Francisella tularensis is a gram-negative intracellular pathogen and the causative agent of the disease tularemia. Inhalation of as few as 10 bacteria is sufficient to cause severe disease, making F. tularensis one of the most highly virulent bacterial pathogens. The initial stage of infection is characterized by the "silent" replication of bacteria in the absence of a significant inflammatory ...

Among the methods available to reduce water production, injecting a gelling system composed of a polymer and a crosslinker has been widely used. In this work, a hydrogel was prepared by crosslinking of an aqueous solution containing hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) as crosslinker, hydrochloric acid (HCl) as an activator, and the co-polymer of 2-acrylamido-2methyl-propanesulfonic-acid sodium salt (...

Viral genomes comprise either RNA or DNA, and sometimes both, as can happen with retroviruses at different stages of their life cycle. Viral nucleic acids are pathogenassociated molecular patterns (PAMPs) that are detected by a variety of pathogenrecognition receptors (PPRs), key components of the innate immune system. A diverse set of PRRs has evolved to sense the genetic material of viruses. ...

Basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) interacts with high-affinity tyrosine-kinase fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs) and low-affinity heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) in target cells. Both interactions are required for FGF-2-mediated biological responses. Here we report the FGF-2 antagonist activity of novel synthetic sulfonic acid polymers with distinct chemical structures and m...

BACKGROUND The C1q domain containing (C1qDC) proteins refer to a family of all proteins that contain the globular C1q (gC1q) domain, and participate in a series of immune responses depending on their gC1q domains to bind a variety of self and non-self binding ligands. METHODOLOGY In the present study, the mRNA expression patterns, localization, and activities of a C1qDC protein from scallop C...

BACKGROUND RIG-I (retinoic acid inducible gene-I) is one of the key cytosolic pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) for detecting nucleotide pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and mediating the induction of type I interferon and inflammatory cytokines in innate immune response. Though the mechanism is well characterized in mammals, the study of the accurate function of RIG-I in teleo...