Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused by Leishmania donovani and Leishmania infantum/chagasi represents the second most challenging infectious disease worldwide, leading to nearly 500,000 new cases and 60,000 deaths annually. Zoonotic VL caused by L. infantum is a re-emergent canid zoonoses which represents a complex epidemiological cycle in the New world where domestic dogs serve as a reservoir h...

Novel and more effective immunization strategies against many animal diseases may profit from the current knowledge on the modulation of specific immunity through stimulation of innate immune receptors. Toll-like receptor (TLR)2-targeting formulations, such as synthetic lipopeptides and antigens expressed in fusion with lipoproteins, have been shown to have built-in adjuvant properties and to b...

Meningococcal disease is communicable by close contact or droplet aerosols. Striking features are high case fatality rates and peak incidences of invasive disease in infants, toddlers and adolescents. Vaccine development is hampered by bacterial immune evasion strategies including molecular mimicry.As for Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae, no vaccine has therefore been develop...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by chronic synovial joint inflammation, destruction of articular cartilage and erosion of subchondral bone. Major advances have been made in the medical management of RA with the introduction of various types of biologic drugs which neutralize the activity of pro-inflammatory cytokines as well as T-cell and B-cell proliferation. ...

Due to their worldwide importance for human and animal health, schistosomes are in the focus of national and international research activities. Schistosomiasis is a major health problem and despite decades of research, only one effective drug, Praziquantel is currently available. Recent expansion of sequence databases on Schistosoma mansoni and S. japonicum has permitted a wealth of novel prote...

ABsTRAcr. Neospora c'aninum is a recognized protozoan parasite of a wjde range of marnmalian hosts, and was reported for the first time in 1988. The isolation f its oocysts in deg's faeces in 1998 led to its establishment as a parasitic species undergoing typical coccidian life cycle, Infection with N, caninum causes paralysis and death in young liyestock and companion animals, and is associate...

noroviruses (novs), an important pathogenic agent of foodborne illness, lead to acute and chronic gastroenteritis in humans of all ages and to travelers’ diarrhea. many genotypes exist in nature; gii.4 is widely known as the most predominant. outbreaks mostly occur in semi-closed settings. although the disease is self-limited to person, many cases have resulted in death, which has raised more c...

tetanus is a disease caused by tetanus toxin, a potent inhibitor for the release of inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system that causes spastic paralysis. fragment c (52 kd) of this toxin is responsible for binding to the neuronal membrane. for this reason, and also its non toxigenic and immunogenic nature, this fragment might be ideal for new vaccine development. presently, w...

results primary, secondary, and 3d structure of cchfv gn were obtained and pcr reaction with m13 forward and reverse primers confirmed the generation of recombinant bacmid dna harboring gn coding region under polyhedron promoter. conclusions characterization of the detailed structure of cchfv gn by bioinformatics software provides the basis for development of new experiments and construction of...

Leptospirosis caused by infection with pathogenic leptospires, which is the most prevalent zoonotic disease in the world. The outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of pathogenic leptospires such as LipL41 play a crucial role in pathogenesis of this disease. Therefore a major challenge to develop an effective vaccine against leptospirosis is application of basic research on the OMPs of leptospires to i...