A simple and reliable method for the detection of specific nitrogen-fixing bacteria in both free-living and bacteroid forms is essential for the development and application of biofertilizer. Traditionally, a polyclonal antibody generated from an immunized rabbit was used for detection. However, the disadvantages of using a polyclonal antibody include limited supply and cross-reactivity to relat...

We selected from landscape phage library probes that bind preferentially Salmonella typhimurium cells compared with other Enterobacteriaceae. The specificity of the phage probes for S. typhimurium was analyzed by the phage-capture test, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the precipitation test. Interaction of representative probes with S. typhimurium was characterized by fluores...

Background: Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of aggressive cancers. Chemotherapy, surgery,and radiotherapy are the common therapeutic options for treating this cancer. Due to the adverse side-eff ects of these methods, immunotherapy is considered as an appropriate alternative therapeutic option. Treatment through the application of monoclonal antibodies is considered as a n...

Background & Aims: Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate, intracellular parasite, which is widely spread in the world. The parasite is able to infect all warm-blooded hosts including humans and farm animals. The infection in humans often occurs after the ingestion of raw or undercooked meat containing tissue cysts. Several methods have been applied to detect this parasite in contaminated foods. Reco...

BACKGROUND Monitoring blood levels of human growth hormone (hGH) in most children with short stature deficiencies is crucial for taking a decision of treatment with extended course of daily and expensive doses of recombinant hGH (rhGH or Somatropin®). Besides, misusing of rhGH by sportsmen is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency and thus sensitive GH-detecting methods are highly welcome in th...

Filamentous phage display has become a powerful method for the discovery of affinity-binding reagents (6). Linear and constrained peptides, antibody fragments (scFvs and Fabs) and some alternative binding domains have all been displayed on phage particles by fusing to one of the phage coat proteins. Although several phage proteins (derived from gVIII, gVI, gVII and gIX) have all been used as fu...

Human hepatitis B virus (HBV), the prototype of hepadnavirus family is a small-enveloped virus that replicates by reverse transcription within hepatocytes of an infected individual (Loeb and Ganem, 1993; Nassal and Schaller, 1993). It causes a variety of acute and chronic liver diseases including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cirrhosis in human and in other higher primates such as chimpanz...

Brucella melitensis is a highly infectious animal pathogen able to cause a recurring debilitating disease in humans and is therefore high on the list of biological warfare agents. Immunoglobulin genes from mice immunized with gamma-irradiated B. melitensis strain 16M were used to construct a library that was screened by phage display against similarly prepared bacteria. The selected phage parti...

BACKGROUND Coeliac disease (CD) is a common and complex disorder of the small intestine caused by intolerance to wheat gluten and related edible cereals like barley and rye. Peptides originating from incomplete gliadin digestion activate the lamina propria infiltrating T cells to release proinflammatory cytokines, which in turn cause profound tissue remodelling of the small intestinal wall. The...

BACKGROUND Disseminated infection and bacteraemia is an underreported and under-researched aspect of Johne's disease. This is mainly due to the time it takes for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) to grow and lack of sensitivity of culture. Viable MAP cells can be detected in the blood of cattle suffering from Johne's disease within 48 h using peptide-mediated magnetic separation...