Numerous, ongoing outbreaks in Brazilian swine herds have been characterized by vesicular lesions in sows and acute losses of neonatal piglets. The complete genome of Seneca Valley virus (SVV) was identified in vesicular fluid and sera of sows, providing evidence of association between SVV and vesicular disease and viraemia in affected animals.

Autophagy is a membrane trafficking to vacuole/lysosome induced by nutrient starvation. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Tor protein, a phosphatidylinositol kinase-related kinase, is involved in the repression of autophagy induction by a largely unknown mechanism. Here, we show that the protein kinase activity of Apg1 is enhanced by starvation or rapamycin treatment. In addition, we have also found...

Resolution of synaptic vesicle neurotransmitter content has mostly been limited to the study of stimulated release in cultured cell systems, and it has been controversial as to whether synaptic vesicle transmitter levels are saturated in vivo. We use electrochemical cytometry to count dopamine molecules in individual synaptic vesicles in populations directly sampled from brain tissue. Vesicles ...

Vesicular trafficking such as macropinocytosis is a dynamic process that requires coordinated interactions between specialized proteins and lipids. A recent report suggests the involvement of CtBP1/BARS in epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced macropinocytosis. Detailed mechanisms as to how lipid remodelling is regulated during macropinocytosis are still undefined. Here, we show that CtBP1/BARS...

In plants, newly synthesized fatty acids are either directly incorporated into glycerolipids in the plastid or exported and assembled into lipids at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). ER-derived glycerolipids serve as building blocks for extraplastidic membranes. Alternatively, they can return to the plastid where their diacylglycerol backbone is incorporated into the glycerolipids of the photosyn...

Vesicular storage and subsequent release of neurotransmitters are the key processes of chemical signal transmission. In this process, vesicular neurotransmitter transporters are responsible for loading the signaling molecules. The use of a "clean biochemical" approach with purified, recombinant transporters has helped in the identification of novel vesicular neurotransmitter transporters and in...

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is the most contagious disease of mammals and has a great potential for causing severe economic loss in susceptible cloven-hoofed animals. There are seven serotypes of FMD virus (FMDV), namely, O, A, C, SAT 1, SAT 2, SAT 3 and Asia 1. Infection with one serotype does not confer immunity against another. FMD cannot be differentiated clinically from other vesicular di...

Fungal infections are amongst the most commonly encountered diseases affecting the skin. Treatment approaches include both topical and oral antifungal agents. The topical route is generally preferred due to the possible side effects of oral medication. Advances in the field of formulation may soon render outdated conventional products such as creams, ointments and gels. Several carrier systems ...