To understand the molecular basis of exocytosis in human neutrophils, the role of syntaxin 6 and SNAP-23 in neutrophil degranulation was examined. Human syntaxin 6 was cloned and identified as a 255-amino acid protein with a carboxy-terminal transmembrane region and two coiled-coil domains. Syntaxin 6 was localized mainly in the plasma membrane of human resting neutrophils, whereas SNAP-23 was ...

INTRODUCTION Statins reportedly have anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic effects aside from cholesterol-lowering. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of pre-existing statin use on platelet activation markers and clinical outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients. METHODS This prospective study evaluated 172 patients with acute ischemic stroke divided in two groups: patients with pre-exi...

Aspergillus fumigatus is an environmental mould that can cause invasive disease in the immunocompromised host. Previous work has shown that conidia can be internalized by lung epithelial cells (A549) and murine macrophages (J774) in vitro. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the fate of A. fumigatus conidia within the endosomal network of these cells. Co-localization of conidi...

Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular pathogen and the causative agent of human Q fever. Replication of the bacterium within a large parasitophorous vacuole (PV) resembling a host phagolysosome is required for pathogenesis. PV biogenesis is a pathogen driven process that requires engagement of several host cell vesicular trafficking pathways to acquire vacuole components. The goal of t...

Exosomes are small (50-100 nm in diameter) vesicles secreted from various mammalian cells. Exosomes have been correlated with tumor antigens and anti-tumor immune responses and may represent cancer biomarkers. Herein, we report on the development of an aptamer-based electrochemical biosensor for quantitative detection of exosomes. Aptamers specific to exosome transmembrane protein CD63 were imm...

UNLABELLED Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma in humans. We showed previously that HCV induces autophagy for viral persistence by preventing the innate immune response. Knockdown of autophagy reduces extracellular HCV release, although the precise mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we observed that knockdown of aut...

The best characterized survival mechanism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis inside the macrophage is the inhibition of phagosomal maturation. Phagosomal maturation involves several steps including fusion with lysosomes and acidification. However, it has not been elucidated which components of phagosomal maturation correlate with growth restriction of virulent mycobacteria in human macrophages, and ...

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transmission takes place primarily through cell-cell contacts known as virological synapses. Formation of these transient adhesions between infected and uninfected cells can lead to transmission of viral particles followed by separation of the cells. Alternatively, the cells can fuse, thus forming a syncytium. Tetraspanins, small scaffolding proteins ...

relationship to proportion of regulatory T cells. Methods: Forty-five patients with history of systemic symptoms of allergy to Hymenoptera venom were included. Basophil reactivity before the treatment and after one year of allergen immunotherapy (AIT) was measured by CD63 expression, CD203c marker used for basophil identification. Cells were stimulated by aqueous solution of allergen in concent...