It was recently reported that strains of Streptococcus pyogenes are capable of inducing entry of the bacterium into epithelial cells; however, nothing is known regarding the gene(s) and the underlying mechanism(s) involved. Using isogenic mutants of S. pyogenes JRS4 strain that are defective in the expression of each of the surface proteins F1 and M6, it was demonstrated that both are required ...

OBJECTIVES The periodic binding of protein expressed by Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv with the host cell receptor molecules i.e. fibronectin (Fn) is gaining significance because of its adhesive properties. The genome sequencing of M. tuberculosis H37Rv revealed that the proline-glutamic (PE) proteins contain polymorphic GC-rich repetitive sequences (PGRS) which have clinical importance in pa...

Streptococcus pneumoniae infections remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Therefore a detailed understanding and characterization of the mechanism of host cell colonization and dissemination is critical to gain control over this versatile pathogen. Here we identified a novel 72-kDa pneumococcal protein endopeptidase O (PepO), as a plasminogen- and fibronectin-binding protei...

Ethanol renders the lung susceptible to acute lung injury in the setting of insults such as sepsis. The mechanisms mediating this effect are unknown, but activation of tissue remodeling is considered key to this process. We found that chronic ethanol ingestion in rats increased the expression of fibronectin, a matrix glycoprotein implicated in acute lung injury. In cultured NIH/3T3 cells and in...

Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV) is a cell surface glycoprotein which has been implicated in hepatocyte-extracellular matrix interactions [Hixson, DeLourdes, Ponce, Allison & Walborg (1984) Exp. Cell Res. 152, 402-414; Walborg, Tsuchida, Weeden, Thomas, Barrick, McEntire, Allison & Hixson (1985) Exp. Cell Res. 158, 509-518; Hanski, Huhle & Reutter (1985) Biol. Chem. Hoppe-Seyler 366, 1169-1176]...