γHV68 vGAT: A Viral Pseudoenzyme Pimping for PAMPs

The art of pimping.

in 1989. As he defined it, pimping occurs when an attending physician (the Pimper) poses a series of difficult questions to a resident or medical student (the Pimpee). Pimping usually occurs in settings such as “morning report” or “attending rounds,” in which trainees at various levels convene with a faculty member to review patients currently under their care. Among surgeons, pimping may occur...

The art of pimping.

Structural elements responsible for conversion of streptavidin to a pseudoenzyme.

Avidin enhances the hydrolysis of biotinyl p-nitrophenyl ester (BNP) under mild alkaline conditions, whereas streptavidin prevents hydrolysis of BNP up to pH 12. Recently, we imposed hydrolytic activity on streptavidin by rational mutagenesis, based on the molecular elements responsible for the hydrolysis by avidin. Three mutants were designed, whereby the desired features, the distinctive L124...

PAMPs and DAMPs as triggers for DIC

BACKGROUND Neutrophil elastase plays an important role in the development and progression of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Although the selective elastase inhibitor, sivelestat, is widely used in Japan for treating ARDS patients, its effectiveness remains controversial. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of sivelestat in ARDS patients with evidence of incr...

Functional Characterizations of RIG-I to GCRV and Viral/Bacterial PAMPs in Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella

BACKGROUND RIG-I (retinoic acid inducible gene-I) is one of the key cytosolic pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) for detecting nucleotide pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and mediating the induction of type I interferon and inflammatory cytokines in innate immune response. Though the mechanism is well characterized in mammals, the study of the accurate function of RIG-I in teleo...