Fito Paez & other

Monday 8 September 2008

Innate Immune System Targets Asthma-Linked Fungus For Destruction

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A new study shows that the innate immune system of humans is capable of killing a fungus joined to flight path inflammation, chronic rhinosinusitis and bronchial bronchial asthma. Researchers at Mayo Clinic and the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) have revealed that eosinophils, a picky type of white blood cell, exert a strong immune response against the environmental fungus Alternaria alternata. The groundbreaking findings, which shed light on some of the early events involved in the recognition of A. alternata by the human immune system, were published recently in the Journal of Immunology.*

Eosinophils typically armed combat parasitic invaders of the human dead body larger than bacteria or viruses, such as flukes or epenthetic worms (conjointly known as helminths). Evidence from different experimental approaches suggests that asthma and chronic sinusitis can arise when the body perceives that it has encountered a disease-causing organism. Environmental fungi such as Alternaria do not typically reason invasive infections like parasites but for some intellect, in certain people, the body responds as if it is being attacked and continuing inflammation can result from the ensuing cascade of immune-related events.

Principal Investigator Hirohito Kita, M.D., from Mayo Clinic, remarked: "Our results strongly show that eosinophils have the capacity to recognize and exert immunologic responses to certain fungi such as Alternaria. We have shown that CD11b receptors on the open of eosinophils recognize and adhere to beta-glucan, a major cell wall element of the fungus. This in turn sets in motion the release of toxic granule proteins by the white blood cells, leading to extensive price and ultimate destruction of the fungus. To the best of our noesis, this is the first time that live eosinophils and non just the intracellular components have been shown to target and destroy a fungus."

The researchers used fluorescence microscopy to determine the outcome of the interaction between eosinophils and A. alternata. The contact of fungus with eosinophils resulted in hopeful red fluorescence due to the damaged fungal cell wall and subsequent death of Alternaria. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the vent of toxic granular proteins by eosinophils due to contact with the fungus.

Dr. Chris Lawrence, Associate Professor at VBI and the Department of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech, remarked: "T benefactor 2 (Th2) cells in the immune system typically produce cytokine signaling molecules or interleukins that tip to the recruitment of eosinophils for the dysregulated immune response commonly associated with air duct inflammatory disorders. Continual exposure of allergic individuals to common environmental fungi wish Alternaria may result in Th2 cells being forever activated to recruit eosinophils and this sustained defense team mechanism results in chronic inflammation. It has been shown previously that degranulation of eosinophils causes price of air duct mucosa and enhances firing. The next step in our transdisciplinary research collaboration will be to use recombinant fungous proteins and fungal kO mutants for specific genes to dissect the different molecular steps involved in the development and advancement of this acute immune response."

Hirohito Kita added: "We have taken an important step in showing that the congenital immune system of eosinophils is able of targeting an asthma-associated fungus for destruction. The biological significance of these results testament need to be verified further in animal models and in humans and our collaborative efforts with Dr. Lawrence's research grouping for proteomics and functional genomics will be priceless in this respect. We suspect that the dysregulated immune responses to Alternaria, other filamentlike fungi, and perhaps chitin-encased insects, such as mites and cockroaches, may toy a pivotal role in chronic lighting and the subsequent development of bronchial airway disease."

Notes:

* Juhan Yoon, Jens U. Ponikau, Christopher B. Lawrence, Hirohito Kita (2008)
Innate Antifungal Immunity of Human Eosinophils Mediated by a ?2 Integrin, CD11b. J. Immunol. 181: 2907-2915.

About VBI

The Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech (www.vbi.vt.edu) has a research platform centered on understanding the "disease triangle" of host-pathogen-environment interactions in plants, humans and other animals. By successfully channeling innovation into transdisciplinary approaches that combine information technology and biology, researchers at VBI are addressing some of today's key challenges in the biomedical, environmental and found sciences.

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. Doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients, coupled by common systems and a ism of "the needs of the patient come first base." More than 3,three hundred physicians, scientists and researchers and 46,000 allied health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has campuses in Rochester, Minn., Jacksonville, Fla., and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz. Collectively, the deuce-ace locations treat more than half a million citizenry each year.

Source:

Barry Whyte
Virginia Tech

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Friday 29 August 2008

Pick of the week: Clubs

Eastern Electrics
The Arches, London
Saturday 23 & Sunday 24
The two-day trendfest features the likes of Hercules & Love Affair, Aussie electro wonks Cut Copy, Steve Mason's Black Affair and Micach.

Bank Holiday Special
2020, Bournemouth
Sunday 24
Roger Sanchez dusts off his shorts and heads down to the south coast for a slot at 2020. Expect his usual funfair of house music.

Bass Epidemic Bank Holiday Special
Blue Mountain Club, Bristol
Sunday 24
Holby's otologists better be on standby as the bass epidemic is spread by Chase & Status, Stanza and Eddie K.

Tayo's Tracksuit Party
Paradise By Way Of Kensal Green, London,
Sunday 24
Get your "Rodney, you plonker!" heckle ready to cry at Roots Manuva,
who plays live. Joe Ransom and Ben Westbeech are on the decks.

Adventures In Success
East Village, London
Friday 29
Shoom! regulars Rock and Diesel toast 20 years of unrestrained house euphony with an East End knees up. Katie Barber and Gavin Fraser facilitate them lead the celebrations.

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Tuesday 19 August 2008

Eva Longoria Parker: "I'm a 1950s Housewife."

Forget the scheming, shocking character she plays on Desperate Housewives � Eva Longoria Parker works knockout at everything she does, whether it's giving back to the Latino community or pickings care of her basketball game star married man, Tony Parker.

Eva reveals her homebody instincts in the September issue of Latina magazine, on sale Aug. 19.

"I'm a 1950's lady of the house," she says. "I passion baking. I love stitchery. Being home with Tony."

While she struggles with rumors swirling around her marriage, Eva maintains a positively charged attitude in the face of media speculation.

"You can't fight everything that comes up," she says. "Tony and I are very blessed that we have a hard foundation and can weather anything that comes our way."

Along with filming Desperate Housewives 10 months out of the year, Eva finds time to stay involved with the Latino community as much as she tin can: For the third yr in a row, she's hosting and executive-producing the National Council for La Raza's ALMA Awards, which celebrate excellence in Latino entertainment, on Sept. 12 on ABC.

"She's obviously identical talented and beautiful," close friend and fellow actor Mario Lopez says, "only her characters aren't whacking you over the head with a tortilla."

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Saturday 9 August 2008

Sammie

Artist: Sammie

   Genre(s):
R&B: Soul

Discography:

Sammie

Year: 2006
Tracks: 17

Miami's preteenager R&B vocalizer Sammie was uncovered to music horizontal surface earlier he was innate. His mother, a quondam professional isaac M. Singer, panax quinquefolius in the church inspection and repair choir plot of ground she was carrying him. Fittingly, Sammie's first recounting triumph as well occurred at church service; at eld quaternary, he received a standing standing ovation for his performance of "Troubles Don't Last Always." Music was ne'er far from Sammie's thinker, regular at school; teachers would catch him tattle under his breath during classes, but bucked up his gift. Eventually, a medicine instructor from Charles Drew Elementary, a nearby attraction shoal with a special performing liberal arts plan, heard of Sammie's vocal gifts and he transferred in that localization at the start of third appurtenance ground level. Soon after, he formed a vocal radical, the Wonder 3, with two junior high boys. Sammie's medicine teacher was so impressed with their performances that she sent a videotape of them to the boob tube plan Starting prison term at the Apollo, which lED to an tryout for the mathematical mathematical group and a 1998 solo performance for Sammie. Ultimately fetching the show's finals, Sammie and his mother were contacted by Joyce Irby, an agent connected to Atlanta-based producer/songwriter Dallas Austin, wHO has worked with Monica and Another Bad Creation. Austin brought Sammie to his studios for some demos and almost a year by and by, had him return to record his debut record album, From the Bottom to the Top, which was released in early 2000 by Capitol Records. Six onetime age later on, Austin sign him to his reactivated Rowdy label and released his self-titled album.

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