Intranasal immunisation with recombinant Toxoplasma gondii uridine phosphorylase confers resistance against acute toxoplasmosis in mice.

Toxoplasmosis is caused by Toxoplasma gondii, which infects all warm-blooded animals, including humans. Currently, control measures for T. gondii infection are insufficient due to the lack of effective medications or vaccines.

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 overexpression in the hippocampus reduces alcohol-induced conditioned-place preference by regulating synaptic plasticity in mice.

Extracellular matrix proteins appear to be necessary for the synaptic plasticity that underlies addiction memory. In the brain, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), especially matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), have been recently implicated in processes involving alcohol reward and memory. Here, we showed for the first time, the positive effects of MMP-9 on alcohol-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) behavior and hippocampal neuron plasticity in C57BL/6 mice.

[Effects of Synaptotagmin1 gene knockout on the behavior of mice].

To study the effects of Synaptotagmin1 gene knockout (Syt1) on emotional behavior in mice and explore its possible mechanisms. Five 8-week-old male Syt1mice and five wild-type (WT) mice in the same litter were selected. The expressions of Syt1 in 6 mice brain regions of prelimbic cortex (PL), hippocampus (HIP), amygdala (AMY), accumbens nucleus (ACB), caudoputamen (CP) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) were detected by Immunofluorescence staining.

Activation of peripheral group III metabotropic glutamate receptors suppressed formalin-induced nociception.

Intraplantar injection of formalin produces persistent spontaneous nociception and hyperalgesia. The underlying mechanism, however, remains unclear. The present study was, therefore, designed to determine the roles of peripheral group III metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) in formalin-evoked spontaneous nociception.

Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Overexpression Regulates Hippocampal Synaptic Plasticity and Decreases Alcohol Consumption and Preference in Mice.

Brain matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been recently implicated in alcohol addiction; however, the molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), an extrasynaptic protease, is the best described MMP that is thought to regulate addictive behavior. In the present study, the effect of MMP-9 overexpression on hippocampal neuron plasticity and alcoholic behavior was assessed in spontaneous alcohol drinking mice.

Recombinant Toxoplasma gondii phosphoglycerate mutase 2 confers protective immunity against toxoplasmosis in BALB/c mice.

Toxoplasmosis is one of the most widespread zoonoses worldwide. It has a high incidence and can result in severe disease in humans and livestock. Effective vaccines are needed to limit and prevent infection with Toxoplasma gondii.

DNA vaccination with a gene encoding Toxoplasma gondii Rhoptry Protein 17 induces partial protective immunity against lethal challenge in mice.

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular apicomplexan parasite that affects humans and various vertebrate livestock and causes serious economic losses. To develop an effective vaccine against T. gondii infection, we constructed a DNA vaccine encoding the T.

Protective immunity induced by peptides of AMA1, RON2 and RON4 containing T-and B-cell epitopes via an intranasal route against toxoplasmosis in mice.

Background: Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous protozoan intracellular parasite, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, and a worldwide zoonosis. Apical membrane antigen-1 (AMA1) and rhoptry neck protein (RON2, RON4) are involved in the invasion of T. gondii.

Partial protective effect of intranasal immunization with recombinant Toxoplasma gondii rhoptry protein 17 against toxoplasmosis in mice.

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite that infects a variety of mammals, including humans. An effective vaccine for this parasite is therefore needed.

[Construction, expression and kinase function analysis of an eukaryocyte vector of rhoptry protein 17 in Toxoplasma gondii].

Objective: To construct and express the eukaryocytic expression vector of rhoptry protein 17 of Toxoplasma gondii RH strain (TgROP17) and analyze its kinase function.

Methods: The open reading frame of TgROP17 gene was amplified from total RNA in T. gondii RH strain by RT-PCR, and cloned into p3 x Flag-CMV-14 vector to construct recombinant plasmid p3xFlag-CMV-14/TgROP17.

[Gene-cloning, expression and immunoreactivity detection of Toxoplasma gondii uridine phosphorylase].

Objective: To predict the physicochemical properties and antigenic epitopes of Toxoplasma gondii uridine phosphorylase (TgUPase), clone, and express TgUPase gene, and analyze its immunoreactivity.

Methods: The physical and chemical characters and specific epitopes of TgUPase protein were predicted by bioinformatics software tools. Total RNA was extracted from RH strain T.

Intranasal immunisation of the recombinant Toxoplasma gondii receptor for activated C kinase 1 partly protects mice against T. gondii infection.

Nasal vaccination is an effective therapeutic regimen for preventing certain infectious diseases. The mucosal immune response is important for resistance to Toxoplasma gondii infection. In this study, we evaluated the immune responses elicited in BALB/c mice by nasal immunisation with recombinant T.

Intranasal immunisation with recombinant Toxoplasma gondii actin partly protects mice against toxoplasmosis.

Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous protozoan intracellular parasite, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, and a worldwide zoonosis for which an effective vaccine is needed. Actin is a highly conserved microfilament protein that plays an important role in the invasion of host cells by T. gondii.

Toxoplasma gondii protein disulfide isomerase (TgPDI) is a novel vaccine candidate against toxoplasmosis.

Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous protozoan parasite that can infect all warm-blooded animals, including both mammals and birds. Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) localises to the surface of T. gondii tachyzoites and modulates the interactions between parasite and host cells.

Gene-cloning, expression and antigenicity analysis of rhoptry protein 17 of Toxoplasma gondii.

Objective: To clone and express the rhoptry protein 17 (ROP17) gene of RH strain of Toxoplasma gondii, analyze the antigenicity of recombinant protein.

Methods: Total RNA was extracted from tachyzoites of RH strain of T. gondii.

[Cloning, expression and antigenicity analysis of phosphoglycerate mutase 2 gene of Toxoplasma gondii].

Objective: To clone and express the phosphoglycerate mutase 2 (PGAM2) gene of Toxoplasma gondii, and analyze the antigenicity of the recombinant protein.

Methods: Total RNA was extracted from T. gondii tachyzoites of RH strain and reversely transcribed into cDNA.

[Kinetics of IgA secreting cells and sIgA in small intestine of mice induced by intranasal immunization with Toxoplasma gondii STAg].

Objective: To investigate the kinetics of IgA secreting cells (IgASCs) and secretory IgA (sIgA) level in small intestine induced by intranasal immunization with Toxoplasma gondii soluble tachyzoite antigen (STAg) in mice.

Methods: Ninety-six 5 to 6-week old BALB/c mice were randomly divided into immunity and control groups. Mice of the immunity group were each intranasally immunized with STAg 20 microg in 20 microl PBS, twice at an interval of 2 weeks, while the control mice were each given 20 microl PBS.

[Early kinetics of Toxoplasma gondii infection in mice infected intragastrically with tachyzoites by chromogenic in situ hybridization targeting SAG2 mRNA].

Objective: To observe the early kinetics of Toxoplasma gondii infection in mice inoculated with tachyzoites of RH strain.

Methods: Twenty BALB/c mice were administered intragastrically with tachyzoites of RH strain (2 x 10(4)/mice). Parasite burdens in mesenteric lymph node (MLN), liver, spleen, lung and brain were determined by chromogenic in situ hybridization targeting SAG2 mRNA at 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 days postinfection.

Potential adenovirus-mediated gene therapy of glioma cancer.

Malignant gliomas are typically characterized by rapid cell proliferation and a marked propensity to invade and damage surrounding tissues. They are the main brain tumors notoriously resistant to currently available therapies, since they fail to undergo apoptosis upon anticancer treatments. With recent advances in neuroscience and improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms of invasive migration, gene therapy provides a new strategy for treating glioma cancer.

Therapeutic potential of chlorotoxin-like neurotoxin from the Chinese scorpion for human gliomas.

Chlorotoxin, one of the key toxins in scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus venom, has been shown to bind specifically to glioma cell surface as a specific chloride channel blocker. In this study, a purified, recombinant chlorotoxin-like peptide from the scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch (named rBmK CTa) was characterized by in vivo and in vitro studies. The results from cell proliferation assay with human glioma (SHG-44) cells showed that rBmK CTa inhibits the growth of glioma cells in a dose-dependent manner, with an IC(50) value of approximately 0.

Polyclonal antibody against a recombinant chlorotoxin-like peptide from the Chinese scorpion and detection of its putative receptors in human glioma cells.

The nucleotide sequence of a type of chlorotoxin-like peptide, an inhibitor of small-conductance Cl(-) channels, from the scorpion, Buthus martensii Karsch, was synthesized (named rBmK CTa) according to the sequence optimized for codon usage in E. coli. It was over-expressed using a pExSecI expression system and purified to homogeneity.

Synthesis, expression and purification of a type of chlorotoxin-like peptide from the scorpion, Buthus martensii Karsch, and its acute toxicity analysis.

A gene, rBmK Cta, encoding a chlorotoxin-like peptide from the scorpion, Buthus martensii Karsch, was synthesized according to the sequence optimized for codon usage in Escherichia coli and was expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) using a pExSecI expression system in which the IgG-binding domain-ZZ of protein A is fused to the N-terminal of rBmK CTa. The fusion protein, ZZ-rBmK CTa, was expressed in soluble form (7.

Expression and purification of the BmK Mm2 neurotoxin from the scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch and its biological activity test.

The gene encoding neurotoxin (BmK Mm2) from the scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) at a level of 1.6 mg/L using expression plasmid pExSecI system. SDS-PAGE analysis of the cell lysate confirmed that gene BmK Mm2 was expressed in soluble form and the expressed production was secreted into Luria-Bertani (LB) culture medium from Escherichia coli.