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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Growth Factor–Induced Shedding Of Syndecan-1 Confers Glypican-1 Dependence On Mitogenic Responses Of Cancer Cells, Kan Ding, Martha Lopez-Burks, José A. Sánchez-Duran, Murray Korc, Arthur D. Lander Nov 2005

Growth Factor–Induced Shedding Of Syndecan-1 Confers Glypican-1 Dependence On Mitogenic Responses Of Cancer Cells, Kan Ding, Martha Lopez-Burks, José A. Sánchez-Duran, Murray Korc, Arthur D. Lander

Dartmouth Scholarship

The cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) glypican-1 is up-regulated by pancreatic and breast cancer cells, and its removal renders such cells insensitive to many growth factors. We sought to explain why the cell surface HSPG syndecan-1, which is also up-regulated by these cells and is a known growth factor coreceptor, does not compensate for glypican-1 loss. We show that the initial responses of these cells to the growth factor FGF2 are not glypican dependent, but they become so over time as FGF2 induces shedding of syndecan-1. Manipulations that retain syndecan-1 on the cell surface make long-term FGF2 responses glypican …


Rhamnolipids Modulate Swarming Motility Patterns Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Nicky C. Caiazza, Robert M. Q. Shanks, G. A. O'Toole Nov 2005

Rhamnolipids Modulate Swarming Motility Patterns Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Nicky C. Caiazza, Robert M. Q. Shanks, G. A. O'Toole

Dartmouth Scholarship

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is capable of twitching, swimming, and swarming motility. The latter form of translocation occurs on semisolid surfaces, requires functional flagella and biosurfactant production, and results in complex motility patterns. From the point of inoculation, bacteria migrate as defined groups, referred to as tendrils, moving in a coordinated manner capable of sensing and responding to other groups of cells. We were able to show that P. aeruginosa produces extracellular factors capable of modulating tendril movement, and genetic analysis revealed that modulation of these movements was dependent on rhamnolipid biosynthesis. An rhlB mutant (deficient in mono- and dirhamnolipid production) and …


Sara Positively Controls Bap-Dependent Biofilm Formation In Staphylococcus Aureus, María P. Trotonda, Adhar C. Manna, Ambrose L. Cheung, Iñigo Lasa, José R. Penadés Aug 2005

Sara Positively Controls Bap-Dependent Biofilm Formation In Staphylococcus Aureus, María P. Trotonda, Adhar C. Manna, Ambrose L. Cheung, Iñigo Lasa, José R. Penadés

Dartmouth Scholarship

The biofilm-associated protein Bap is a staphylococcal surface protein involved in biofilm formation. We investigated the influence of the global regulatory locus sarA on bap expression and Bap-dependent biofilm formation in three unrelated Staphylococcus aureus strains. The results showed that Bap-dependent biofilm formation was diminished in the sarA mutants by an agr-independent mechanism. Complementation studies using a sarA clone confirmed that the defect in biofilm formation was due to the sarA mutation. As expected, the diminished capacity to form biofilms in the sarA mutants correlated with the decreased presence of Bap in the bacterial surface. Using transcriptional fusion and …


Requirements For Vibrio Cholerae Hapr Binding And Transcriptional Repression At The Hapr Promoter Are Distinct From Those At The Apha Promoter, Wei Lin, Gabriela Kovacikova, Karen Skorupski May 2005

Requirements For Vibrio Cholerae Hapr Binding And Transcriptional Repression At The Hapr Promoter Are Distinct From Those At The Apha Promoter, Wei Lin, Gabriela Kovacikova, Karen Skorupski

Dartmouth Scholarship

Virulence gene expression in certain strains of Vibrio cholerae is regulated in response to cell density by a quorum-sensing cascade that influences the levels of the LuxR homolog HapR through small regulatory RNAs that control the stability of its message. At high cell density, HapR represses the expression of the gene encoding the virulence gene activator AphA by binding to a site between −85 and −58 in the aphA promoter. We show here that a second binding site for HapR lies within the hapR promoter from which it functions to repress its own transcription. This site, as determined by gel …


Sara Is An Essential Positive Regulator Of Staphylococcus Epidermidis Biofilm Development, Maria A. Tormo, Miguel Marti, Jaione Valle, Adhar C. Manna Apr 2005

Sara Is An Essential Positive Regulator Of Staphylococcus Epidermidis Biofilm Development, Maria A. Tormo, Miguel Marti, Jaione Valle, Adhar C. Manna

Dartmouth Scholarship

Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm formation is associated with the production of the polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA)--poly-N-acetylglucosamine polysaccharide (PNAG) by the products of the icaADBC operon. Recent evidence indicates that SarA, a central regulatory element that controls the production of Staphylococcus aureus virulence factors, is essential for the synthesis of PIA/PNAG and the ensuing biofilm development in this species. Based on the presence of a sarA homolog, we hypothesized that SarA could also be involved in the regulation of the biofilm formation process in S. epidermidis. To investigate this, we constructed nonpolar sarA deletions in two genetically unrelated S. epidermidis clinical strains, …


Identification Of A Tcpc-Tcpq Outer Membrane Complex Involved In The Biogenesis Of The Toxin-Coregulated Pilus Of Vibrio Cholerae, Niranjan Bose, Ronald K. Taylor Apr 2005

Identification Of A Tcpc-Tcpq Outer Membrane Complex Involved In The Biogenesis Of The Toxin-Coregulated Pilus Of Vibrio Cholerae, Niranjan Bose, Ronald K. Taylor

Dartmouth Scholarship

The toxin-coregulated pilus (TCP) of Vibrio cholerae and the soluble TcpF protein that is secreted via the TCP biogenesis apparatus are essential for intestinal colonization. The TCP biogenesis apparatus is composed of at least nine proteins but is largely uncharacterized. TcpC is an outer membrane lipoprotein required for TCP biogenesis that is a member of the secretin protein superfamily. In the present study, analysis of TcpC in a series of strains deficient in each of the TCP biogenesis proteins revealed that TcpC was absent specifically in a tcpQ mutant. TcpQ is a predicted periplasmic protein required for TCP biogenesis. Fractionation …


A Three-Component Regulatory System Regulates Biofilm Maturation And Type Iii Secretion In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Sherry L. Kuchma, John P. Connolly, George A. O'Toole Feb 2005

A Three-Component Regulatory System Regulates Biofilm Maturation And Type Iii Secretion In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Sherry L. Kuchma, John P. Connolly, George A. O'Toole

Dartmouth Scholarship

Biofilms are structured communities found associated with a wide range of surfaces. Here we report the identification of a three-component regulatory system required for biofilm maturation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PA14. A transposon mutation that altered biofilm formation in a 96-well dish assay originally defined this locus, which is comprised of genes for a putative sensor histidine kinase and two response regulators and has been designated sadARS. Nonpolar mutations in any of the sadARS genes result in biofilms with an altered mature structure but do not confer defects in growth or early biofilm formation, swimming, or twitching motility. After …