Does upregulated host cell receptor expression provide a link between bacterial adhesion and chronic respiratory disease?

Expression of the platelet-activating factor receptor is upregulated in the respiratory epithelium of smokers and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. We have recently determined that increased expression of PAFr correlates with higher levels of adhesion to human bronchial epithelial cells by non-typable Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae which are major bacterial pathogens in acute exacerbations of COPD. In addition, we found that a PAFr antagonist decreased the adhesion of both respiratory bacterial pathogens to non-cigarette exposure control levels. This highlights the possibility that epithelial receptors, that are upregulated in response to cigarette smoke, could be targeted to specifically block chronic bacterial infections of the lower respiratory tract. In this commentary, we explore the question of whether adhesion to a temporally-upregulated host receptor is a common event in chronic bacterial disease, and as such, could represent a putative therapeutic target for blocking infection by respiratory and other pathogens

Ask a Feminist: Gender and the Rise of the Global Right

For this edition of “Ask a Feminist,” Cynthia Enloe-feminist, activist, writer, scholar, and research professor at Clark University-speaks with special issue editors Suzanna Danuta Walters, Ratna Kapur, and Agnieszka Graff about the relations between gender and militarism and imperialism, in particular about the role of gender in the rise of the imperialist, fascist (or neofascist), populist (or neopopulist) social movements that seem to be spanning the globe

The Underappreciated Role of Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Its Strong Link to Lung Cancer.

The World Health Organisation reported COPD to be the third leading cause of death globally in 2019, and in 2020, the most common cause of cancer death was lung cancer; when these linked conditions are added together they come near the top of the leading causes of mortality. The cell-biological program termed epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays an important role in organ development, fibrosis and cancer progression. Over the past decade there has emerged a substantial literature that also links EMT specifically to the pathophysiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as primarily an airway fibrosis disease; COPD is a recognised strong independent risk factor for the development of lung cancer, over and above the risks associated with smoking. In this review, our primary focus is to highlight these linkages and alert both the COPD and lung cancer fields to these complex interactions. We emphasise the need for inter-disciplinary attention and research focused on the likely crucial roles of EMT (and potential for its inhibition) with recognition of its strategic place mechanistically in both COPD and lung cancer. As part of this we discuss the future potential directions for novel therapeutic opportunities, including evidence-based strategic repurposing of currently used familiar/approved medications

Genetic basis of control of Rhynchosporium secalis infection and symptom expression in barley

The genetic basis of several different components of resistance to Rhynchosporium secalis in barley was investigated in a mapping population derived from a cross between winter and spring barley types. Both the severity of visual disease symptoms and amount of R. secalis DNA in leaf tissues were assessed in field trials in Scotland in the 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 growing seasons. Relative expression of symptoms was defined as the residual values from a linear regression of amount of R. secalis DNA against visual plot disease score at GS 50. Amount of R. secalis DNA and visual disease score were highly correlated traits and identified nearly identical QTL. The genetic control of relative expression of symptoms was less clear. However, a QTL on chromosome 7H was identified as having a significant effect on the expression of visual disease symptoms relative to overall amount of R. secalis colonisationPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Associations of Lifestyle Factors, Disease History and Awareness with Health-Related Quality of Life in a Thai Population

10.1371/journal.pone.0049921PLoS ONE711