PURPOSE This study explored the prevalence and characteristics of Enterococcus faecalis biofilm formation by urinary tract infection (UTI) isolates in order to identify virulence factors associated with biofilm formation. METHODOLOGY A total of 113 E. faecalis isolates were collected from UTI patients in Shenzhen, China. The isolates were subjected to multilocus sequence typing based on house...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Oxidative stress increases the risk of cardiovascular complications of metabolic syndrome (MetS). This study was conducted to examine the difference in antioxidant capacity according to the presence of MetS, and to characterize the association between antioxidant capacity and MetS-related factors. METHODS We used the biological antioxidant potential (BAP) test to estimate anti...

BACKGROUND: Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), anthracene (ANTH) and chrysene (CHRY) are polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) implicated in renal toxicity and carcinogenesis. These PAHs elicit cell type-specific effects that help predict toxicity outcomes in vitro and in vivo. While BaP and ANTH selectively injure glomerular mesangial cells, and CHRY targets cortico-tubular epithelial cells, binary or t...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a multifactorial disease in which b-amyloid peptide (bAP) plays a critical role. We report here that the soluble fraction 1–40 of bAP differentially degrades protein kinase C-a and -g (PKCa and PKCg) isoenzymes in normal (age-matched controls, AC) and AD fibroblasts most likely through proteolytic cascades. Treatment with nanomolar concentrations of bAP(1–40) induced...

Objective: Intravascular catheter-associated infection has been increasing hospitalization in post-surgery patients mainly due to microbial colonization of the catheter surface and formation of a superficial biofilm layer. The present study is aimed in developing an effective antibacterial device which can prevent colonization of organisms by modification of catheter. Methods: In the present st...

Streptococcus pneumoniae is among the most common pathogens associated with chronic otitis media with effusion, which has been hypothesized to be a biofilm disease. S. pneumoniae has been shown to form biofilms, however, little is known about the developmental process, the architecture, and the changes that occur upon biofilm development. In the current study we made use of a continuous-culture...

The common techniques to study protein-protein proximity in vivo are not well adapted to the capabilities and the expertise of a standard proteomics laboratory, typically based on the use of mass spectrometry. With the aim of closing this gap, we have developed PUB-MS (for proximity utilizing biotinylation and mass spectrometry), an approach to monitor protein-protein proximity, based on biotin...

Regulation of the balance between survival, proliferation, and apoptosis on carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure is still poorly understood and more particularly the role of physiologic variables, including intracellular pH (pH(i)). Although the involvement of the ubiquitous pH(i) regulator Na(+)/H(+) exchanger isoform 1 (NHE1) in tumorigenesis is well documented, less is...

Knowledge of the ability of the female reproductive system to metabolize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is critical to the diagnosis and management of female infertility and for risk assessment purposes. The PAHs are a family of widespread pollutants that are released into the environment from automobile exhausts, cigarette smoke, burning of refuse, industrial emissions, and hazardous ...