BACKGROUND: Ov-CHI-1 is a chitinase specifically expressed in the infective stage larvae of the human filarial parasite Onchocerca volvulus. Evidence has show that it could be a vaccine candidate, however, there is no data available regarding the immunological status of people naturally exposed to infective stage larvae and thus provoked by this antigen. METHOD: We analysed the Ov-CHI-1-specifi...

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is a promising approach for renewable solar light conversion. However, surface Fermi level pinning (FLP), caused by trap states, severely restricts the PEC activities. Theoretical calculations indicate subsurface oxygen vacancy (sub-Ov) could release FLP and retain active structure. A series of metal oxide semiconductors with sub-Ov were prepared throu...

Background: Insulin resistance (IR) is frequently associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, and development of IR can occur early in the course of HCV infection and promote hepatic fibrosis. Aim of the Study: We aimed to assess the impact of IR on the development of oesophageal varices (OV) in HCV-related liver cirrhosis. Subjects and Methods: We enrolled 80 HCV-related liver cirrhosis...

The ovalbumin gene (Ov) gene is responsive to estrogen, glucocorticoid, androgen, and progesterone. In our efforts to characterize the regulation of the Ov gene by steroid hormones, we have repeatedly observed that many vector backbones and promoters are responsive to steroids. In order to determine which vectors are most suitable for these types of analyses, vectors from Promega's pGL3 and new...

Glyoxal, methylglyoxal and other physiological alpha-oxoaldehydes are formed by the lipid peroxidation, glycation and degradation of glycolytic intermediates. They are detoxified enzymically by the glyoxalase system. To investigate the physiological function of glyoxalase I in parasitic organisms, the cDNA for glyoxalase I from the filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus (designated Ov-GloI) has ...

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) are an emerging class of targeted anticancer therapies designed to selectively infect, replicate in, and lyse malignant cells without causing harm to normal, healthy tissues. In addition to direct oncolytic activity, OVs have shown dual promise as immunotherapeutic agents. The presence of viral infection and subsequently generated immunogenic tumor cell death trigger inn...

The expression of appropriate ensembles of ionic channels is necessary for the differentiation and normal function of vertebrate neurons. Cell-cell interactions may regulate the expression and properties of ionic channels in embryonic neurons. Previous studies have shown that the expression of A-type K+ channels (IA) and Ca2+-activated K+ channels (lK[Ca]) is abnormal in chick ciliary ganglion ...

Oncolytic viruses (OV) were first observed in early clinical studies in patients with malignancies where tumour regressions were observed to coincide with viral infections or with live virus vaccinations. Since these early reports, studies using OV have progressed from anecdotal and controlled infections to specifically selecting or genetically modifying viruses for cancer treatment. OV are int...

A recently reported chitinase gene, expressed in the infective, third-stage (L3) larvae of the human filarial parasite Onchocerca volvulus, belongs to the family 18 glycosyl hydrolases and has been designated Ov-chi-1. The gene product of Ov-chi-1 is chitinolytic. Allosamidin ablates activity of the native enzyme in a dose-dependent manner but did not significantly inhibit the moulting of L3 la...