A major limitation in the clinical management and experimental research of leptospirosis is the poor performance of the available methods for the direct detection of leptospires. In this study, we compared real-time PCR (qPCR), targeting the lipL32 gene, with the immunofluorescent imprint method (IM) for the detection and quantification of leptospires in kidney samples from the rat and hamster ...

BACKGROUND With a conservatively estimated 1 million cases of leptospirosis worldwide and a 5-10% fatality rate, the rapid diagnosis of leptospirosis leading to effective clinical and public health decision making is of high importance, and yet remains a challenge. METHODOLOGY Based on parallel, population-based studies in two leptospirosis-endemic regions in Brazil, a real-time PCR assay whi...

Leptospirosis is the most widespread zoonosis in the world and a neglected tropical disease estimated to cause severe infection in more than one million people worldwide every year that can be combated by effective immunization. However, no significant progress has been made on the leptospirosis vaccine since the advent of bacterins over 100 years. Although protective against lethal infection, ...

background: tumour suppressor genes such as tp53, brca1 and rad51 are involved in dna repair and their malfunctions result in genomic instability and cancer. wild type (wt) tp53 binds to brca1and rad51 in vivo and in vitro. however, mutated tp53 in tumours can interfere with wt tp53 function. we studied how mutation of tp53 in mda-mb-468 cell line could affect its binding capacity and interfere...

nine multiparous lactating cows averaging 171 days in milk were divided according to days in milk and milk production into three 3×3 latin squares with three 3-week periods to investigate the effect of rumen degradable protein on milk urea nitrogen. diets were formulated to provide 3 concentrations of dietary rumen degradable protein (9.8, 10.8, and 11.8% of dry matter), while rumen undegradabl...

background: the purity and correct folding of a recombinant protein is critical for any structural, biochemical and vaccine design studies. plasmodium vivax duffy binding protein-ii is a leading vaccine candidate for vivax malaria. in the present study, the purification process of recombinant dbp-ix (a variant form of pvdbp-ii) was optimized to achieve the highest yield and purity. moreover, na...

in the near future, design of a new generation of drugs targeting proteins will be required. considering the complex bond between the drug and protein, the structure and stability of the target protein should be considered. so far, a series of in vitro investigations have been conducted with the aim of predicting drug-biological medium interactions. in these studies, use of spectroscopic method...