Mostly Microbes and Infection

Highlights • Chlamydia trachomatis  (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) co-infections are common. • N. gonorrhoeae  may cause a re-activation of persistent  C. trachomatis  infection. • Transwell inserts eliminate contact-dependent NG anti-chlamydial effects in vitro. • Penicillinase-producing NG alleviates Amoxicillin-induced chlamydial persistence.

In healthy people, #probiotic supplements offer little benefit & can potentially do more harm than good. Studies show that taking probiotic supplements can alter the composition of gut #microbiome & reduce microbial diversity.

Study found mucins shape oral microbiota by serving as nutrients to support metabolic diversity, organizing spatial structure thru reduced aggregation, limiting antagonism between taxa.

Exercise has many benefits—strengthening muscles and bones, preventing disease and extending lifespan. It is also known to change the composition and activity of the trillions of microbes in our guts known as the microbiome.

  Scientists know our gut influences our brain. So psychobiotic drugs that shift the composition of microbes in the gut may be able to help treat disorders such as anxiety and depression

U niversity of the Pacific’s   McGeorge School of Law   is launching an innovative program to help local governments make transformative changes to mental health services with a $5 million grant from the state’s Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission.

by Cassio Luiz Coutinho Almeida-da-Silva, Luiz Eduardo Baggio Savio, Robson Coutinho-Silva and David M. Ojcius  The innate immune system in vertebrates and invertebrates relies on conserved receptors and ligands, and pathways that can rapidly initiate the host response against microbial infection and other sources of stress and danger. Research into the family of NOD-like receptors (NLRs) has blossomed over the past two decades, with much being learned about the ligands and conditions that stimulate the NLRs and the outcomes of NLR activation in cells and animals. The NLRs play key roles in diverse functions, ranging from transcription of MHC molecules to initiation of inflammation. Some NLRs are activated directly by their ligands, while other ligands may have indirect effects on the NLRs. New findings in coming years will undoubtedly shed more light on molecular details involved in NLR activation, as well as the physiological and immunological outcomes of NLR ligation.

 by David M. Ojcius, John Ding-E Young Over the past decade or so, pore-forming proteins (PFPs) have been isolated from various immune cells and nonpathogenic bacteria. It is now becoming apparent that PFPs may also be produced by a number of parasites. Although far from definitive, the evidence currently available for the role of PFPs in the survival and pathogenesis by parasites in briefly presented by David Ojcius and John Ding-E Young.

  Highlights • LinCas4 is a metal dependent endonuclease. • Mutation of metal interacting residues (Asp 74  and Glu 87 ) curtails the DNase activity. • The mutation of a potential DNA interacting residue (Tyr 132 ) did not perturb the DNase activity. • In vitro  reconstituted LinCas4 possesses 4Fe-4S cluster. • The 4Fe-4S cluster is non-essential for the endonuclease activity in LinCas4.

Highlights • We report the transcriptome profiling of Caco-2 cells upon interaction with membrane vesicles of L.  monocytogenes . • Exposure of MVs to intestinal epithelial cells extensively altered the host transcriptome. • Pathway analysis confirming that MVs appears as principally responsible for the induction of immune signaling pathways. • We identified several non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), possibly involved in the regulation of early manipulation of the host gene expression, essential for the persistence of L.  monocytogenes . • The findings have opened the way for more detailed studies on the roles of membrane vesicles in the host-pathogen interaction during L.  monocytogenes  infection.

The pandemic caused by  Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2  (SARS-CoV-2) is receiving worldwide attention, due to the severity of the disease (COVID-19) that resulted in more than a million global deaths so far. The urgent need for vaccines and antiviral drugs is mobilizing the scientific community to develop strategies for studying the mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 infection, replication kinetics, pathogenesis, host–virus interaction, and infection inhibition. In this work, we review the strategies of tissue engineering in the fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) models used in virology studies, which presented many advantages over conventional cell cultures, such as complex  cytoarchitecture  and a more physiological  microenvironment . Scaffold-free (spheroids and organoids) and scaffold-based (3D scaffolding and 3D bioprinting) approach allow the biofabrication of more realistic models relevant to the pandemic, to be used as  in vitro ...

Highlights • Rice sheath blight is caused by necrotrophic dreadful fungus  Rhizoctonia solani . • Forward genetics tools identified RSS1 (IMPA2; IMPORTIN ALPHA 2) as a NHR gene. • Mutation in RSS1 at P65S in first exon compromise the immunity to R. solani. • rss1 shows enhanced cell death, ROS, callose deposition and developmental defect. • RSS1 activates early  salicylic acid  mediated defense response against R. solani.

  Background The usefulness of available vaccine and serological tests for leptospirosis is limited by the low cross-reactivity of antigens from numerous serovars of pathogenic  Leptospira  spp. Identification of genus-specific protein antigens (GP-Ag) of  Leptospira  would be important for development of universal vaccines and serodiagnostic methods. OmpL1, a transmembrane porin of pathogenic leptospires, was identified as a possible GP-Ag, but its sequence diversity and immune cross-reactivity among different serovars of pathogenic leptospires remains largely unknown.

by Cássio Luiz Coutinho Almeida-da-Silva , Harmony Matshik Dakafay , Kenji O'Brien , Dallin Montierth , Nan Xiao , David M Ojcius  Conventional cigarette smoke harms nearly every organ of the body and is the leading cause of death in the United States and in the world. Decades of research have associated conventional cigarette smoke with several diseases and death. Heavily marketed, electronic nicotine delivery systems such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are available in a variety of flavors and high nicotine concentrations. In 2019, a severe lung disease outbreak linked to e-cigarette use led to several deaths, which was called electronic-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI). Even though the trend of e-cigarette use among teens continues to increase, information on the effects of e-cigarette smoke on oral and overall health are still scarce. This review discusses the possible health effects due to unregulated e-cigarette use, as well as the healt...

The microbiomes of physically active people can be quite different from those of people who rarely exercise  

Najwane Said-Sadier, Batoul Sayegh, Raymond Farah, Linda Abou Abbas, Rania Dweik, Norina Tang and David M. Ojcius Introduction: Periodontitis is a severe oral infection that can contribute to systemic inflammation. A large body of evidence suggests a role for systemic inflammation in the initiation of neurodegenerative disease. This systematic review synthesized data from observational studies to investigate the association between periodontitis and neuroinflammation in adults. Methods and materials: A systematic literature search of PubMed, Web of Science, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) was performed for studies published from the date of inception up to September 2021. Search terms for the exposure “oral disease” and outcome “dementia”, “neuroinflammation” and “cognitive decline” were used. Study selection and data extraction were independently undertaken by two reviewers. The final eligible articles were included only if the exposure is periodo...

Jarrod N. Cortez  (1),  Ignacio O. Romero  (1),  Md Sayed Tanveer  (3),  Chuang Niu  (3),  Cássio Luiz Coutinho Almeida-da-Silva  (2),  Leticia Ferreira Cabido  (2),  David M. Ojcius  (2),  Wei-Chun Chin  (1),  Ge Wang  (3),  Changqing Li  (1) ((1) University of California, Merced, (2) University of the Pacific, (3) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) There is increasing recognition that oral health affects overall health and systemic diseases. Nonetheless it remains challenging to rapidly screen patient biopsies for signs of inflammation or the pathogens or foreign materials that elicit the immune response. This is especially true in conditions such as foreign body gingivitis (FBG), where the foreign particles are often difficult to detect. Our long term goal is to establish a method to determine if the inflammation of the gingival tissue is due to the presence of a metal oxide, with emphasis o...

Researchers trawling genetic databases discovered a distant relative of influenza viruses in sturgeon. The wider virus family that includes influenza probably originated 100s of millions of yrs ago in primordial aquatic animals.