Paracrine effect of transforming growth factorb 1 (TGFb 1) on autoimmune insulitis and diabetes was studied by transgenic production of the active form of porcine TGFb 1 (pTGFb 1) in pancreatic islet (islet) a cells in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice under the control of rat glucagon promoter (RGP) (NOD-RGP-TGFb 1). None of 27 NOD-RGP-TGFb 1 mice developed diabetes by 45 wk of age, in contrast to ...

Arginine-specific cysteine proteinase (Arg-gingipain: Rgp) produced by Porphyromonas gingivalis is a major virulence factor of this periodontal pathogen, which is thought to play an important role in periodontitis by interrupting host defense mechanisms and by participating in the penetration and destruction of host connective tissues. We studied the IgG response against Rgp A components in pat...

Gamete maturation and spawning in starfish is triggered by a gonad-stimulating substance (GSS), which is present in extracts of the radial nerve cords. Purification of GSS from the starfish Patiria pectinifera identified GSS as a relaxin-like polypeptide, which is now known as relaxin-like gonad-stimulating peptide (RGP). Cells expressing RGP in the radial nerve cord of P. pectinifera have been...

Paracrine effect of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) on autoimmune insulitis and diabetes was studied by transgenic production of the active form of porcine TGF-beta1 (pTGF-beta1) in pancreatic islet (islet) alpha cells in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice under the control of rat glucagon promoter (RGP) (NOD-RGP-TGF-beta1). None of 27 NOD-RGP-TGF- beta1 mice developed diabetes by 45 wk ...

Chandipura virus (CHPV) has emerged as an important pediatric encephalitis-causing pathogen with very high mortality in India. No specific vaccine or treatment is available till date. We attempted to prepare a candidate vaccine employing recombinant CHPV Glycoprotein (rGp). The Glycoprotein gene (G-gene) of CHPV was expressed using Baculovirus expression system. The rGp was purified by HPLC and...

INTRODUCTION Primary ectatic corneal diseases usually require rigid gas-permeable (RGP) corneal contact lens wear for visual rehabilitation. As the disease progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult to fit these lenses. RGP scleral contact lenses now provide another treatment option before resorting to surgery. CLINICAL PICTURE Two patients with pellucid marginal degeneration and one with ...

Streptococcus mutans is resistant to bacitracin, which is a peptide antibiotic produced by certain species of Bacillus. The purpose of this study was to clarify the bacitracin resistance mechanism of S. mutans. We cloned and sequenced two S. mutans loci that are involved in bacitracin resistance. The rgp locus, which is located downstream from rmlD, contains six rgp genes (rgpA to rgpF) that ar...

The aim of this study was to calculate the level of improvement of visual acuity comparing the best corrected visual acuity (VA) achieved with spectacles with the best corrected VA achieved with rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lenses in patients with high, simple or compound corneal astigmatism (myopic, hypermetropic and mixed). The investigation of patients included auto-kerato-refractometry...

We found that locations of arginine-specific gingipain (RGP) in the cellular fractions in the crude extract, envelope, vesicles, and culture supernatants were 48%, 16%, 17%, and 31%, respectively, and the corresponding values of lysine-specific gingipain (KGP) were 47%, 10%, 7%, and 36%, respectively. Although the molecular mass of RGP in the culture supernatant had been determined as 43 kDa, a...

PURPOSE To estimate the fitting parameters of the hybrid contact lens in patients with corneal ectasia using the rigid gas permeable (RGP) lens. METHODS Thirty-four eyes with corneal ectasia were evaluated in this study. The patients were examined once with the RGP lens and once with the hybrid contact lens. The relationship between the base curvature of the RGP and the vault of the hybrid le...