PKCθ Synergizes with TLR-Dependent TRAF6 Signaling Pathway to Upregulate MUC5AC Mucin via CARMA1

CARD-containing MAGUK protein 1 (CARMA1) plays a crucial role in regulating adaptive immune responses upon T-cell receptor (TCR) activation in T cells. Its role in regulating host mucosal innate immune response such as upregulation of mucin remains unknown. Here we show that CARMA1 acts as a key signaling mediator for synergistic upregulation of MUC5AC mucin by bacterium nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) and phorbol ester PMA in respiratory epithelial cells. NTHi-induced TLR-dependent TRAF6-MKK3-p38 MAPK signaling pathway synergizes with PKCθ-MEK-ERK signaling pathway. CARMA1 plays a crucial role in mediating this synergistic effect via TRAF6, thereby resulting in synergistic upregulation of MUC5AC mucin. Thus our study unveils a novel role for CARMA1 in mediating host mucosal innate immune response

IJA: An Efficient Algorithm for Query Processing in Sensor Networks

One of main features in sensor networks is the function that processes real time state information after gathering needed data from many domains. The component technologies consisting of each node called a sensor node that are including physical sensors, processors, actuators and power have advanced significantly over the last decade. Thanks to the advanced technology, over time sensor networks have been adopted in an all-round industry sensing physical phenomenon. However, sensor nodes in sensor networks are considerably constrained because with their energy and memory resources they have a very limited ability to process any information compared to conventional computer systems. Thus query processing over the nodes should be constrained because of their limitations. Due to the problems, the join operations in sensor networks are typically processed in a distributed manner over a set of nodes and have been studied. By way of example while simple queries, such as select and aggregate queries, in sensor networks have been addressed in the literature, the processing of join queries in sensor networks remains to be investigated. Therefore, in this paper, we propose and describe an Incremental Join Algorithm (IJA) in Sensor Networks to reduce the overhead caused by moving a join pair to the final join node or to minimize the communication cost that is the main consumer of the battery when processing the distributed queries in sensor networks environments. At the same time, the simulation result shows that the proposed IJA algorithm significantly reduces the number of bytes to be moved to join nodes compared to the popular synopsis join algorithm

Tumor Suppressor CYLD Acts as a Negative Regulator for Non-Typeable Haemophilus influenza-Induced Inflammation in the Middle Ear and Lung of Mice

Non-typeable Haemophilus influenza (NTHi) is an important human pathogen causing respiratory tract infections in both adults and children. NTHi infections are characterized by inflammation, which is mainly mediated by nuclear transcription factor kappaB (NF-κB)-dependent production of inflammatory mediators. The deubiquitinating enzyme cylindromatosis (CYLD), loss of which was originally reported to cause a benign human syndrome called cylindromatosis, has been identified as a key negative regulator for NF-κB in vitro. However, little is known about the role of CYLD in bacteria-induced inflammation in vivo. Here, we provided direct evidence for the negative role of CYLD in NTHi-induced inflammation of the mice in vivo. Our data demonstrated that CYLD is induced by NTHi in the middle ear and lung of mice. NTHi-induced CYLD, in turn, negatively regulates NTHi-induced NF-κB activation through deubiquitinating TRAF6 and 7 and down-regulates inflammation. Our data thus indicate that CYLD acts as a negative regulator for NF-κB-dependent inflammation in vivo, hence protecting the host against detrimental inflammatory response to NTHi infection

A Case of Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus with a Rare X-linked Recessive Mutation in an Infant with Developmental and Growth Retardation Tracked by the Korean National Health Screening Program

Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (DI) is a rare disease in which the patient cannot concentrate urine despite appropriate or high secretion of antidiuretic hormone. Congenital nephrogenic DI is caused by the arginine vasopressin receptor 2 (AVPR2) or aquaporin 2 (AQP2) gene mutation; the AVPR2 genetic mutation accounts for 90% of the cases. National health screening for infants and children was launched in 2007 in order to prevent accidents and promote public health in infants and children in Korea. The program has been widely used as a primary clinical service in Korea. We treated an infant with faltering growth and delayed development detected by the National health screening program, and diagnosed the problem as nephrogenic DI caused by a rare missense mutation of c.490T>C on the AVPR2 gene. This case can be a good educational nephrogenic DI with a rare AVPR2 mutation, which was well screened and traced by the national health screening program for infants and children in Korea

Regional outbreak of staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome in healthy children

Purpose : Staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome (SSSS) is a relatively uncommon superficial blistering skin disease that is due to Staphylococcus aureus. We had experienced a regional outbreak of SSSS over 3 years in healthy children. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of those patients diagnosed as SSSS. Most of neonatal cases were nosocomial infections and excluded from the analysis. The clinical features, laboratory findings, the isolation and antibiotic resistance of S. aureus, the antibiotic management and other supportive treatments were analyzed. Results : Fifty-five patients with SSSS were admitted to our hospital from October 2001 to September 2004. The median age of patients was 3.0 years. Of the 55 patients, 9 were the generalized type, 13 were the intermediate type and 33 were the scarletiniform rash. All the patients were living in neighborhood of the Jinju area. S. aureus were isolated from 9 of the patients and all of the isolated S. aureus were methicillin resistant. All the patients except two were treated with intravenous flocloxacillin or nafcillin and/or cefotaxime. All the patients recovered during the follow-up period of 2 to 3 weeks. Conclusion : We experienced a regional outbreak of SSSS in previous healthy children. Further study for finding the carriers of S. aureus caused SSSS and preventing the spread of this disease is needed. Additionally, guidelines for treating SSSS due to methicillin resistant S. aureus should be established

Successful treatment by exchange transfusion of a young infant with sodium nitroprusside poisoning

Although sodium nitroprusside (SNP) is often used in pediatric intensive care units, cyanide toxicity can occur after SNP treatment. To treat SNP-induced cyanide poisoning, antidotes such as amyl nitrite, sodium nitrite, sodium thiosulfate, and hydroxycobalamin should be administered immediately after diagnosis. Here, we report the first case of a very young infant whose SNP-induced cyanide poisoning was successfully treated by exchange transfusion. The success of this alternative method may be related to the fact that exchange transfusion not only removes the cyanide from the blood but also activates detoxification systems by supplying sulfur-rich plasma. Moreover, exchange transfusion replaces cyanide-contaminated erythrocytes with fresh erythrocytes, thereby improving the blood's oxygen carrying capacity more rapidly than antidote therapy. Therefore, we believe that exchange transfusion might be an effective therapeutic modality for critical cases of cyanide poisoning

Signal change in hippocampus and current source of spikes in Panayiotopoulos syndrome

A 4-year-old girl with Panayiotopoulos syndrome presented with a history of 4 prolonged autonomic seizures. The clinical features of her seizures included, in order of occurrence, blank staring, pallor, vomiting, hemi-clonic movement on the right side, and unresponsiveness. A brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a slightly high T2 signal in the left hippocampus. Interictal electoencephalogram revealed spikes in the occipital area of the left hemisphere. We analyzed the current-source distribution of the spikes to examine the relationship between the current source and the high T2 signal. The current source of the occipital spikes was not only distributed in the occipital area of both cerebral hemispheres, but also extended to the posterior temporal area of the left hemisphere. These findings suggest that the left temporal lobe may be one of the hyperexcitable areas and form part of the epileptogenic area in this patient. We hypothesized that the high T2 signal in the left hippocampus of our patient may not have been an incidental lesion, but instead may be related to the underlying electroclinical diagnosis of Panayiotopoulos syndrome, and particularly seizure. This notion is important because an abnormal T2 signal in the hippocampus may represent an acute stage of hippocampal injury, although there is no previous report of hippocampal pathology in Panayiotopoulos syndrome. Therefore, long-term observation and serial follow-up MRIs may be needed to confirm the clinical significance of the T2 signal change in the hippocampus of this patient

Serotype-Independent Protection Against Invasive Pneumococcal Infections Conferred by Live Vaccine With lgt Deletion

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common respiratory bacterial pathogen among cases of community-acquired infection in young children, older adults, and individuals with underlying medical conditions. Although capsular polysaccharide-based pneumococcal vaccines have contributed to significant decrease in invasive pneumococcal infections, these vaccines have some limitations, including limited serotype coverage, lack of effective mucosal antibody responses, and high costs. In this study, we investigated the safety and immunogenicity of a live, whole-cell pneumococcal vaccine constructed by deleting the gene for prolipoprotein diacylglyceryl transferase (lgt) from the encapsulated pneumococcal strain TIGR4 (TIGR4Δlgt) for protection against heterologous pneumococcal strains. Pneumococcal strain TIGR4 was successfully attenuated by deletion of lgt, resulting in the loss of inflammatory activity and virulence. TIGR4Δlgt colonized the nasopharynx long enough to induce strong mucosal IgA and IgG2b-dominant systemic antibody responses that were cross-reactive to heterologous pneumococcal serotypes. Finally, intranasal immunization with TIGR4Δlgt provided serotype-independent protection against pneumococcal challenge in mice. Taken together, our results suggest that TIGR4Δlgt is an avirulent and attractive broad-spectrum pneumococcal vaccine candidate. More broadly, we assert that modulation of such “master” metabolic genes represents an emerging strategy for developing more effective vaccines against numerous infectious agents