Travelers whose return trip was after April 1, 2011 were not incl

Travelers whose return trip was after April 1, 2011 were not included. All the volunteers were then contacted by phone within 3 weeks after their return, to determine whether they had followed the recommendations regarding vaccinations and antimalarial medications and had respected the physical protection measures against insect bites. Compliance with medical recommendations was considered good when the prescribed vaccination had been given before the trip, and/or when at least 90% of the planned doses of antimalarial chemoprophylaxis had been taken for at least 90% of the planned duration, and/or when the other

means of malaria prevention were applied www.selleckchem.com/products/Everolimus(RAD001).html at least 90% of the time. The questionnaire also sought the reasons for noncompliance for each of these items as well as the occurrence of intercurrent illnesses, drugs taken during the trip, and consultations with physicians upon return. The qualitative variables are presented as frequencies or percentages. Quantitative

variables are presented as means ± SD or medians with extreme values. Categorical variables were compared using the chi-square test, and quantitative variables by Student’s t-test or analysis of variance if normally distributed, or by a nonparametric test or Mann–Whitney test in other cases. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify the variables associated with compliance. Variables with p < 0.2 in the univariate analysis were included in a multivariate FK866 order model, and the selection of independent variables was based on a backward elimination procedure,

retaining those with p ≤ 0.05.The statistical analysis was performed using Statview 5.0. For all tests, the significance level was set at 0.05. Of the 475 people consulted at the ITMS during the study period, 353 (74.3%) agreed to participate in this study. Of these, 336 were successfully 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase contacted by phone after their return (95.2%). The main characteristics of these persons are described in Table 1. The majority of trips were for leisure, with a duration of less than 14 days. The travel destinations are detailed in Table 2. Kenya and Senegal accounted for 60% of travelers’ destinations. Most of the travelers were referred to the ITMS by their GPs (43.5%). Travel agencies were responsible for 14.6% of consultations at the ITMS, and 21.7% of the travelers came on their own initiative. The ITMS consultation occurred at least 1 month before the theoretical day of departure for 160 travelers (47.6%), between 15 days and 1 month for 103 travelers (30.7%), between 7 and 14 days for 66 travelers (19.7%), and less than 7 days before the departure for 7 travelers (2%). Fifteen trips had to be canceled. The rest of our study only concerned the 321 travelers who actually made their trip. More than one quarter of these (25.9%, n = 83) used antidiarrheal drugs during their stay.

coli K-12 derivatives The comparative proteomic and genetic anal

coli K-12 derivatives. The comparative proteomic and genetic analyses revealed an IS5 disruption of the kdgR gene in two commonly used derivative strains of E. coli K-12, XL1-Blue and DH5α, compared with K-12 wild-type strain

W3110. In addition, a controversial deoR mutation was clarified as a wild type in E. coli DH5α using learn more the same approach. This approach should be useful in characterizing the unknown mutations in various mutant strains developed. At the same time, comparative proteomic analysis also revealed the distinct metabolic characteristic of the two derivatives: higher biosynthetic flux to purine nucleotides. This is potentially beneficial for the synthesis of plasmid DNA. Escherichia coli is widely used in laboratory and industry for producing diverse products such as biochemicals, biopolymers, plasmid DNA, and recombinant proteins (Lee et al., 2005; Park et al., 2008). In particular, plasmid DNA production check details has attracted considerable attention with the

recent increasing demand for plasmid DNA for gene therapies and vaccination (Kutzler & Weiner, 2008). Although numerous E. coli strains are available as potential host strains including XL1-Blue and DH5α, their genetic and metabolic characteristics remain inadequately studied. This might be explained by the fact that the generation of these strains usually involves random mutations, followed by the selection of a particularly Selleck Erastin wanted phenotype, and often requires many steps of transfer or the deletion of undefined DNA fragments, thus leading to some unintentional and/or undiscovered mutations. These complex genotypes have often been ignored, but they are becoming increasingly important as we are moving into systems-level studies on these strains (Lee et al., 2005; Park et al., 2008). Comparative proteomics offers a powerful platform technology to study the differentially expressed proteins in response to various genetic and environmental perturbations

(Han & Lee, 2003, 2006). This technology has been used for the study of cell physiology and the identification of new biomarkers (Han & Lee, 2003; Meng & Veenstra, 2007). However, to date, there has been no report on the use of comparative proteomics to identify genetic mutations. It was reasoned that mutations in the structural as well as the regulatory genes could be identified by examining the differentially expressed proteins, which can be confirmed by further genetic analysis such as PCR and DNA sequencing. To demonstrate a proof of concept, we performed a comparative proteomic analysis of two E. coli K-12 derivatives XL1-Blue and DH5α with the sequenced wild-type strain. An unknown kdgR mutation was identified in the two derivatives. In addition, a controversial deoR mutation was clarified as a wild type in E. coli DH5α using the same approach. The wild-type E. coli K-12 W3110 (Korean Collection for Type Cultures number 2223, Daejeon, Korea) was used as a reference.

However, both Mg2+ and Ca2+ increased 5′-AMP hydrolysis

b

However, both Mg2+ and Ca2+ increased 5′-AMP hydrolysis

by CP-690550 price about 42% (Fig. 3a). The optimum pH for C. parapsilosis ecto-5′-nucleotidase activity was in the acidic range, with its maximum activity at a pH of 4.5. The enzyme activity decreased with increases in pH (Fig. 3b). In the pH range between 4.5 and 8.5, the rate of 5′-AMP hydrolysis observed from the supernatant was <15–20% of those observed in intact cells (data not shown). In addition to the existence of ecto-ATPase activity (Kiffer-Moreira et al., 2010) on the surface of C. parapsilosis, our group has described the presence of a membrane-bound acid phosphatase activity (Kiffer-Moreira et al., 2007a), which could contribute to AMP hydrolysis. To Temozolomide rule out the influence of acid phosphatase on AMP hydrolysis, we evaluated the influence of a well-known inhibitor of phosphatase activities, sodium orthovanadate (de Almeida-Amaral et al., 2006; Kiffer-Moreira et al., 2007a; Amazonas et al., 2009; Dick et al., 2010). As shown in Fig. 4a, different concentrations of sodium orthovanadate (0.1 and 1.0 mM) inhibited ectophosphatase

activity. Nevertheless, as expected, it did not have an effect on C. parapsilosis ecto-5′-nucleotidase activity (Fig. 4b). On the other hand, ammonium molybdate, a classical 5′-nucleotidase inhibitor (Gottlieb & Dwyer, 1983; Borges et al., 2007), inhibited ecto-5′-nucleotidase in a dose-dependent manner, with maximal inhibition at a concentration of 0.5 mM (Fig. 5). Adenosine has been implicated in many aspects to contribute for pathogens escaping from host immune responses (Bhardwaj & Skelly, 2009; Thammavongsa et al., PTK6 2009). To verify whether adenosine and

5′-AMP would prevent macrophage to phagocyte C. parapsilosis, we perform an in vitro interaction with peritoneal macrophage and C. parapsilosis in the presence of a low concentration of adenosine and 5′-AMP (100 μM). As can be seen in Fig. 6a and b, the addition of adenosine to the interaction medium showed a significant reduction in the percentage of infected macrophages, whereas 5′-AMP at the same concentration did not have an effect, comparing with control. Interestingly, the addition of 5′-AMP, at 1 mM, caused a decrease in the percentage of infected macrophages (Fig. 6a and b), indicating that C. parapsilosis ecto-5′-nucleotidase could have a role in generating extracellular adenosine, to further modulate the macrophage response. On the other hand, no significant differences were observed in the mean number of yeasts per infected macrophage among all system tested (Fig. 6c). In this condition in the presence of 1 mM AMP, C. parapsilosis produced 1.52 ± 0.07 nmol Pi h−1 10−6 cells from AMP hydrolysis. In the same condition, macrophages were also able to promote AMP hydrolysis producing 1.04 ± 0.13 nmol Pi h−1 10−5 cells.

5a) The lytic activity of the endolysin was not completely inact

5a). The lytic activity of the endolysin was not completely inactivated despite incubating at 100 °C for 30 min, with > 15% of

its activity remaining compared with the non-heat-treated control (Fig. 5b). In contrast, autoclaving for 15 min at 121 °C completely inactivated check details LysBPS13. Taken together, these results indicate that LysBPS13 has exceptionally high thermostability. We found that the high thermostability of LysBPS13 was dependent on the presence of glycerol in the storage buffer. Without glycerol, LysBPS13 still had higher thermostability than similar endolysins, such as T7 lysozyme, which is inactivated after a 5-min incubation at 50 °C (Kleppe et al., 1977). However, addition of glycerol up to 30% (v/v) enhanced the thermostability of LysBPS13 dramatically (Fig. 5c). It has been reported that polyols, such as glycerol, preferentially hydrate protein molecules and, consequently,

stabilize the native structure against thermal denaturation (Paciaroni et al., 2002; Spinozzi et al., 2008; Esposito et al., 2009), but the effect of glycerol on thermostability is not universal to all enzymes. In the case of LysB4, another endolysin from a B. cereus bacteriophage, glycerol did not affect its thermostability at all (Son et al. 2012). Moreover, 30% glycerol did not influence Dabrafenib the lytic activity of LysBPS13 (data not shown). Therefore, the ability of glycerol to support the high thermostability of LysBPS13 is an asset for its use in molecular biology Tryptophan synthase as well as in industry. In this study, a

putative endolysin gene was identified in the genome of the B. cereus bacteriophage BPS13. This enzyme consisted of a catalytic domain and a cell-binding domain and was determined to be an N-acetylmuramyl-l-alanine amidase, active against Bacillus species and EDTA-treated Gram-negative bacteria. Biochemical characterization showed that LysBPS13 possesses several advantageous features for industrial applications. LysBPS13 retained lytic activity under various conditions, including a broad range of temperatures and ionic strengths. Addition of detergents, such as Tween20, Triton X-100, and CHAPS, did not reduce the lytic activity of the endolysin, which supports its potential to serve as a detergent additive or disinfectant. In addition, it showed activity against some Gram-negative pathogens, and EDTA did not affect its lytic activity, suggesting that it could be easily applied to target Gram-negative pathogens when using EDTA as the permeabilizing agent. Furthermore, LysBPS13 has high thermostability and lytic activity in the presence of glycerol. Because glycerol is widely used in food, pharmaceutical, and personal care applications, this feature is favorable for applications in these fields. In conclusion, LysBPS13 is a competitive candidate as a biocontrol agent. This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MEST) (No. 20090078983).

This work was partially financed by grants from the Fondo de Inve

This work was partially financed by grants from the Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria (07/0976, 08/1032, 08/1195, 08/1715 and 10/2635); Fondos Europeos para el Desarrollo Regional (FEDER); Fundación para la Investigación y Prevención del Sida en España (FIPSE 06/36572, 06/36610 and 36-0998-10); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (SAF2008-02278); Programa de suport als Grups de Recerca AGAUR (2009 SGR 284, 959, 1061 and 1257); Red de Investigación en Sida (RIS, RD06/006/0022 and RD06/0006/1004); NVP-AUY922 in vitro and the Instituto de Salud Carlos

III, Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, Spain. XE is supported by a fellowship from the JdlC programme and grant JDCI20071020. CIBERdem and CIBERobn are ISCIII projects. The comments and critiques of the anonymous reviewers helped us to improve the manuscript and are greatly appreciated. “
“Antiretroviral therapy

(ART) medication prescribing errors in hospitalized patients still remain common. This study aimed to examine the initial prescribing of antiretroviral drug regimens for HIV clinic patients admitted Selleckchem Everolimus to an urban academic teaching hospital. A retrospective chart review of all patients with a discharge diagnosis of HIV or AIDS was performed. Only patients actively managed by the hospital out-patient HIV clinic at the time of discharge were included in the final analysis. We compared the ART initially prescribed during hospitalization with the clinic records. Medication Amylase errors were separated by type and the prescriber’s area of specialty was noted. From 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2009, 90 admissions in 62 patients were included in the final analysis. In 47 of those admissions, the patient had an initial regimen considered to be incorrectly prescribed; in 17 of these 47 admissions, the patient was not prescribed any ART, and in the remainder the errors were related to drug omissions, incorrect frequency/dose, and prescription of the wrong drug. The majority of admissions were by an internal medicine or

non-infectious disease (ID) specialist. Average time to ART initiation was comparable among all prescribers. No statistically significant correlation was found between the number of admissions per patient or the prescriber’s area of specialty and the percentage of incorrect regimens ordered. Hospital HIV medication management still remains an area of focus because of the complexity of regimens, poor medication reconciliation and limited non-HIV/ID specialist knowledge. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has significantly altered the natural progression of HIV infection and AIDS [1-3]. The appropriate usage and monitoring of these medications in recent years have led to dramatic improvements in the patients’ qualify of life.

For all behaviors observed, the intensity and frequency were quan

For all behaviors observed, the intensity and frequency were quantified simultaneously. The product of the intensity and frequency BTK animal study scores provided a final ‘severity’ score. A detailed description of this rating scale is reported elsewhere (Steece-Collier et al., 2003; Maries et al., 2006). To test whether the low dose of nimodipine (0.8 mg/kg/day) we used in the chronic-release pellets to prevent dendritic spine loss would itself impact levodopa-induced dyskinesias, we examined behavior in a group of parkinsonian rats, distinct from rats used for the chronic nimodipine

pellet studies. In these rats, an acute injection of nimodipine was administered in conjunction with levodopa to determine whether nimodipine had either negative or positive influences

on levodopa-induced dyskinesias in our model. Rats were rendered severely parkinsonian, again without any pellet implants. All drugs were administered on the test day by intraperitoneal learn more injection. Levodopa was administered at one of three doses: 6.0, 8.0 or 12.5 mg/kg. Doses of levodopa were varied to ensure that we were not ‘overwhelming’ any potential ‘nimodipine effect’ with our usual high dose of 12.5 mg/kg levodopa. Dyskinesia severity was analysed 30 min post-levodopa (pre-nimodipine), which was followed by an injection of one of four test doses of nimodipine (0.08, 0.8, 8.0 or 20 mg/kg). Thirty minutes following the nimodipine injection, dyskinesias were rated a second time (post-nimodipine). A 48-h washout was given between drug tests. Test doses of nimodipine were chosen to be 10-fold higher and lower than that used in the chronic-release pellets we used in the current studies (i.e. 0.8 mg/kg). We also examined the same

nimodipine dose as the pellets (0.8 mg/kg), plus a dose of 20 mg/kg, which is a higher dose, similar to that commonly employed in the literature (Finger & Dunnett, 1989). Rats used for dendritic spine density analysis were deeply anesthetized with 5 mL/kg pentobarbital, and killed 20 weeks post-grafting by transcardial perfusion with room temperature 0.9% saline followed by cold 4% paraformaldehyde in 0.1 M PO4 buffer at 4°C. Brains were blocked caudally approximately −3.5 mm behind bregma, and the forebrain block placed in a Golgi–Cox Thymidylate synthase solution (1% mercury chloride, 1% potassium chromate and 1% potassium dichromate in distilled water) and allowed to develop in the dark for 14 days. Brains were then sectioned at a thickness of 100 μm on a vibrating microtome. Sections were placed on 4% gelatin-subbed prepared slides and allowed to dry in a humidified chamber. The slides were then developed in ammonia hydroxide followed by Kodak Polymax fixer, and then dehydrated in a series of alcohol immersions. Finally, slides were cleared in xylene and coverslipped with DPX.

Microplusin completely altered the respiratory profile of C neof

Microplusin completely altered the respiratory profile of C. neoformans. The basal oxygen consumption in MP-treated cells was approximately 40% lower LY2109761 than that in non-MP treated cells. In treated fungi, AA or KCN did not further disturb the rate of oxygen consumption, while SHAM fully impaired respiration, which implies that the classical electron transport pathway was either damaged

or absent and that respiration of C. neoformans is entirely driven by the alternative pathway. As laccase is a copper-dependent oxidase responsible for melanization (Zhu & Williamson, 2004) in C. neoformans, we investigated whether the copper-chelating properties of microplusin might have a negative effect on this process. Microplusin inhibited melanization of the strains H99 and B3501 at concentrations ≥3.12 μM (Fig. 4a). When we supplemented a culture of C. neoformans strain Target Selective Inhibitor Library cost B3501 with 2.5 μM of CuCl2.6H2O, we observed that the presence of this metal caused a twofold reduction

in the antimelanization activity of microplusin (Fig. 4b). Similar results were obtained with C. neoformans strain H99 (data not shown). Moreover, we observed that microplusin reduced the laccase activity of C. neoformans strain H99 by almost 50% (Fig. 4c). In parallel, we evaluated whether microplusin could reduce l-dopa autopolymerization in a manner similar to glyphosate, a compound whose antimelanization activity in C. neoformans has been described (Nosanchuk et al.,

2001). Microplusin did not inhibit the autopolymerization of l-dopa and even unless increased this process at concentrations ≥6.25 μM (Fig. 4d). Several enzymes are involved in the formation of the polysaccharide capsule in C. neoformans (reviewed in Zaragoza et al., 2009) and microplusin might affect this process by copper depletion, as copper is a co-factor for some of these enzymes. Our results revealed that microplusin impeded capsule enlargement of C. neoformans (strain T1444) in a dose-dependent manner (Fig. 5a). We also observed that 25 μM of microplusin significantly inhibited the capsular enlargement of H99 and B3501 (Fig. 5b and c). Our main hypothesis was that microplusin could negatively affect C. neoformans by copper depletion, which would be consistent with the importance of copper homeostasis for this fungus (Davis-Kaplan et al., 1998; Cox et al., 2003; Zhu et al., 2003; Waterman et al., 2007; Jiang et al., 2009) and the copper-chelating property of microplusin at a MP : copper II molar ratio of 1 : 1 (Silva et al., 2009). We have shown that microplusin at concentrations ≥1.56 μM significantly affected the growth of C. neoformans, similar to the activity of the peptide against M. luteus (Silva et al., 2009). Moreover, the anticryptococcal effect was considerably reversed when 2.5 μM of copper was added.

In order to maximize the utilization of this surgical modality, i

In order to maximize the utilization of this surgical modality, it should be applied not only on clinical cases but also for resident surgical training. Technological advancement and, above all, industry competition could reduce the cost

of the robotic instrumentation, making the robotic technology more affordable and cost-effective. The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest. “
“More than 1,050 individuals served as special referees for The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research (JOGR). The Editorial Board, Asia and Oceania Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (AOFOG) and Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (JSOG) take this opportunity to acknowledge these reviewers who have contributed many hours and much effort in the evaluation of manuscripts submitted to JOGR during the find more past year. We also continue to seek advice from reviewers and readers alike with regards to their overall evaluation of JOGR. Abdalla, Hossam eldin Abdelazim, Ibrahim Abdel-Hady, El-Said Abdool, Zeelha Abdullah, Mohamed Abe, Yasuhito Abeysena, Chrishantha Abildgaard, U. Abou-Elela, Ashraf

Abu-Asab, N. Adachi, Kumiko Adamo, Ciro Adams, Samantha Aggarwal, Nidhi Agur, Wael Ahmed, Hamdia Aizawa, Shihoko Akihira, Jun-ichi Akinaga, Chieko Akira, Shigeo Al, Ragip Alkhaja, F. Allen, Robert Allison, Kim Alonso, Justo Alqahatani, Noura Altinbas, Sibel Alva, Teresa Amer, S. A. Ando, Hisao Andreeva, Petya Anim-Somuah, Millicent Aoki, Showa Aoki, Yoichi Api, O. Araki, Ryuichiro Araki, Yoshihiko Araujo Júnior, Edward Arimoto, Takahide Aris, Aziz Arrabal-Polo, Miguel Talazoparib order Angel Asai, Satoshi Atacag, Tijen Aubuchon, Mira Augustin, Goran Awonuga, A. O. Aydin, Suleyman Azzaroli, F. Baba, Tsukasa Bacon, James Badawy, Ahmed Badiglian-Filho, Levon Bagos, Pantelis Bajory, Zoltan Bakkum-Gamez, Jamie Baksu, Basak Balbi, Giancarlo Baldwin, Maureen Banas, Tomasz Banerjee,

Saikat Banno, Kouji Barad, D. H. Barbesino, G. Barbosa, Caio Barrientos, Gabriela Bartha, José Barut, Aykut Bateman, B. Bauer, Melissa Bauer, Sam Beierwaltes, W. H. Bekiesińska-Figatowska, Monika Bellomo, Gianni Benagiano, Giuseppe Benaglia, Laura Benian, Ali Benson, M. Benson, M. D. Bhat, Ramesh Bhide, P. Bilgin, Tufan Billah, Syed Binhamdan, Mukhri Blitek, A. Bolukbasi, Y. Bonino, Luca Bose, PLEKHM2 Chinmoy Bos-Mikich, A. Bowen, Angela Bowman, Zachary Brännström, Mats Brown, Mary Brun, Jean Luc Buckett, William Bugano, D. D. Bullarbo, Maria Bunyavejchevin, Suvit Bushnell, Cheryl Byme, B. Cakir Gungor, Ayse Nur Cardaropoli, Simona Cardonick, E. Carey, Vincent J. Carmina, Enrico Carmona, F. Caroppo, Ettore Casart, Y. Casper, R. F. Castelo-Branco, C. Cebekhulu, Sylvia Cervigni, Mauro Chae, Hee-Dong Chamley, Larry Chan, Karen Chan, Symphorosa S. C. Chan, Te-Fu Chan, Wee-Shian Chan, Yee Chandra, Prasanta Chandraharan, Edwin Chang, P. T. Chanrachakul, Boonsri Chatterjee, Jayanta Chattopadhyay, S. Cheang, K. I.

In December 2011,

In December 2011, find protocol Facebook had more than 800 million active users, with 50% of them logging on every day. More than 350 million Facebook users access the site through mobile telephones,

which further increases the immediacy of communication [68]. On average, each user has 130 friends and is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events. Microblog systems, such as Twitter, also provide a vehicle for sharing information and advice, with the potential for influencing patient concordance and affecting behaviour change [69]. Those living with any chronic disease are likely to use blogging and online health discussions as a source of information [70]. Social networking offers a powerful tool for promoting healthcare, giving individuals the ability to share information and learn from the experiences of others regarding investigation and treatment, as well as for research networking and fundraising [70]. The HIV community is particularly well served by web-based resources. The MyHIV website (www.myhiv.org.uk) is a Terrence Higgins Trust-managed

find more interactive website that has been developed by and for people living with HIV, and aims to provide users with education and self-management strategies. Importantly, it uses social network-based technologies as a means of spreading positive health behaviours through community forums, which are moderated in order to guard against the

sharing of misinformation. Importantly, this ′grassroots type′ site offers Hydroxychloroquine concentration a medium for those patients who, whether as a result of geographical isolation or because of personal circumstances or choice, do not wish to engage exclusively with clinic-based services. Sites such as MyHIV reflect the huge shift that has occurred in recent years to living with HIV; the thinking today is now around keeping people as well as possible so that HIV infection is considered simply as a chronic long-term condition. Such sites, and it is inevitable that the options will expand, would offer a perfect dissemination mechanism for a downloadable self-assessment tool. There is an imperative need for improvement in the current screening approaches for ′lifestyle diseases′ among people living with HIV. Given the commonality of risk factors for CVD, diabetes, renal disease and fracture, there is an opportunity for the development of a user-friendly tool that predicts the level of risk of developing these major comorbid diseases in HIV-positive patients. Such a tool would enable healthcare professionals to determine, or individuals to self-identify, their broad level of risk and promote self-help. It would also enable resources to be targeted more effectively, with the most intensive screening and management programmes being targeted to those most at risk of chronic disease.

To understand its function, the recombinant version of the protei

To understand its function, the recombinant version of the protein was biochemically characterized.

For the sake of comparison, a mycobacterial thioredoxin, TrxB, was included in the study. Results show that Gp56 can be reduced by dithiothreitol, but only at a higher concentration as compared with TrxB, indicating that the standard redox potential of Gp56 is lower than SAHA HDAC solubility dmso that of TrxB. The reduced protein can subsequently act as a reductant of protein disulfide bonds. Gp56 can be reduced by NADPH with the help of thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) but less efficiently as compared with TrxB. The abilities of Gp56 and TrxB to reduce Gp50, the L5-encoded ribonucleotide reductase, was examined. While both are capable Selleckchem MLN0128 of executing this function, the former needs more reducing equivalents in the process as compared with the latter. This study shows that L5Gp56 represents a new class of NrdH-like proteins that function optimally in a reducing environment. “
“Streptococcus suis is a worldwide cause of various swine infections and is also an important agent of zoonosis. Strains of S. suis are classified according to their serotype, and currently, 35 serotypes are recognized. The aim of this study was to characterize nontypeable isolates of S. suis with regard to their cell surface properties

and compare them with serotype 2 strains, the most frequently associated with infections. The seven nontypeable strains of S. suis isolated from infected animals demonstrated a stronger capacity to adhere to a fibronectin-coated polystyrene surface than the serotype 2 isolates. Three nontypeable very strains were also tested for their ability to adhere to endothelial cells and were found to attach in higher amounts compared with the serotype 2 isolates. Electron microscopy analysis revealed the absence of a capsule in the seven nontypeable isolates, which

correlated with a much higher cell surface hydrophobicity than that of serotype 2 isolates. All nontypeable isolates of S. suis also showed the capacity to form a biofilm while serotype 2 isolates were unable to do so. In conclusion, the nontypeable isolates of S. suis examined in this study possess surface properties different from those of serotype 2 isolates. Streptococcus suis is an important swine pathogen causing severe diseases such as meningitis, septicemia, arthritis, and endocarditis (Arends & Zanen, 1988; Gottschalk & Segura, 2000). This Gram-positive bacterium can also affect humans in close contact with sick or carrier pigs or with their derived products (Gottschalk & Segura, 2000; Gottschalk et al., 2007). Many putative virulence factors produced by S. suis have been described, including the muramidase-released protein, the extracellular protein factor, the haemolysin (also known as suilysin), and the capsule (Baums & Valentin-Weigand, 2009).