background: enterotoxigenic escherichia coli (etec) strains are the major causes of diarrheal disease in humans and animals. colonization factors and enterotoxins are the major virulence factors in etec pathogenesis. for the broad-spectrum protection against etec, one could focus on colonization factors and non-toxic heat labile as a vaccine candidate. methods: a fusion protein is composed of a...

The signaling pathways triggered by adherence of Candida albicans to the host cells or extracellular matrix are poorly understood. We provide here evidence in C. albicans yeasts of a p105 focal adhesion kinase (Fak)-like protein (that we termed CaFak), antigenically related to the vertebrate p125Fak, and its involvement in integrin-like-mediated fungus adhesion to vitronectin (VN) and EA.hy 926...

Chemerin is a potent macrophage chemoattractant protein. We used murine peritoneal exudate cells (PECs) in adhesion, flow cytometry, and confocal microscopy assays to test the hypothesis that chemerin can also contribute to inflammation by promoting macrophage adhesion. Chemerin stimulated the adhesion of PECs to the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin and to the adhesion molecule VCAM-1 w...

This study was carried out to further characterize the RGD-dependent cell adhesion activity which was previously observed in the vitamin K-dependent matrix Gla protein (MGP) (Loeser, R. F., and Wallin, R. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 9459-9462). We have found that this cell adhesion activity can be completely removed from the 10-kDa MGP by gel filtration over Sephacryl S-200-HR. The higher molecu...

The localization of pp60src within adhesion structures of epithelioid rat kidney cells transformed by the Schmidt-Ruppin strain of Rous sarcoma virus was compared to the organization of actin, alpha-actinin, vinculin (a 130,000-dalton protein), tubulin, and the 58,000-dalton intermediate filament protein. The adhesion structures included both adhesion plaques and previously uncharacterized adhe...

This paper describes a molecular strategy to restore adhesion of cells to surfaces that otherwise do not present ligands that can mediate adhesion. The approach is based on a carbonic anhydrase fusion protein that binds benzenesulfonamides and that also includes the RGD peptide motif that can bind to cell-surface integrin adhesion receptors. In this way, the fusion protein can bind to a monolay...

The interaction of cells with the extracellular matrix regulates cell adhesion and motility. Here we demonstrate that different cell types adhere and spread when cultured in serum-free medium on immobilized galectin-8, a mammalian beta-galactoside-binding protein. At maximal doses, galectin-8 is equipotent to fibronectin in promoting cell adhesion and spreading. Cell adhesion to immobilized gal...

Focal adhesion (FA) signaling mediated by adhesion to extracellular matrix and growth factor receptors contributes to the regulation of the cellular stress response to external stimuli. Critical to focal adhesion assembly and signaling is the adapter protein PINCH1. To evaluate whether the prosurvival function of PINCH1 in radiation cell survival depends on cell adhesion, we examined PINCH1(fl/...

An adhesion-promoting protein involved in the binding of Lactobacillus fermentum strain 104R to small intestinal mucus from piglets and to partially purified gastric mucin was isolated and characterized. Spent culture supernatant fluid and bacterial cell wall extracts were fractionated by ammonium sulfate precipitation and gel filtration. The active fraction was purified by affinity chromatogra...