Self proteins are processed and presented by APCs in the same way as foreign proteins. Presentation of fragments derived from self proteins does not, however, lead to Th cell stimulation because of T cell tolerance. In this study, a novel approach was used to investigate whether B cell tolerance toward a self Ag could be due to the absence of this Th cell recognition. The highly conserved nonim...

This study aims to investigate the effect of the Twin Deficits, i.e., deficit of government budget, and deficit in current account, on the foreign debt in Jordan during the period 1977 – 2004. A four variables cointegration analysis with the variables: outstanding foreign debt, budget deficit, current account balance proxied by its index, and gross fixed capital formation were exploited. Dicky-...

The influenza virus A/Japan/305/57 hemagglutinin (HA) can be converted from a protein that is essentially excluded from coated pits into one that is internalized at approximately the rate of uptake of bulk membrane by replacing the HA transmembrane and cytoplasmic sequences with those of either of two other glycoproteins (Roth et al., 1986. J. Cell Biol. 102:1271-1283). To identify more precise...

Certain insect viruses produce stable infectious microcrystals called polyhedra which function to protect the virus after the death of infected larvae. Polyhedra form within infected cells and contain numerous virus particles embedded in a crystalline lattice of the viral protein polyhedrin. We have previously demonstrated that the Nterminal 75 amino acids of the Bombx mori cypovirus (BmCPV) tu...

Chromosomal integration offers a selection-free alternative to DNA plasmids for expression of foreign proteins and metabolic pathways. Episomal plasmid DNA is convenient but has drawbacks including increased metabolic burden and the requirement for selection in the form of antibiotics. E. coli has long been used for the expression of foreign proteins and for the production of valuable metabolit...

Controlling protein interactions at the implanted electrode interface is becoming an important strategy for the management of foreign body responses that have proven to be detrimental to the long-term performance of neural prosthesis. In this study, PEGylation was conducted on platinum bio-electrodes to render the surface protein-resistant. The PEGylated electrode was investigated using a quart...

We have identified an acceptor site on HIV gp120, where foreign protein sequences can be inserted while retaining the native conformation of gp120. The resulting hybrids showed dual antigenicity, normal glycosylation, and high affinity binding of the CD4 receptor. This site allows insertion of highly immunogenic proteins such as core antigen of hepatitis B virus. By combining the immunogenicity...