Collagen-Like Proteins in Pathogenic E. coli Strains

The genome sequences of enterohaemorrhagic E. coli O157:H7 strains show multiple open-reading frames with collagen-like sequences that are absent from the common laboratory strain K-12. These putative collagens are included in prophages embedded in O157:H7 genomes. These prophages carry numerous genes related to strain virulence and have been shown to be inducible and capable of disseminating virulence factors by horizontal gene transfer. We have cloned two collagen-like proteins from E. coli O157:H7 into a laboratory strain and analysed the structure and conformation of the recombinant proteins and several of their constituting domains by a variety of spectroscopic, biophysical, and electron microscopy techniques. We show that these molecules exhibit many of the characteristics of vertebrate collagens, including trimer formation and the presence of a collagen triple helical domain. They also contain a C-terminal trimerization domain, and a trimeric α-helical coiled-coil domain with an unusual amino acid sequence almost completely lacking leucine, valine or isoleucine residues. Intriguingly, these molecules show high thermal stability, with the collagen domain being more stable than those of vertebrate fibrillar collagens, which are much longer and post-translationally modified. Under the electron microscope, collagen-like proteins from E. coli O157:H7 show a dumbbell shape, with two globular domains joined by a hinged stalk. This morphology is consistent with their likely role as trimeric phage side-tail proteins that participate in the attachment of phage particles to E. coli target cells, either directly or through assembly with other phage tail proteins. Thus, collagen-like proteins in enterohaemorrhagic E. coli genomes may have a direct role in the dissemination of virulence-related genes through infection of harmless strains by induced bacteriophages

Evaluation of the Rapid Immunoassay Determine HIV 1/2 for Detection of Antibodies to Human Immunodeficiency Virus Types 1 and 2

We evaluated the reliability of a rapid human immunodeficiency virus type 1 test for quick clinical decision making, such as in needle-stick accidents. The test was evaluated with 1,160 patients. It proved to be a simple and useful test with 99.6% specificity and 99.4% sensitivity. One patient with late-stage AIDS had a false-negative result

Adsorção de íons sulfato em ZrO2.nH2O preparado pelo método da precipitação convencional e da precipitação em solução homogênea Adsorption of sulfate ions in ZrO2.nH2O prepared by conventional precipitation and homogeneous solution methods

Este trabalho visa a preparação, caracterização e estudo da adsorção de íons sulfato em óxido de zircônio hidratado preparado pelos métodos da precipitação convencional e da precipitação em solução homogênea. Os materiais obtidos foram caracterizados por difração de raios X, análise termogravimétrica, microscopia eletrônica de varredura e análise de área superficial específica pelo método BET. Através da constante Q0, relacionada com a capacidade de adsorção máxima, observou-se que o ZrO2.nH2O/PSH possui maior capacidade de adsorção para íons sulfato que o ZrO2.nH2O/PC. Pelos resultados de &#916;G, observou-se que os íons sulfato foram adsorvidos através de reações energeticamente favoráveis para toda a faixa de concentração estudada.<br>This work reports the preparation, characterization and adsorption study of sulfate on hydrous zirconium oxides prepared by conventional and homogeneous solution precipitation methods. The materials prepared were characterized by X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy and surface area measurements. Through the Q0 constant, related with the capacity of maximum adsorption, it was observed that the ZrO2.nH2O/PSH presented better adsorption capacity than ZrO2.nH2O/PC. By results of &#916;G, it was observed that sulfate ions had been adsorbed through favorable reactions for all studied concentration ranges