Cross-reactivity of pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides is a key element for formulating pneumococcal vaccines and evaluating vaccine efficacy. This study examined whether 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23), which only contains 6B, can elicit cross-functional immune responses against recently discovered serotypes (6C and 6D), as well as against 6A, in 2 adult age groups.Yo...

Cloning of large viral genomes into bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) facilitates analyses of viral functions and molecular mutagenesis. Previous derivations of viral BACs involved laborious recombinations within infected cells. We describe a single-step production of viral BACs by direct cloning of unit length genomes, derived from circular or head-to-tail concatemeric DNA replication in...

PURPOSE Robo4, a member of the roundabout (Robo) family, acts as a neuronal guidance receptor and plays some role in vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. This study investigated the effect of Robo4 on the formation of fibrovascular membranes (FVMs) from patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy and its roles in choroid-retina endothelial (RF/6A) and human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cel...

Using simple organic synthetic transformations, a novel diazaoxatricornan derivative, the 12 c-methyl-12-phenyl-8-propyl-12,12 c-dihydro-8 H-4-oxa-8,12-diazadibenzo[ cd, mn]pyrene ( 6a), was prepared. This novel chiral cup-shaped molecule was isolated in racemic form and in excellent yield after the addition of methyl lithium to the BF 4 salt of a novel unsymmetrical diazaoxatriangulenium catio...

A polymorphic allele in transforming growth factor h receptor 1 (TGFbR1) is hypothesized to increase risk of cancer (1). The allele, designated as TGFbR1*6A , results from the deletion of three alanines within a nine-alanine stretch in exon 1, and in vitro studies have shown that TGFbR1*6A is an impaired mediator of TGF-h antiproliferative signals compared with wild-type (TGFbR1*9A ; refs. 2, 3...

PURPOSE Treatment of head and neck cancer often associates different therapeutic modalities, including surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. In an attempt to optimize therapeutics, the identification of molecular markers linked to response to chemotherapy remains important. Recently, the involvement of metalloproteinases in resistance to chemotherapy was suggested through their interaction w...

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a major cause of acquired coronary artery diseases in childhood. The serum levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 and MMP-9 in KD have been reported to be significantly higher than other diseases. Several studies have demonstrated that MMP-3 5A/6A polymorphism and MMP-9 C-1562T polymorphism modify each transcriptional activity in allele specific manner. We hypothesi...

Leguminosae, Lathyrus sativus, Phytoalexin, 6a-Hydroxypterocarpan, Pisatin Lathyrus sativus was investigated for the nature of its phytoalexin response with the result that leaflets, im­ mature pods, and seeds were induced to produce 6a-hydroxy-3-methoxy-8,9-methylenedioxypterocarpan (pisatin). Evidence is presented for the metabolism of pisatin, by the wound pathogen Botrytis cinerea, to a phe...

Preparation of cephalosporins bearing a 1,3-dithietane ring attached to the C-3 position using intramolecular rearrangement are described. The diastereoisomers (6a-I and 6a-II) were separated by silica gel column chromatography. These 3-[4-(carbamoyl carboxymethylene)-1,3-dithietane-2-yl]cephems showed comparable activity against Gram-negative bacteria to that of ceftazidime.

Heteroaromatization of ethyl 2-cyano-4-oxo-2-(2-oxo-2-arylethyl)-4-arylbutanoates 3a,b with ammonium acetate gave ethyl 2,6-diarylisonicotinates 4a,b. Treatment of the latter with acetonitrile afforded novel beta-oxoalkanonitriles 6a,b. Reactions of 6a,b with phenyl hydrazine and hydroxylamine gave the corresponding pyridyl aminopyrazoles 8a,b and pyridyl aminoisoxazoles 10a,b, respectively.