy, it has been proposed that hydrogen is the single most important electron donor in geothermal ecosystems. To directly test this hypothesis, a simple system was devised to determine whether microorganisms in hot spring water and sediment are capable of using hydrogen and other electron donors for aerobic respiration using microrespirometry. The protocol for these experiments was developed using pure cultures of Thermocrinis ruber to determine the effect of growth conditions on the rate of oxygen consumption following the addition of electron donors. For field experiments, samples were collected …

Protection Of Macrophages J774a.1 By Purine Nucleoside Analogues From Bacillus Anthracis Mediated Necrosis, Zadkiel R. Alvarez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Eight years after the lamentable anthrax attacks, major scientific effort continues to be done, in order to stop imminent acts of bioterrorism. Innovative ways of therapy against the anthrax disease are being investigated. B. anthracis, the etiological agent of the infection, has a dormant stage in its life cycle known as the endospore. When conditions become favorable spores germinate, transforming into vegetative bacteria. In inhalational anthrax, the most fatal manifestation of the disease, spores enter the organism through the respiratory track, and are phagocytosized by alveolar macrophages of the lungs. Spores are able to sense nutrient availability, activating their germination …

Contributions Of Gut Bacteria To Bacillus Thuringiensis-Induced Mortality Vary Across A Range Of Lepidoptera, Nichole Broderick, Courtney Robinson, Matthew Mcmahon, Kenneth Raffa

Department of Biology Faculty Publications

Gut microbiota contribute to the health of their hosts, and alterations in the composition of this microbiota can lead to disease. Previously, we demonstrated that indigenous gut bacteria were required for the insecticidal toxin of Bacillus thuringiensis to kill the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar. B. thuringiensis and its associated insecticidal toxins are commonly used for the control of lepidopteran pests. A variety of factors associated with the insect host, B. thuringiensis strain, and environment affect the wide range of susceptibilities among Lepidoptera, but the interaction of gut bacteria with these factors is not understood. To assess the contribution of gut …

Patterning Defects In Silkworm Embryos Analysed Through Cuticle Preparations, Amit Singh, Madhuri Kango-Singh, K. P. Gopinathan

Biology Faculty Publications

The mulberry silkworm, Bombyx mori, a holometabolous lepidopteran insect, has a metameric body plan. Due to its functional adaptation, B. mori presents some unique deviations in its pal/ern from the evolutionarily advanced dipteran insect, Drosophila melanogaster. Previous studies on mutant phenotype analysis in B. mori have been carried out in late stages of larval development. Here we employ, the cuticle preparation approach during embryonic development to study morphological landmarks associated with B. mori, Eri, another race a/silkworm, and pattern defects associated with Ekp mutant of B.mori. The homeotic mutant Ekp, generates ectopic abdominallegs, a feature …

Intradermal Delivery Of Plasmid Vegf(165) By Electroporation Promotes Wound Healing, Bernadette Ferraro, Yolmari Cruz, Domenico Coppola, Richard Heller

Bioelectrics Publications

Skin flaps are extensively used in reconstructive surgeries to repair large defects and deep wounds, but severe ischemia and necrosis often results in loss of the transplanted tissue. Thus, skin flap models are often used to study the biology of healing and necrosis of acute ischemic wounds. Delivery of exogenous vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) to areas of ischemia has shown promise for promoting therapeutic angiogenesis, but its expression must be tightly regulated to avoid adverse effects. In this study, plasmid DNA encoding VEGF₁₆₅ (pVEGF) was delivered to the ischemic skin of a rat skin flap model by intradermal …

Molecular Characterization Of Gastroenteritis Viruses Among Equines And Porcines In Southern Ireland From 2005-2007., P. J, Collins

Theses

Rotaviruses are a major cause of gastroenteritis in humans and animals. To date, seven serogroups (A to G) of rotavirus have been determined. Group A Rotaviruses (GARVs) are enteric pathogens, causing acute watery dehydrating diarrhea in various host species, including birds and mammals. Rotaviruses account for ~611,000 child deaths each year, mainly in developing countries. Likewise, rotavirus-associated enteritis is a major problem in young calves, weaning and post-weaning piglets and foals. Vaccines against the most important serologic group of rotaviruses (GARVs) are available for the prevention of rotavirus diseases in cows and horses, and, more recently, they have been made …

Development Of Pcr Assays To Detect And Characterise Salmonella Isolates From Cheese And Meat Products By Utilizing An Integrated Genomics Approach, Noelle Geraldine Mccarthy

Theses

Salmonella is an extremely important foodborne pathogen which is responsible for millions of cases of gastroenteritis annually. Salmonella outbreaks have been associated with numerous common food stuffs such as meat, dairy and seafood. Traditional culture based methods for the detection Salmonella are labourious and costly. Rapid detection and serovar identification would dramatically decrease the time required to identify Salmonella outbreaks and potential health risks.

In the US 99% of all Salmonella infections are caused by members of Salmonella enterica subspecies 1. Serovars within subspecies 1 can vary due to host specificity and pathogenicity. DNA sequencing projects have provided valuable genomic …

The Detection And Analysis Of Selected Pathogens In The Water Supply Of Dairy Cohort Herds., Niall Drummond

Theses

The issue of food safety is a growing concern to Irish agriculture and to the food industry. In the last twenty years, many novel pathogens, which can cause concern to the food industry, have been identified. Organisms such as Verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) cause hemorrhagic colitis and Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), which is the major cause of acute renal failure in children in many countries, and it’s presence in food is a cause of growing concern. Other pathogens causing concern are those implicated as causative agents of Acute Gastroenteritis (AGE) and these can be bacterial, viral and parasitic organisms.

Consumption …

Host Defense Mechanisms Against Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Laurin Nicole Holloway

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

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 …

Pyramidobacter Piscolens Gen. Nov., Sp. Nov., A Member Of The Phylum ‘Synergistetes’ Isolated From The Human Oral Cavity, Julia Downes, Sonia R. Vartoukian, Floyd E. Dewhirst, Jacques Izard, Tsute Chen, Wen-Han Yu, Iain C. Sutcliffe, William G. Wade

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Four strains of anaerobic, gram-negative bacilli isolated from the human oral cavity were subjected to a comprehensive range of phenotypic and genotypic tests and were found to comprise a homogeneous group distinct from any species with validly published names. 16S rRNA and 23S rRNA gene sequence analyses and DNA–DNA reassociation data revealed that the strains constituted a novel group within the phylum ‘Synergistetes’ and were most closely related to Jonquetella anthropi. Two libraries of randomly cloned DNA were prepared from strain W5455T and were sequenced to provide a genome survey as a resource for metagenomic studies. A new genus …

Cryo-Electron Tomography Elucidates The Molecular Architecture Of Treponema Pallidum, The Syphilis Spirochete, Jacques Izard, Christian Renken, Chyong-Ere Hsieh, Daniel C. Desrosiers, Star Dunham-Ems, Carson La Vake, Linda L. Gebhardt, Ronald J. Limberger, David L. Cox, Michael Marko, Justin D. Radolf

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Cryo-electron tomography (CET) was used to examine the native cellular organization of Treponema pallidum, the syphilis spirochete. T. pallidum cells appeared to form flat waves, did not contain an outer coat and, except for bulges over the basal bodies and widening in the vicinity of flagellar filaments, displayed a uniform periplasmic space. Although the outer membrane (OM) generally was smooth in contour, OM extrusions and blebs frequently were observed, highlighting the structure’s fluidity and lack of attachment to underlying periplasmic constituents. Cytoplasmic filaments converged from their attachment points opposite the basal bodies to form arrays that ran roughly …

Characterization Of A Monothiol Glutaredoxin Encoded By Chlorella Virus Pbcv-1, Lisa A. Fitzgerald, Yuanzheng Zhang, Gentry L. Lewis, James L. Van Etten

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Annotation of the 330-kb Chlorella virus PBCV-1 genome identified a 237 nucleotide gene (a438l) that codes for a protein with ~35% amino acid identity to glutaredoxins (Grx) found in other organisms. The PBCV-1 protein resembles classical Grxs in both size (9 kDa) and location of the active site (N-terminus). However, the PBCV-1 Grx is unusual because it contains a monothiol active site (CPYS) rather than the typical dithiol active site (CPYC). To examine this unique active site, four sitespecific mutants (CPYC, CPYA, SPYC, and SPYS) were constructed to determine if the N-terminal cysteine is necessary for enzyme activity. …

The Zinc Finger Dna-Binding Domain Of K-Rbp Plays An Important Role In Regulating Kaposi’S Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Rta-Mediated Gene Expression, Zhilong Yang, Hui-Ju Wen, Veenu Minhas, Charles Wood

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

K-RBP is a KRAB-containing zinc finger protein with multiple zinc finger motifs and represses Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) transactivator RTA-mediated transactivation of several viral lytic gene promoters, including the ORF57 promoter. Whether K-RBP binds DNA through its zinc fingers and the role of zinc finger domain in repressing gene expression are unclear. Here we report that K-RBP binds DNA through its zinc finger domain and the target DNA sequences contain high GC content. Furthermore, K-RBP binds to KSHV ORF57 promoter, which contains a GC-rich motif. K-RBP suppresses the basal ORF57 promoter activity as well as RTA-mediated activation. The zinc finger …

Human Ubc9 Contributes To Production Of Fully Infectious Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Virions, Tareq Jaber, Christopher R. Bohl, Gentry L. Lewis, Charles Wood, John T. West Jr., Robert A. Weldon Jr.

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Ubc9 was identified as a cellular protein that interacts with the Gag protein of Mason-Pfizer monkey virus. We show here that Ubc9 also interacts with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Gag protein and that their interaction is important for virus replication. Gag was found to colocalize with Ubc9 predominantly at perinuclear puncta. While cells in which Ubc9 expression was suppressed with RNA interference produced normal numbers of virions, these particles were 8- to 10-fold less infectious than those produced in the presence of Ubc9. The nature of this defect was assayed for dependence on Ubc9 during viral assembly, …

Expression Of Hpv16 E5 Produces Enlarged Nuclei And Polyploidy Through Endoreplication, Lulin Hu, Tamara A. Potapova, Shibo Li, Susannah Rankin, Gary J. Gorbsky, Peter C. Angeletti, Brian P. Ceresa

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Anogenital cancers and head and neck cancers are causally-associated with infection by high-risk

human papillomavirus (HPV). The mechanism by which high-risk HPVs contribute to

oncogenesis is poorly understood. HPV16 encodes three genes (HPV16 E5, E6, and E7) that can

transform cells when expressed independently. HPV16 E6 and E7 have well-described roles

causing genomic instability and unregulated cell cycle progression. The role of HPV16 E5 in cell

transformation remains to be elucidated. Expression of HPV16 E5 results in enlarged, polyploid

nuclei that are dependent on the level and duration of HPV16 E5 expression. Live-cell imaging

data indicate these changes do not …

Human Papillomavirus 16 E5 Induces Bi-Nucleated Cell Formation By Cell-Cell Fusion, Lulin Ha, Kendra Plafker, Valeriya Vorozhoko, Rosemary E. Zuna, Marie H. Hanigan, Gary J. Gorbsky, Scott M. Plafker, Peter C. Angeletti, Brian P. Ceresa

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Human Papillomaviruses (HPV) 16 is a DNA virus encoding three oncogenes – E5, E6, and E7. The E6 and E7 proteins have well-established roles as inhibitors of tumor suppression, but the contribution of E5 to malignant transformation is controversial. Using spontaneously immortalized human keratinocytes (HaCaT cells), we demonstrate that expression of HPV16 E5 is necessary and sufficient for the formation of bi-nucleated cells, a common characteristic of precancerous cervical lesions. Expression of E5 from non-carcinogenic HPV6b does not produce bi-nucleate cells. Video microscopy and biochemical analyses reveal that bi-nucleates arise through cell-cell fusion. Although most E5-induced bi-nucleates fail to propagate, …

A Comparative Study Of Hiv-1 Clade C Env Evolution In A Zambian Infant With An Infected Rhesus Macaque During Disease Progression, For Yue Tso, Federico G. Hoffmann, Damien C. Tully, Philippe Lemey, Robert A. Rasmussen, Hong Zhang, Ruth M. Ruprecht, Charles Wood

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Objective—To evaluate whether HIV-1 clade C (HIV-C) envelope variations that arise during disease progression in rhesus macaque model reflect changes that occur naturally in human infection.

Design—An infant macaque was infected with SHIV-1157i, an R5 tropic clade C SHIV (SHIV-C) which expresses a primary HIV-C envelope derived from an infected human infant, and monitored over a five-year period. Genetic variation of the V1-V5 envelope region, which is the main target for humoral immune responses, derived from the infected macaque and infant was examined.

Methods—V1-V5 envelope region were cloned and sequenced from longitudinal PBMC samples collected from the infected macaque and …

Protection Against Mucosal Shiv Challenge By Peptide And Helper-Dependent Adenovirus Vaccines, Eric A. Weaver, Pramod N. Nehete, Bharti P. Nehete, Stephanie J. Buchl, Donna Palmer, David C. Montefiori, Philip Ng, K. Jagannadha Sastry, Michael A. Barry

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Groups of rhesus macaques that had previously been immunized with HIV-1 envelope (env) peptides and first generation adenovirus serotype 5 (FG-Ad5) vaccines expressing the same peptides were immunized intramuscularly three times with helper- dependent adenovirus (HD-Ad) vaccines expressing only the HIV-1 envelope from JRFL. No gag, pol, or other SHIV genes were used for vaccination. One group of the FG-Ad5- immune animals was immunized three times with HD-Ad5 expressing env. One group was immunized by serotype-switching with HD-Ad6, HD-Ad1, and HD-Ad2 expressing env. Previous work demonstrated that serum antibody levels against env were significantly higher in the serotype-switched group than …

Microbiology Of Oil Fly Larvae, Kenneth Nickerson, Bradley A. Plantz

Kenneth Nickerson Papers

One animal beautifully adapted to the viscous asphalt of the La Brea tar pits is the oil fly Helaeomyia petrolei (Syn. Psilopa). As a normal part of its carnivorous existence the oil fly larval guts are filled with tar, with no adverse effects. Surface sterilized larvae 5 contained ca. 2 x 10 heterotrophic bacteria per larva. These bacteria have been identified as a mixture of enteric bacteria, most commonly Providencia rettgeri, and Acinetobacter spp. These bacteria were clearly growing because their numbers in the larval guts were 100 to 1,000 times greater than in free oil/asphalt. There is …

Reelin Signaling Promotes Radial Glia Maturation And Neurogenesis, Serene Keilani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The end of neurogenesis in the human brain is marked by the transformation of the neural progenitors, the radial glial cells, into astrocytes. This event coincides with the reduction of Reelin expression, a glycoprotein that regulates neuronal migration in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum. A recent study showed that the dentate gyrus of the adult reeler mice, with homozygous mutation in the RELIN gene, have reduced neurogenesis relative to the wild type. Based on the above findings, our first hypothesis states that Reelin expression is important for the formation of radial glia and the generation of neurons from the neural …

Vesicle Targeting In Plasmodium Falciparum: The Identification And Molecular Characterization Of Plasmodium Falciparum Family Of Of Snare Proteins, Lawrence Sumanjah Ayong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Proteins of the SNARE (Soluble N-ethylmaleimide sensitive factor attachment protein receptor) super-family have been characterized as playing an essential role in vesicle targeting and fusion in all eukaryotes. The intracellular malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum exhibits an unusual endomembrane system that is characterized by an unstacked Golgi apparatus, a developmentally induced apical complex, and various organellar structures of parasite origin in the infected host cells. How malaria parasites target nuclear-encoded proteins to these novel compartments is a central question in Plasmodium cell biology. Ultrastructural studies elsewhere have implicated the participation of specialized vesicular elements in transport of virulence proteins, including various …

Interaction Between Bacteriophage Dms3 And Host Crispr Region Inhibits Group Behaviors Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Michael E. Zegans, Jeffrey C. Wagner, Kyle C. Cady, Daniel M. Murphy, John H. Hammond, George A. O'Toole

Dartmouth Scholarship

Bacteriophage infection has profound effects on bacterial biology. Clustered regular interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) and cas (CRISPR-associated) genes are found in most archaea and many bacteria and have been reported to play a role in resistance to bacteriophage infection. We observed that lysogenic infection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14 with bacteriophage DMS3 inhibits biofilm formation and swarming motility, both important bacterial group behaviors. This inhibition requires the CRISPR region in the host. Mutation or deletion of five of the six cas genes and one of the two CRISPRs in this region restored biofilm formation and swarming …

An Algorithm For Identifying Novel Targets Of Transcription Factor Families: Application To Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1 Targets, Yue Jiang, Bojan Cukic, Donald A. Adjeroh, Heath D. Skinner, Jie Lin, Qingxi J. Shen, Bing-Hua Jiang

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

Efficient and effective analysis of the growing genomic databases requires the development of adequate computational tools. We introduce a fast method based on the suffix tree data structure for predicting novel targets of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) from huge genome databases. The suffix tree data structure has two powerful applications here: one is to extract unknown patterns from multiple strings/sequences in linear time; the other is to search multiple strings/sequences using multiple patterns in linear time. Using 15 known HIF-1 target gene sequences as a training set, we extracted 105 common patterns that all occur in the 15 training genes …

Relating Fractal Dimension To Branching Behaviour In Filamentous Microorganisms, David Barry, Onwuarolu Ifeyinwa, Shauna Mcgee, Raymond Ryan, Gwilym Williams, Jonathan Blackledge

Articles

The productivity of an industrial fermentation process involving a filamentous microbe is heavily dependent on the morphological form adopted by the organism. The development of systems capable of rapidly and accurately characterising morphology within a given process represents a significant challenge to biotechnologists, as the complex phenotypes that are manifested are often not easily quantified. Conventional parameters employed in these analyses are of limited value, as they reveal little about the specific branching behaviour of the organism, which is an important consideration given the demonstrated link between branching frequency and metabolite production. More recently, fractal geometry has been employed in …

Peptide Hydrolysis And The Uptake Of Dipeptides By Phytoplankton, Margaret R. Mulholland, Cindy Lee

OES Faculty Publications

Rates of peptide hydrolysis (using the fluorescent substrate, lucifer yellow anhydride-labeled tetra-alanine) and dipeptide uptake (using dually labeled, ¹⁵N and ¹³C, dialanine) were measured in phytoplankton cultures and in natural populations during algal blooms dominated by one or two taxa. During most sampling events, both peptide hydrolysis and dipeptide uptake were greatest in the size fraction containing the dominant phytoplankter, suggesting that phytoplankton contribute substantially to or may even dominate observed extracellular peptide hydrolysis and dipeptide uptake in the environment. These are the first data suggesting that dipeptides may be taken up directly by phytoplankton and this may …