The production of IFN- I (IFN-α/β) is one of the earliest and most important host-protective responses. Interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) is a critical transcriptional factor in the IFN-β signaling pathway. Although significant progress has been achieved in the regulation of IRF3, the process may be more complicated than previously considered. In the present study, heat shock protein 60 (HS...

BACKGROUND Heat shock protein (HSP)60 is an abundant protein found primarily in the mitochondria, though 15% to 20% is found in the cytosol. Previously we observed that HSP60 complexes with bax in the cytosol. Reduction in HSP60 precipitates translocation of bax to the mitochondria and apoptosis. We hypothesized that HSP60 would decrease with hypoxia/reoxygenation and that this would precipitat...

Atherosclerosis bears many similarities to inflammatory/autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis (MS).1,2 Compelling data from experimental models show that such diseases may be treated by vaccination. Will it be possible to attack atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with the same approach? Several studies have shown positive effects of immunization with antigenic...

All Legionella species express a 60-kilodalton (kDa) protein which contains a genus-specific epitope recognized by murine monoclonal antibody GW2X4B8B2H6. A genomic cosmid library of Legionella pneumophila chromosomal DNA was constructed in pHC79 and screened for 60-kDa antigen-expressing clones with the monoclonal antibody. A 3.2-kilobase EcoRI fragment from cosmid 14B11 expressing a 60-kDa pr...

One of the most abundant proteins synthesized by Legionella pneumophila, particularly during growth in a variety of eukaryotic host cells, is Hsp60, a member of the GroEL family of molecular chaperones. The present study was initiated in response to a growing number of reports suggesting that for some bacteria, including L. pneumophila, Hsp60 may exist in extracytoplasmic locations. Immunolocal...

PURPOSE This study tried to identify novel gastric autoimmune antigens that might be involved in aggravating the atrophic gastritis among patients with Helicobacter pylori infection using two-dimensional immunoblotting analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Proteins from gastric mucosal antrectomy specimens and AGS cells (gastric adenocarcinoma cell lines derived from a Caucasian patient who had rec...

The green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene offers many advantages as a viability reporter for high-throughput antimicrobial drug screening. However, screening for antituberculosis compounds by using GFP driven by the heat shock promoter, hsp60, has been of limited utility due to the low signal-to-noise ratio. Therefore, an alternative promoter was evaluated for its enhanced fluorescence during mi...

The expression of a 60-kDa heat shock protein (HSP60) on the cell surface of Helicobacter pylori was analysed by flow cytometry with polyclonal antibody directed to HSP60. All 13 strains of H. pylori examined expressed HSP60 on the cell surface, although the intensity of expression was different among the strains and depended on culture conditions. There was a correlation between the intensity ...

Chloroplasts are organelles of endosymbiotic origin that perform essential functions in plants. They contain about 3000 different proteins, the vast majority of which are nucleus-encoded, synthesized in precursor form in the cytosol, and transported into the chloroplasts post-translationally. These preproteins are generally imported via envelope complexes termed TOC and TIC (Translocon at the O...