Cytolethal distending toxins (CDTs) constitute a family of bacterial proteins that enter eukaryotic cells with genotoxic activity leading to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. CDTs are widespread, having been found in a variety of Gram-negative pathogens with a broad tissue tropism. The recently determined crystal structure of the Haemophilus ducreyi CDT provides a powerful starting point for ana...

BACKGROUND The use of CCR5 antagonists involves determination of HIV-1 tropism prior to initiation of treatment. HIV-1 tropism can be assessed either by phenotypic or genotypic methods. Genotypic methods are extensively used for tropism prediction. However, their validation in predicting tropism of viral isolates belonging to group M non-B subtypes remains challenging. In Cameroon, the genetic ...

BACKGROUND To determine if tropism for CXCR4 or CCR5 correlates with cellular HIV DNA load, residual viraemia and CD4 count in 219 successfully treated naive subjects with HIV infection enrolled in five infectious diseases units in Northeastern Italy. METHODS A subset of subjects, achieving plasma HIV RNA level <50 copies/ml after initiation of first-line therapy and maintaining it until foll...

Efficiency and specificity of viral vectors are vital issues in gene therapy. Insertion of peptide ligands into the adeno-associated viral (AAV) capsid at receptor binding sites can re-target AAV2-derived vectors to alternative cell types. Also, the use of serotypes AAV8 and -9 is more efficient than AAV2 for gene transfer to certain tissues in vivo. Consequently, re-targeting of these serotype...

Wolbachia is an intracellular endosymbiont infecting most arthropod and some filarial nematode species that is vertically transmitted through the maternal lineage. Due to this primary mechanism of transmission, most studies have focused on Wolbachia interactions with the host germline. However, over the last decade many studies have emerged highlighting the prominence of Wolbachia in somatic ti...

Background: The global pandemic of coronavirus disease is a societal, economic, and publichealth crisis that still underway. spike glycoprotein SARS-CoV-2 one the primary ingredients for virulence, tissue tropism, host areas. Aim: This study aimed to determine mutations in S protein Iraqi COVID-19 isolates. Full genome sequences strains were obtained from GISAID. Using statistical saturation mu...

Abstract Due to their position in the pulmonary mucosa, CD8 +tissue resident memory T cells (T RM) act as sentinels that rapidly respond to, and mediate protection against, respiratory viruses. In mice, RMhave been shown at barrier sites by producing cytokines, chemokines, performing cell lysis. However, humans, less is known about effector functions of virus-specific lung +T RM. Using from hea...

Salmonella enterica serovars Derby and Mbandaka are isolated from different groups of livestock species in the UK. S. Derby is predominantly isolated from pigs and turkeys and S. Mbandaka is predominantly isolated from cattle and chickens. Alignment of the genome sequences of two isolates of each serovar led to the discovery of a new putative Salmonella pathogenicity island, SPI-23, in the chro...

OBJECTIVES The aims of this study were: to determine the incidence of concurrent infections on a serovar level; to determine the incidence of multiple anatomical infected sites on a detection and genotyping level and analyse site-specific serovar distribution; to identify tissue tropism in urogenital versus rectal specimens. METHODS Chlamydia trachomatis-infected patients in two populations w...