Next Issue
Volume 3, March
Previous Issue
Volume 2, September
 
 

Pathogens, Volume 2, Issue 4 (December 2013) – 5 articles , Pages 571-652

  • Issues are regarded as officially published after their release is announced to the table of contents alert mailing list.
  • You may sign up for e-mail alerts to receive table of contents of newly released issues.
  • PDF is the official format for papers published in both, html and pdf forms. To view the papers in pdf format, click on the "PDF Full-text" link, and use the free Adobe Reader to open them.
Order results
Result details
Section
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review, Other

1655 KiB  
Article
Effects of EGFR Inhibitor on Helicobacter pylori Induced Gastric Epithelial Pathology in Vivo
by Jean E. Crabtree, Anthony H.T. Jeremy, Cedric Duval, Michael F. Dixon, Kazuma Danjo, Ian M. Carr, D. Mark Pritchard and Philip A. Robinson
Pathogens 2013, 2(4), 571-590; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens2040571 - 14 Oct 2013
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 6961
Abstract
Helicobacter pylori transactivates the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) and predisposes to gastric cancer development in humans and animal models. To examine the importance of EGFR signalling to gastric pathology, this study investigated whether treatment of Mongolian gerbils with a selective EGFR tyrosine [...] Read more.
Helicobacter pylori transactivates the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) and predisposes to gastric cancer development in humans and animal models. To examine the importance of EGFR signalling to gastric pathology, this study investigated whether treatment of Mongolian gerbils with a selective EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, EKB-569, altered gastric pathology in chronic H. pylori infection. Gerbils were infected with H. pylori and six weeks later received either EKB-569-supplemented, or control diet, for 32 weeks prior to sacrifice. EKB-569-treated H. pylori-infected gerbils had no difference in H. pylori colonisation or inflammation scores compared to infected animals on control diet, but showed significantly less corpus atrophy, mucous metaplasia and submucosal glandular herniations along with markedly reduced antral and corpus epithelial proliferation to apoptosis ratios. EKB-569-treated infected gerbils had significantly decreased abundance of Cox-2, Adam17 and Egfr gastric transcripts relative to infected animals on control diet. EGFR inhibition by EKB-569 therefore reduced the severity of pre-neoplastic gastric pathology in chronically H. pylori-infected gerbils. EKB-569 increased gastric epithelial apoptosis in H. pylori-infected gerbils which counteracted some of the consequences of increased gastric epithelial cell proliferation. Similar chemopreventative strategies may be useful in humans who are at high risk of developing H.pylori-induced gastric adenocarcinoma. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gut Microbiome)
Show Figures

Figure 1

1464 KiB  
Article
Comprehensive Analysis of Prokaryotes in Environmental Water Using DNA Microarray Analysis and Whole Genome Amplification
by Takeshi Akama, Akira Kawashima, Kazunari Tanigawa, Moyuru Hayashi, Yuko Ishido, Yuqian Luo, Akihisa Hata, Noboru Fujitani, Norihisa Ishii and Koichi Suzuki
Pathogens 2013, 2(4), 591-605; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens2040591 - 30 Oct 2013
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 5586
Abstract
The microflora in environmental water consists of a high density and diversity of bacterial species that form the foundation of the water ecosystem. Because the majority of these species cannot be cultured in vitro, a different approach is needed to identify prokaryotes [...] Read more.
The microflora in environmental water consists of a high density and diversity of bacterial species that form the foundation of the water ecosystem. Because the majority of these species cannot be cultured in vitro, a different approach is needed to identify prokaryotes in environmental water. A novel DNA microarray was developed as a simplified detection protocol. Multiple DNA probes were designed against each of the 97,927 sequences in the DNA Data Bank of Japan and mounted on a glass chip in duplicate. Evaluation of the microarray was performed using the DNA extracted from one liter of environmental water samples collected from seven sites in Japan. The extracted DNA was uniformly amplified using whole genome amplification (WGA), labeled with Cy3-conjugated 16S rRNA specific primers and hybridized to the microarray. The microarray successfully identified soil bacteria and environment-specific bacteria clusters. The DNA microarray described herein can be a useful tool in evaluating the diversity of prokaryotes and assessing environmental changes such as global warming. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bacterial Pathogenomics: From Technology to Application)
Show Figures

Figure 1

266 KiB  
Article
Whole-Proteome Analysis of Twelve Species of Alphaproteobacteria Links Four Pathogens
by Yunyun Zhou, Douglas R. Call and Shira L. Broschat
Pathogens 2013, 2(4), 627-635; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens2040627 - 26 Nov 2013
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5644
Abstract
Thousands of whole-genome and whole-proteome sequences have been made available through advances in sequencing technology, and sequences of millions more organisms will become available in the coming years. This wealth of genetic information will provide numerous opportunities to enhance our understanding of these [...] Read more.
Thousands of whole-genome and whole-proteome sequences have been made available through advances in sequencing technology, and sequences of millions more organisms will become available in the coming years. This wealth of genetic information will provide numerous opportunities to enhance our understanding of these organisms including a greater understanding of relationships among species. Researchers have used 16S rRNA and other gene sequences to study the evolutionary origins of bacteria, but these strategies do not provide insight into the sharing of genes among bacteria via horizontal transfer. In this work we use an open source software program called pClust to cluster proteins from the complete proteomes of twelve species of Alphaproteobacteria and generate a dendrogram from the resulting orthologous protein clusters. We compare the results with dendrograms constructed using the 16S rRNA gene and multiple sequence alignment of seven housekeeping genes. Analysis of the whole proteomes of these pathogens grouped Rickettsia typhi with three other animal pathogens whereas conventional sequence analysis failed to group these pathogens together. We conclude that whole-proteome analysis can give insight into relationships among species beyond their phylogeny, perhaps reflecting the effects of horizontal gene transfer and potentially providing insight into the functions of shared genes by means of shared phenotypes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bacterial Pathogenomics: From Technology to Application)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Review

Jump to: Research, Other

257 KiB  
Review
The Metabolic and Ecological Interactions of Oxalate-Degrading Bacteria in the Mammalian Gut
by Aaron W. Miller and Denise Dearing
Pathogens 2013, 2(4), 636-652; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens2040636 - 06 Dec 2013
Cited by 52 | Viewed by 10409
Abstract
Oxalate-degrading bacteria comprise a functional group of microorganisms, commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract of mammals. Oxalate is a plant secondary compound (PSC) widely produced by all major taxa of plants and as a terminal metabolite by the mammalian liver. As a toxin, [...] Read more.
Oxalate-degrading bacteria comprise a functional group of microorganisms, commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract of mammals. Oxalate is a plant secondary compound (PSC) widely produced by all major taxa of plants and as a terminal metabolite by the mammalian liver. As a toxin, oxalate can have a significant impact on the health of mammals, including humans. Mammals do not have the enzymes required to metabolize oxalate and rely on their gut microbiota for this function. Thus, significant metabolic interactions between the mammalian host and a complex gut microbiota maintain the balance of oxalate in the body. Over a dozen species of gut bacteria are now known to degrade oxalate. This review focuses on the host-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions that regulate the degradation of oxalate by the gut microbiota. We discuss the pathways of oxalate throughout the body and the mammalian gut as a series of differentiated ecosystems that facilitate oxalate degradation. We also explore the mechanisms and functions of microbial oxalate degradation along with the implications for the ecological and evolutionary interactions within the microbiota and for mammalian hosts. Throughout, we consider questions that remain, as well as recent technological advances that can be employed to answer them. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gut Microbiome)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Other

Jump to: Research, Review

478 KiB  
Commentary
The Gastrointestinal Microbiome and Musculoskeletal Diseases: A Beneficial Role for Probiotics and Prebiotics
by Luis Vitetta, Samantha Coulson, Anthony W. Linnane and Henry Butt
Pathogens 2013, 2(4), 606-626; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens2040606 - 14 Nov 2013
Cited by 41 | Viewed by 9722
Abstract
Natural medicines are an attractive option for patients diagnosed with common and debilitating musculoskeletal diseases such as Osteoarthritis (OA) or Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). The high rate of self-medication with natural products is due to (1) lack of an available cure and (2) serious [...] Read more.
Natural medicines are an attractive option for patients diagnosed with common and debilitating musculoskeletal diseases such as Osteoarthritis (OA) or Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). The high rate of self-medication with natural products is due to (1) lack of an available cure and (2) serious adverse events associated with chronic use of pharmaceutical medications in particular non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and high dose paracetamol. Pharmaceuticals to treat pain may disrupt gastrointestinal (GIT) barrier integrity inducing GIT inflammation and a state of and hyper-permeability. Probiotics and prebiotics may comprise plausible therapeutic options that can restore GIT barrier functionality and down regulate pro-inflammatory mediators by modulating the activity of, for example, Clostridia species known to induce pro-inflammatory mediators. The effect may comprise the rescue of gut barrier physiological function. A postulated requirement has been the abrogation of free radical formation by numerous natural antioxidant molecules in order to improve musculoskeletal health outcomes, this notion in our view, is in error. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in different anatomical environments including the GIT by the epithelial lining and the commensal microbe cohort is a regulated process, leading to the formation of hydrogen peroxide which is now well recognized as an essential second messenger required for normal cellular homeostasis and physiological function. The GIT commensal profile that tolerates the host does so by regulating pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory GIT mucosal actions through the activity of ROS signaling thereby controlling the activity of pathogenic bacterial species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gut Microbiome)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Previous Issue
Next Issue
Back to TopTop