Nitric oxide (NO) is produced by murine macrophages in response to cytokines and/or gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharide. NO induction by gram-positive bacteria such as group B streptococci (GBS), the major etiologic agents of neonatal pneumonia and meningitis, has received little study. GBS as well as two other gram-positive bacterial species, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epi...

Reactive nitrogen is critical for the clearance of Francisella tularensis infections. Here we assess the role of nitric oxide in control of intracellular infections in two murine macrophage cell lines of different provenance: the alveolar macrophage cell line, MH-S, and the widely used peritoneal macrophage cell line, J774A.1. Cells were infected with the highly virulent Schu S4 strain or with ...

Macrophages are the first line of defense and constitute important participants in the bi-directional interaction between innate and specific immunity. Macrophages are in a quiescent form and are activated when given a stimulus. In the present study, we have used Tinospora cordifolia, commonly known as Guduchi, to see its effect on macrophage activation. The direct drug treatment to J774A cells...

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis is the etiologic agent of Johne's disease, a chronic granulomatous enteritis in ruminants. ATP has been reported to induce cell death of macrophages and killing of Mycobacterium species in human and murine macrophages. In this study we investigated the short-term effect of ATP on the viability of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis-infected bovine mononu...

Macrophages produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) in response to bacterial infections. Mycobacteria are relatively resistant to ROS, but RNS inhibit growth of, and possibly even kill, mycobacteria in activated macrophages. We recently constructed a Mycobacterium marinum mel2 locus mutant, which is known to affect macrophage infection. We found previously that...

Obesity is associated with macrophage accumulation and inflammation in adipose tissue. Macrophage-secreted factors have been reported to inhibit the differentiation of preadipocytes into adipocytes and to modulate adipogenic extracellular matrix gene expression. To enlarge our understanding of macrophages and the scope of their interactions with preadipocytes, we investigated their effect on pr...

Amphotericin B (AmB) has been the first-line treatment for visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a neglected protozoan disease, especially in regions like Bihar, India, where resistance to antimonials is widespread. However, adverse drug reactions are a major limiting factor. We evaluated a novel formulation of AmB conjugated to amine-modified graphene (f-Gr) for safety and efficacy over conventional Am...

The Gbetagamma-subunit complex derived from heterotrimeric G proteins can act to regulate the function of a variety of protein targets. We established lentiviral-based RNA interference in J774A.1 mouse macrophages to characterize the role of Gbeta in G protein-coupled receptor signaling. The expression of Gbeta1 and Gbeta2, the major subtypes present in J774A.1 cells, was eliminated by sequenti...

BACKGROUND Growth hormone secretagogues (GHS), among other factors, regulate the release of GH. The biological activity of the secretagogue peptide A233 as a promoter of growth and innate immunity in teleost fish has previously been demonstrated, but its role in the immune system of mammals is not well understood. METHODS The effect of the peptide was investigated in J774A.2 macrophage cells ...

Coxiella burnetii, the etiological agent of Q fever, is an obligate intracellular bacterium proliferating within the harsh environment of the phagolysosome. Mechanisms controlling trafficking to, and survival of pathogens within, the phagolysosome are unknown. Two distinct morphological variants have been implicated as playing a role in C. burnetii survival. The dormant small-cell variant (SCV)...