This study evaluated the quantitative results from and quality of the inoculation patterns of urine specimens produced by two automated instruments, the Copan WASP and the BD InoqulA. Five hundred twenty-six urine samples submitted in 10-ml canisters containing boric acid were processed within 30 min on an InoqulA instrument plating 10 μl of specimen, and on two WASP instruments, one plating 1 ...

Phagocytosis is a vital first-line host defense mechanism against infection involving the ingestion and digestion of foreign materials such as bacteria by specialized cells, phagocytes. For phagocytes to ingest the foreign materials, they form an actin-based membrane structure called phagocytic cup at the plasma membranes. Formation of the phagocytic cup is impaired in phagocytes from patients ...

We measured the chromospheric activity of the four hot Jupiter hosts WASP-43, WASP-51/HAT-P-30, WASP-72 & WASP-103 to search for anomalous values caused by the close-in companions. The Mount Wilson Ca ii H&K S -index was calculated for each star using observations taken with the Robert Stobie Spectrograph at the Southern African Large Telescope. The activity level of WASP-43 is anomalously high...

Invadopodia are proteolytic membrane protrusions formed by highly invasive cancer cells, commonly observed on substrate(s) mimicking extracellular matrix. Although invadopodia are proposed to have roles in cancer invasion and metastasis, direct evidence has not been available. We previously reported that neural Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (N-WASP), a member of WASP family proteins that reg...

Nck links phosphotyrosine-based signaling to Arp2/3-dependent actin polymerization during many different cellular processes as well as actin-based motility of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), vaccinia, and other vertebrate poxviruses by interacting with N-WASP/WASP. Nck also binds WASP-interacting protein (WIP), which inhibits the ability of N-WASP to activate the Arp2/3 complex until ...

Mutations of the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP) gene result either in the classic Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) or in a less severe form, X-linked thrombocytopenia (XLT). A phenotype-genotype correlation has been reported by some but not by other investigators. In this study, we characterized WASP gene mutations in 50 Japanese patients and analyzed the clinical phenotype and course of...

BACKGROUND WASp/SCAR proteins activate the Arp2/3 complex to nucleate actin filament assembly and are thought to have important roles in endocytosis. WASp is required for efficient endocytosis of antigen receptors, N-WASp promotes actin polymerization-dependent movement of endomembrane vesicles, and Las17 (a yeast WASp homolog) is required for endocytic internalization. However, it is unknown w...

Extracellular cues stimulate the Abl family nonreceptor tyrosine kinase Arg to promote actin-based cell edge protrusions. Several Arg-interacting proteins are potential links to the actin cytoskeleton, but exactly how Arg stimulates actin polymerization and cellular protrusion has not yet been fully elucidated. We used affinity purification to identify N-WASp as a novel binding partner of Arg. ...

Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP) is in a complex with WASP-interacting protein (WIP). WASP levels, but not mRNA levels, were severely diminished in T cells from WIP(-/-) mice and were increased by introduction of WIP in these cells. The WASP binding domain of WIP was shown to protect WASP from degradation by calpain in vitro. Treatment with the proteasome inhibitors MG132 and bortezomib ...