Heat shock proteins (HSP) have been shown to enhance antigen processing and presentation through their association with antigenic peptides and delivery of these moieties into major histocompatibility complex class I pathways. In this study, mycobacterial Hsp65 is demonstrated to have the ability to help cross-present an exogenous protein by dendritic cells (DC) to CD8 T cells without the need f...

Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces activation of the transcription factor nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) in host cells upon infection. LPS binds to the glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)- anchored membrane protein CD14, which lacks an intracellular signaling domain. Here we investigated the role of mammalian Toll-like receptors (TLRs) as signal transducers for LPS. Overexpression of ...

A number of microorganisms are capable of binding immunoglobulins (Igs) in a manner, which excludes binding to conventional antigen binding sites. Interaction of such bacterial proteins with surface immunoglobulins leads to polyclonal activation of B-lymphocytes. A recent example is Moraxella catarrhalis that binds to B lymphocytes in an IgD-dependent manner and induces proliferation and differ...

he investigation into biochemical markers is modifying the pproach to the diagnosis and management of heart failure HF). Over the last decade, natriuretic peptides (NPs) have een shown to be particularly useful in confirming or efuting the diagnosis of HF as well as stratifying long-term isk profiles. Several novel cardiac, metabolic, and inflamatory biochemical markers have emerged in the fiel...

Little is known about the genetic program that generates synaptic specificity. Here we show that a putative transcription factor, Teyrha-Meyhra (Tey), controls target specificity, in part by repressing the expression of a repulsive cue, Toll. We focused on two neighboring muscles, M12 and M13, which are innervated by distinct motoneurons in Drosophila. We found that Toll, which encodes a transm...

MyD88 is an adapter protein in the signal transduction pathway mediated by interleukin-1 (IL-1) and Toll-like receptors. A Drosophila homologue of MyD88 (DmMyD88) was recently shown to be required for the Toll-mediated immune response. In Drosophila, the Toll pathway was originally characterized for its role in the dorsoventral patterning of the embryo. We found that, like Toll, DmMyD88 messeng...