CEL-III is a hemolytic lectin isolated from Cucumaria echinata. Although recombinant CEL-III (rCEL-III) expressed in Escherichia coli showed very weak hemolytic activity compared with native protein, it was considerably enhanced by refolding in the presence of Ca(2+). This suggests that Ca(2+) supported correct folding of the carbohydrate-binding domains of rCEL-III, leading to effective bindin...

The frequency of fungal infections have increased recently in parallel to prolonged survival of patients with chronical infections, common use of the broad-spectrum antibiotics and cytotoxic drugs and surgical interventions. Fungi such as Trichosporon, Fusarium and Geotrichum that were previously evaluated as contaminant/colonization, become important causes of morbidity and mortality especiall...

Infliximab is a monoclonal antibody that antagonizes the activity of tumor necrosis factor alpha to induce and maintain remission in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Adverse effects associated with Infliximab infusions include infusion reactions, risk of infections, development of hematological malignancies, and pancytopenia. Autoimmune hemolytic anemia has rarely been reported in ulce...

F OR A MODEST SUM, Sigma Chemical Company will supply a diagnostic kit that will enable one to determine the glutathione reductase activity of the erythrocytes in a patient with hemolytic anemia. This kit or one or another assay procedure for glutathione reductase is used by conscientious physicians in the work-up of patients with chronic hemolysis. Unfortunately, the money and effort are waste...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Globally, dermatophytes are the most common filamentous group of fungi causing cutaneous mycoses. Dermatophytes were shown to secrete a multitude of enzymes that play a role in their pathogenesis. There is limited data on co-hemolytic (CAMP-like) effect of different bacterial species on dermatophyte species. In this study, we sought to the evaluate exoenzyme activity and ...

BACKGROUND Non-Shiga toxin-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome is known to be caused by dysregulation of the alternative complement pathway. Infections, drugs, pregnancy, bone marrow transplantation, malignancy, and autoimmune disorders have all been reported to trigger episodes of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no previous reports of an assoc...

We have investigated adenylate cyclase in ghosts from normal and pathologic human red blood cells. Basic parameters such as specific activity, apparent Michaelis constant (KMapp), and response to effectors: sodium fluoride (NaF), 5'-guanylyl imidodiphosphate (Gpp (NH)p), isoproterenol, and PGE1 were investigated. Basal and NaF-stimulated activities were measured in ghosts from patients with her...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common erythrocytic enzymatic disorder in Italy and is characterized by wide clinical, biochemical and molecular variability. We studied the clinical and hematologic data from 54 G6PD-deficient, unrelated males from the Apulia region. DESIGN AND METHODS Analyses for enzymatic activity, G6PD electrophores...

objective(s): streptococcus pyogenes produces extracellular hyaluronidase enzyme. this enzyme is directly associated with the spread of the organism during infection. the objective of the present study was to clone and express the nucleotide sequence of the enzyme which is involved in hyaluronidase enzymatic activity. materials and methods: the enzymatic region of hyaluronidase gene was detecte...