DRUG AND VACCINE DEVELOPMENT FOR NEISSERIA GONORRHOEAEA

Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the causative agent of the STI gonorrhea, is not preventable by vaccination and is rapidly developing resistance to antibiotics. One important strategy for gonococcal survival in the host is iron acquisition in the face of nutritional immunity. To overcome iron limitation, the gonococcus expresses TonB dependent transporters (TdTs), outer membrane proteins that facilitate nutrient acquisition. Of the TdTs, the transferrin (Tf), lactoferrin (Lf), and hemoglobin (Hb) receptors hijack iron directly from host proteins, and studies have already shown that the Tf receptor is essential for the initiation of human infection. Given that the TdTs are virulence factors, they are widely conserved across strains, and are not subject to antigenic variation, they are ideal targets for novel therapeutics and vaccine development. As such, studies exploring these proteins and their potential as vaccine candidates and antimicrobial targets are needed. In this study we report that loops of the Tf receptor protein TbpA are not strongly immunogenic, and the antibodies raised against them are incapable of inhibiting TbpA-Tf interactions on the gonococcal cell surface. We also report that the loop 3 helix motif of TbpA is a critical functional domain for Tf-binding and iron uptake; however, no single residue was identified that was essential for these functions. In addition, we report the development of a platform for the structure-function analysis of HpuA, a member of the poorly studied Hb receptor. We also present evidence that novel small molecules may be able to inhibit TbpA-Tf interaction, presenting the Tf receptor as a novel, species-specific antimicrobial target. Finally, we demonstrated that a novel drug, OSU-03012, has antimicrobial activity against the gonococcus through down-regulation of DnaK, a protein chaperone. These findings suggest that DnaK, a widely conserved protein, may be a universal target for antimicrobial development. These studies provide insight into the structure function relationship of TbpA, the drug potential of DnaK, and lay the framework for future investigations of the TdTs for use in a multi-antigen vaccine

Photostimulation of Phox2b Medullary Neurons Activates Cardiorespiratory Function in Conscious Rats

Rationale: Hypoventilation is typically treated with positive pressure ventilation or, in extreme cases, by phrenic nerve stimulation. This preclinical study explores whether direct stimulation of central chemoreceptors could be used as an alternative method to stimulate breathing

A search for new supernova remnant shells in the Galactic plane with H.E.S.S

A search for new supernova remnants (SNRs) has been conducted using TeV gamma-ray data from the H.E.S.S. Galactic plane survey. As an identification criterion, shell morphologies that are characteristic for known resolved TeV SNRs have been used. Three new SNR candidates were identified in the H.E.S.S. data set with this method. Extensive multiwavelength searches for counterparts were conducted. A radio SNR candidate has been identified to be a counterpart to HESS J1534-571. The TeV source is therefore classified as a SNR. For the other two sources, HESS J1614-518 and HESS J1912+101, no identifying counterparts have been found, thus they remain SNR candidates for the time being. TeV-emitting SNRs are key objects in the context of identifying the accelerators of Galactic cosmic rays. The TeV emission of the relativistic particles in the new sources is examined in view of possible leptonic and hadronic emission scenarios, taking the current multiwavelength knowledge into account