Background: During the last two decades, significant advances have been made in the fields of lactococcal genetics and protein expression. Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis) is an effective vector for protein expression and can be used as an antigen delivery system. Hence, L. lactis is an ideal candidate for mucosal immunotherapy. Profilin (Che a 2), the major allergen in Chenopodium album, is one ...

Lactobacillus casei ATCC 393 was selected as an antigen delivery vehicle for 6 mucosal immunization against porcine parvovirus (PPV) infection. A 64kDa fragment of PPV 7 major protective antigen VP2 protein was used as the parvovirus antigen model. A 8 recombinant lactobacilli expressing VP2 protein was constructed with plasmid pPG611.1, 9 where expression and localization of the VP2 protein fr...

Recognition of specific pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) is mediated primarily by members of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) family. Stimulation through these receptors results in quantitative and qualitative changes in antigen presentation and cellular activation, thereby linking innate and adaptive immunity. Consequently, the incorporation of TLR-ligands into vaccines could result ...

  The identification of a large number of antigens with potential for development of new tuberculosis vaccine has been accomplished in recent years. This study was designed for cloning and expression of ESAT-6 as a potent antigen of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Selected gene (Rv3875) was amplified by PCR and product was ligated into expressing plasmid vector pQE30 and recombinant pQE30-ES plasmi...

Transcription by RNA polymerase II (polII) is accompanied by dramatic changes in chromatin structure. Numerous enzymatic activities contribute to these changes, including ATP-dependent nucleosome remodeling enzymes and histone modifying enzymes. Recent studies in budding yeast document a histone modification pathway associated with polII transcription, whereby ubiquitylation of histone H2B lead...

Histone ubiquitination participates in multiple cellular processes, including the DNA damage response. However, the molecular mechanisms involved are not clear. Here, we have identified that RAP80/UIMC1 (ubiquitin interaction motif containing 1), a functional partner of BRCA1, recognizes ubiquitinated histones H2A and H2B. The interaction between RAP80 and ubiquitinated histones H2A and H2B is ...

A major obstacle to development of subunit vaccines and diagnostic reagents for tuberculosis is the inability to produce large quantities of these proteins. To test the hypothesis that poor expression of some mycobacterial genes in Escherichia coli is due, in part, to the presence of low-usage E. coli codons, we used site-directed mutagenesis to convert low-usage codons to high-usage codons for...