Syphilis research has been severely limited by the necessity to propagate Treponema pallidumin vivo in rabbits. After decades of erroneous or irreproducible reports of cultivation of T. pallidum, the recent very convincing report of its successful long-term in vitro propagation opens numerous opportunities for development of genetictools for studying pathogenesis and protein function, antigenic variation, and surface exposure of antigens. The possibility of more rapid isolation of…
In this study, we tested whether iodide would reduce heart damage in rat and pig models of acute myocardial infarction as a risk analysis for a human trial. Acute myocardial infarction was induced by temporary ligation of the coronary artery followed by reperfusion. Iodide was administered orally in rats or IV in rats and pigs just prior to reperfusion. Damage was assessed by blood…
Many pathogenic intracellular bacteria manipulate the host phago-endosomal system to establish and maintain a permissive niche. The fate and identity of these intracellular compartments is controlled by phosphoinositide lipids. By mechanisms that have remained undefined, a Francisella pathogenicity island-encoded secretion system allows phagosomal escape and replication of bacteria within host cell cytoplasm. Here we report the discovery that a substrate…