Minireview
MinireviewThe Evasive Enemy: Insights into the Virulence and Epidemiology of the Emerging Attaching and Effacing Pathogen Escherichia albertiiThe diarrheic attaching and effacing (A/E) pathogen Escherichia albertii was first isolated from infants in Bangladesh in 1991, although the bacterium was initially classified as Hafnia alvei. Subsequent genetic and biochemical interrogation of these isolates raised concerns about their initial...
Molecular Pathogenesis
Molecular PathogenesisSynergy between Nutritional Immunity and Independent Host Defenses Contributes to the Importance of the MntABC Manganese Transporter during Staphylococcus aureus InfectionDuring infection, the host utilizes a diverse array of processes to combat invaders, including the restriction of availability of essential nutrients such as manganese. Similarly to many other pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus possesses two manganese importers, MntH and MntABC.
Cellular Microbiology: Pathogen-Host Cell Molecular Interactions
Cellular Microbiology: Pathogen-Host Cell Molecular InteractionsPhosphothreonine Lyase Promotes p65 Degradation in a Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase/Mitogen- and Stress-Activated Protein Kinase 1-Dependent MannerBacterial phosphothreonine lyases have been identified to be type III secretion system (T3SS) effectors that irreversibly dephosphorylate host mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling to promote infection. However, the effects of phosphothreonine lyase on nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling remain largely unknown.
Cellular Microbiology: Pathogen-Host Cell Molecular InteractionsAtg5 Supports Rickettsia australis Infection in Macrophages In Vitro and In VivoRickettsiae can cause life-threatening infections in humans. Macrophages are one of the initial targets for rickettsiae after inoculation by ticks.
Cellular Microbiology: Pathogen-Host Cell Molecular InteractionsThe Host Scaffolding Protein Filamin A and the Exocyst Complex Control Exocytosis during InlB-Mediated Entry of Listeria monocytogenesListeria monocytogenes is a foodborne bacterium that causes gastroenteritis, meningitis, or abortion. Listeria induces its internalization (entry) into some human cells through interaction of the bacterial surface protein InlB with its host receptor, the Met tyrosine kinase.
Cellular Microbiology: Pathogen-Host Cell Molecular InteractionsBacterial Clearance Is Enhanced by α2,3- and α2,6-Sialyllactose via Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis and PhagocytosisSialyllactose (SL) is a representative human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) of human breast milk. The roles of SL in infant brain development and immunity have been reported in previous studies.
Cellular Microbiology: Pathogen-Host Cell Molecular InteractionsA Nonfimbrial Adhesin of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans Mediates Biofilm BiogenesisPeriodontitis is an inflammatory disease caused by polymicrobial biofilms. The periodontal pathogen Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans displays two proteinaceous surface structures, the fimbriae and the nonfimbrial extracellular matrix binding protein A (EmaA), as observed by electron microscopy.
Bacterial Infections
Bacterial InfectionsBrucella neotomae Recapitulates Attributes of Zoonotic Human Disease in a Murine Infection ModelMembers of the genus Brucella are Gram-negative pathogens that cause chronic systemic infection in farm animals and zoonotic infection in humans. Study of the genus Brucella has been hindered by the need for biosafety level 3 select agent containment.
Bacterial InfectionsH2S, a Bacterial Defense Mechanism against the Host Immune ResponseThe biological mediator hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is produced by bacteria and has been shown to be cytoprotective against oxidative stress and to increase the sensitivity of various bacteria to a range of antibiotic drugs. Here we evaluated whether bacterial H2S provides resistance against the immune response, using two bacterial species that are common sources of nosocomial infections,...
Bacterial InfectionsAcinetobacter baumannii OxyR Regulates the Transcriptional Response to Hydrogen PeroxideAcinetobacter baumannii is a Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen that causes diverse infections, including pneumonia, bacteremia, and wound infections. Due to multiple intrinsic and acquired antimicrobial-resistance mechanisms, A. baumannii isolates are commonly multidrug resistant, and infections...
Bacterial InfectionsSalmonella Pathogenicity Island 1 Is Expressed in the Chicken Intestine and Promotes Bacterial ProliferationSalmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis is a common cause of foodborne illness in the United States. The bacterium can be transmitted to humans via contaminated chicken meat and eggs, and virulence in humans requires type III secretion system 1 (TTSS-1), encoded on Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI-1).
Bacterial InfectionsIncreased Mortality in Mice following Immunoprophylaxis Therapy with High Dosage of Nicotinamide in Burkholderia Persistent InfectionsBacterial persistence, known as noninherited antibacterial resistance, is a factor contributing to the establishment of long-lasting chronic bacterial infections. In this study, we examined the ability of nicotinamide (NA) to potentiate the activity of different classes of antibiotics against Burkholderia thailandensis persister cells.
Bacterial InfectionsPeptidyl-Prolyl-cis/trans-Isomerases Mip and PpiB of Legionella pneumophila Contribute to Surface Translocation, Growth at Suboptimal Temperature, and InfectionThe gammaproteobacterium Legionella pneumophila is the causative agent of Legionnaires’ disease, an atypical pneumonia that manifests itself with severe lung damage. L. pneumophila, a common inhabitant of freshwater environments, replicates in free-living amoebae and persists in biofilms in natural...
Host Response and Inflammation
Host Response and InflammationGene Expression Differences in Host Response to Schistosoma haematobium InfectionSchistosome worms infect over 200 million people worldwide. They live in the host’s bloodstream and alter host immunity.
Host Response and InflammationOverlapping Roles for Interleukin-36 Cytokines in Protective Host Defense against Murine Legionella pneumophila PneumoniaLegionella pneumophila causes life-threatening pneumonia culminating in acute lung injury. Innate and adaptive cytokines play an important role in host defense against L. pneumophila infection.
Host Response and InflammationYersinia pseudotuberculosis Exploits CD209 Receptors for Promoting Host Dissemination and InfectionYersinia pseudotuberculosis is a Gram-negative enteropathogen and causes gastrointestinal infections. It disseminates from gut to mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs), spleen, and liver of infected humans and animals.
Host Response and InflammationCharacterization of Host Responses during Pseudomonas aeruginosa Acute Infection in the Lungs and Blood and after Treatment with the Synthetic Immunomodulatory Peptide IDR-1002Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that causes nosocomial pneumonia and infects patients with cystic fibrosis. P. aeruginosa lung infections are difficult to treat due to bacterial resistance to antibiotics, and strains with multidrug resistance are becoming more prevalent.
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Host Response and InflammationDiffusely Adherent Escherichia coli Strains Isolated from Healthy Carriers Suppress Cytokine Secretions of Epithelial Cells Stimulated by Inflammatory SubstancesDiarrheagenicity of diffusely adherent Escherichia coli (DAEC) remains controversial. Previously, we found that motile DAEC strains isolated from diarrheal patients induced high levels of interleukin 8 (IL-8) secretion via Toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5).
Host Response and InflammationThe Pneumococcal Surface Proteins PspA and PspC Sequester Host C4-Binding Protein To Inactivate Complement C4b on the Bacterial SurfaceComplement is a critical component of antimicrobial immunity. Various complement regulatory proteins prevent host cells from being attacked.
Host Response and InflammationProbiotic Exopolysaccharide Protects against Systemic Staphylococcus aureus Infection, Inducing Dual-Functioning Macrophages That Restrict Bacterial Growth and Limit InflammationStaphylococcus aureus causes severe systemic infection with high mortality rates. We previously identified exopolysaccharide (EPS) from a probiotic, Bacillus subtilis, that induces anti-inflammatory macrophages with an M2 phenotype and protects mice from...
Fungal and Parasitic Infections
Fungal and Parasitic InfectionsPlasmodium falciparum Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinase Interacts with a Subunit of the Parasite ProteasomeMalaria is caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium, which undergoes a complex life cycle in a human host and a mosquito vector. The parasite’s cyclic GMP (cGMP)-dependent protein kinase (PKG) is essential at multiple steps of the life cycle.
Microbial Immunity and Vaccines
Microbial Immunity and VaccinesGranzyme B Is an Essential Mediator in CD8+ T Cell Killing of Theileria parva-Infected CellsThere is established evidence that cytotoxic CD8+ T cells are important mediators of immunity against the bovine intracellular protozoan parasite Theileria parva. However, the mechanism by which the specific CD8+ T cells kill parasitized cells is not understood.
Microbial Immunity and VaccinesControlled Infection Immunization Using Delayed Death Drug Treatment Elicits Protective Immune Responses to Blood-Stage Malaria ParasitesNaturally acquired immunity to malaria is robust and protective against all strains of the same species of Plasmodium. This develops as a result of repeated natural infection, taking several years to develop.
Molecular Genomics
Molecular GenomicsGenomic, Phenotypic, and Virulence Analysis of Streptococcus sanguinis Oral and Infective-Endocarditis IsolatesStreptococcus sanguinis, an abundant and benign inhabitant of the oral cavity, is an important etiologic agent of infective endocarditis (IE), particularly in people with predisposing cardiac valvular damage. Although commonly isolated from patients with IE, little is known about the factors that make any particular...
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Infection and Immunity® (IAI) reports key discoveries that help microbiologists, immunologists, epidemiologists, pathologists, and clinicians to gain new insights into the underlying mechanisms of host-pathogen interactions and develop novel strategies to prevent or treat infectious diseases.