Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are activated by unstable antigens formed by reactions of 5-amino-6-D-ribitylaminouracil (a vitamin B2 biosynthetic intermediate) with glycolysis metabolites such as methylglyoxal. Here we show superior preparations of antigens in dimethylsulfoxide, avoiding their rapid decomposition in water (t1/2 1.5 h, 37 °C). Antigen solution structures, MAIT cell...

Recombinant subunit vaccines should contain minimal non-pathogen motifs to reduce potential off-target reactivity. We recently developed a vaccine antigen against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which comprised the fusion (F) glycoprotein stabilized in its pre-fusion trimeric conformation by "DS-Cav1" mutations and by an appended C-terminal trimerization motif or "foldon" from T4-bacteriopha...

A recombinant plasmid designated pAW305, containing a 6-kilobase insert of Treponema pallidum DNA, directed the expression of a 38-kilodalton (kDa) treponemal antigen in Escherichia coli. The 38-kDa antigen copurified with the outer membrane fraction of the E. coli cell envelope after treatment with nonionic detergents or sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Rabbits immunized with the recom...

We investigated mechanisms by which the soluble native envelope glycoprotein gpl20 of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) suppresses antigen-driven T cell responses. For this study, exogenous interleukin-2 (IL-2)independent, antigen-specific, CD4 positive, human T-cell clones were developed by cyclic restimulation with soluble tetanus toxoid antigen. In the presence of soluble antigen and ...

There are two types of network traffic in experimental environments. One is traffic which is derived from target elements and the other one is background traffic which is derived from surrounding elements. There is very little knowledge on the relationships between new elements and existing elements; therefore, surrounding elements that seem to have no apparent relationship with the target elem...

This article reports key findings from the first phase of a research project investigating Net generation age students as they encounter e-learning at five universities in England. We take a critical view of the idea of a distinct generation which has been described using various terms including Net generation and Digital Natives and explore age related differences amongst first year university...