Certain strains of Escherichia coli can cause an invasive diarrheal disease in humans which clinically resembles shigellosis. These strains share with Shigella species the ability to enter and replicate within colonic epithelial cells and the ability to bind Congo red dye in vitro when grown at 37 degrees C. Like shigellae, they contain a large plasmid essential for virulence. A 230-kilobase (k...

Lignin degrading white rot fungus, Trametes versicolor isolated from the logs of Acacia nilotica L.Del.sp. indica in the Western Ghats region of Tamil Nadu, India. The fungus was used for the decolourization of azo dyes such as orange G, congo red and amido Black 10 B and also for colour removal from the dye industry effluents. Batch studies were conducted in a defined medium with pH-4.5. The r...

New advances in polarized light microscopy were used to image Congo red-stained cerebral amyloidosis in sharp relief. The rotating-polarizer method was used to separate the optical effects of transmission, linear birefringence, extinction, linear dichroism, and orientation of the electric dipole transition moments and to display them as false-color maps. These effects are typically convolved in...

There is a significant correlation between the occurrence of pancreatic islet amyloid and beta-cell failure in advanced type II diabetes mellitus. Islet amyloid is composed primarily of the fibrillar form of the pancreatic hormone, amylin. Using thioflavin-T fluorescence binding and radioprecipitation assays, we investigated whether or not a series of small tricyclic compounds, tetracycline or ...

Historically, heart, liver, and kidney biopsies were performed to demonstrate amyloid deposits in amyloidosis. Since the clinical presentation of this disease is so variable and non-specific, the associated risks of these biopsies are too great for the diagnostic yield. Other sites that have a lower biopsy risk, such as skin or gingival, are also relatively invasive and expensive. In addition, ...

Presence of colour in water will make it unsuitable for human consumption. Textile industries have the major role in imparting colour in natural water bodies as their outlets are opened to them. These industries rely upon azo dyes as it impart brilliant colour to fabrics. But its presence in water bodies creates serious problems. Structure of an azo compound is a very important factor to be con...

Background: Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) strains have been associated with various disease conditions in avian species due to virulence attributes associated with the organism. Aims: This study was carried out to determine the in vitro pathogenic characteristics and virulence encoding genes found in E. coli strains associated with colibacillosis in chickens. Methods: Fifty-two stock...

OBJECTIVES Polyanionic polymers, including lipoteichoic acid and wall teichoic acid, are important determinants of the charged character of the staphylococcal cell wall. This study was designed to investigate the extent to which teichoic acid contributes to protection from anionic azo dyes and to identify barriers to drug penetration for development of new antibiotics for multidrug-resistant St...

There have been several reports on the use of beta-amyloid (Abeta ) vaccination in different mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its effects on pathology and cognitive function. In this report, the histopathologic findings in the APP+PS1 doubly transgenic mouse were compared after three, five, or nine Abeta inoculations. The number of inoculations influenced the effects of vaccination ...

Endogenous metals such as zinc may contribute to beta-amyloid (Abeta) aggregation and hence the plaque formation. In the present study, we examined brains of four Swedish mutant amyloid precursor protein (APP) transgenic mice at 12 months of age for histochemically reactive zinc in the plaques. Here, we report that all the Congo red (+) mature plaques contained chelatable zinc, as demonstrated ...