Nucleic acid-based amplification tests allow the rapid detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Recently, a real-time PCR assay for M. tuberculosis complex, the Cobas TaqMan MTB test (Roche Diagnostics, Basel, Switzerland), was introduced. We performed a prospective study to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the Cobas TaqMan MTB test system. A total of 406 specimens collected from 247 pati...

Mycobacteria, including most of all MTB (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), cause pathogenic infections in humans and, during the infectious process, are exposed to a range of environmental insults, including the host's immune response. From the moment MTB is exhaled by infected individuals, through an active and latent phase in the body of the new host, until the time they reach the reactivation sta...

PURPOSE It was previously shown that the bacterial two-component regulatory signal transduction (2CR) system MtrAB may be associated with the ability of M. tuberculosis (Mtb) to survive in macrophages. In the present work Mtb mutants: Rv-78 with overexpression of mtrA and Rv-129 with elevated level of phosphorylation-defective MtrA were used for further investigation of the potential influence ...

Magnetic resonance force microscopy is combined with spin-echo spectroscopy to obtain spatially and spectrally resolved NMR signals of micrometer-scale objects. The experimental spatial resolution for the demonstration experiment on a sample consisting of Ba(ClO3)2.H2O and (NH4)2SO4 single crystals is 3.4 microm. The spectral resolution of 3.4 kHz is sample limited. Improvements in resolution a...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the world's leading infectious cause of mortality. Despite the overwhelming data supporting the critical role of cellular immunity, little is known of the early microbial and immune cell interactions and whether human macrophages can be activated to express anti-Mtb activity. We report the reconstitution of an in vitro system whereby human macrophages express...

This work addresses the characterization and control of Magnetotactic Bacterium (MTB) which can be considered as a biological microrobot. Magnetic dipole moment of the MTB and response to a field-with-alternating-direction are characterized. First, the magnetic dipole moment is characterized using four techniques, i.e., Transmission Electron Microscopy images, flip-time, rotating-field and u-tu...

Background: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods from direct specimen are widely used for the rapid and accurate detection of mycobacteria infection. In this study, we evaluated two domestically developed detection kits for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) using real-time PCR. Methods: A total of 348 samples from patients with suspected tuberculosis were...

Cellular immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) requires a coordinated response between the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system, resulting in a type 1 cytokine response, which is associated with control of infection. The contribution of innate lymphocytes to immunity against Mtb remains controversial. We established an in vitro system to study this question. Interferon-gamma is ...

Tuberculosis remains a serious global health problem causing 1.3 million deaths annually. The causative pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) has developed several mechanisms to evade the immune system and resistances many conventional antibiotics, so that alternative treatment strategies are urgently needed. By isolation from bronchoalveolar lavage peptide optimization, new antimicrobial n...