The pancreatic zymogen granule membrane protein, GP2, binds Escherichia coli type 1 Fimbriae

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>GP2 is the major membrane protein present in the pancreatic zymogen granule, and is cleaved and released into the pancreatic duct along with exocrine secretions. The function of GP2 is unknown. GP2's amino acid sequence is most similar to that of uromodulin, which is secreted by the kidney. Recent studies have demonstrated uromodulin binding to bacterial Type 1 fimbria. The fimbriae serve as adhesins to host receptors. The present study examines whether GP2 also shares similar binding properties to bacteria with Type 1 fimbria. Commensal and pathogenic bacteria, including E. coli and Salmonella, express type 1 fimbria.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An <it>in vitro </it>binding assay was used to assay the binding of recombinant GP2 to defined strains of <it>E. coli </it>that differ in their expression of Type 1 fimbria or its subunit protein, FimH. Studies were also performed to determine whether GP2 binding is dependent on the presence of mannose residues, which is a known determinant for FimH binding.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>GP2 binds <it>E. coli </it>that express Type 1 fimbria. Binding is dependent on GP2 glycosylation, and specifically the presence of mannose residues.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>GP2 binds to Type 1 fimbria, a bacterial adhesin that is commonly expressed by members of the <it>Enterobacteriacae </it>family.</p

Reframing brand experience: The experiential meaning of Harley-Davidson

Beyond branding as a differentiation strategy, branding theory now recognizes the significance of social, cultural, and political relationships relating to brand consumption. In focusing on the consumer's experience of the iconic brand of Harley-Davidson, this work reports on more than three years of ethnographic research undertaken in Australia. The outcome is a description of the experiential meaning of Harley-Davidson for Australian consumers. The findings confirm and extend previous research (Martin, D., Schouten, J., McAlexander, J., Claiming the throttle: Multiple femininities in a hyper-masculine subculture. Consum Mark Cult 2006; 9 (3): 171-205.; Schouten, J.W., McAlexander, J.H., Subcultures of consumption: An ethnography of the new bikers. J Consum Res 1995; 22 (1): 43-61.) investigating the Harley-Davidson subculture. These findings are also particularly informative regarding the consumer's brand experience. The article argues that personal experience of Harley-Davidson embedded in a collective social act (in this case, the Australian HOG community) is a spectacular (postmodern) symbol of freedom, where the rebel image of the bike and the brand is consumed by (predominantly mainstream) consumers, thus highlighting the co-construction of the consumer's brand experience. Recognizing this co-construction of brand experience enables brand managers and marketers an opportunity to manage and market brands from the fundamental level of what a particular brand means to consumers.Co-construction Brand experience Ethnography Harley-Davidson Postmodern

Digital consumers as cultural curators: the irony of Vaporwave

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to address the question of cultural production, consumption and intermediation in the context of digital music

SCIENCE IDENTITY AND HISPANIC STUDENTS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM)

Our research investigates science identity in the context of Hispanic science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students and addresses the question of how they construct meaning of their science identities. Our qualitative research design uses group interviews to arrive at a symbolic description of current self, combined with a narrative collage method to arrive at a performative definition of the future self. Results from a large sample of 75 participants support the theory of science identity with evidence of participants viewing their future self as a research scientist or an altruistic scientist. Extending the theory of science identity, the findings also show evidence of a non-scientist trajectory and a non-relational dimension. The non-scientist trajectory is a future self-conception that excludes science or scientific practice. The non-relational dimension is an absence of humans, where people are simply missing from the future self-conception. Our work contributes to science identity theory by showcasing the experiential meaning of identity for Hispanic STEM students. Our research design also provides a stepwise approach to identifying the meaning of science identity for students. Practical implications also include tailoring professional development programs to encourage and facilitate recognition for Hispanic STEM students. More specifically, the practical implications of this work include developing elements of Hispanic science identity, such as self-recognition and recognition by others, as well as the humanistic dimension. Recommended strategies are bringing STEM professionals into the classroom as well as allowing STEM students to experience professional settings

The experiential meaning of service quality

Within dominant marketing approaches, service quality is conceptualized as a fixed set of static service dimensions such as reliability and responsiveness that reflect consumer expectations and/ or perceptions. As an alternative to the dominant approaches, the aim in this work is to identify and describe the consumer’s lived experience of service quality. Achieved through an interpretive approach the findings presented here demonstrate that the dimensions and attributes consumers’ use for evaluating service quality are based upon what service quality means to consumers and how consumers experience service quality in a particular services context. Moreover, the findings show that the experiential meaning of service quality varies and this theoretical contribution has important implications for improving service quality and future research on service quality

The impact of nurse home visiting on the use, dose and quality of formal childcare : 3-year follow-up of a randomized trial

Objective: We investigated whether nurse home visiting (NHV) affects the uptake and quality of formal early childhood education and care (ECEC) at child ages 2 and 3 years, and reasons for using ECEC at 3 years. Methods: Design: Secondary analysis of the “right@home” randomized trial of NHV. Participants: 722 pregnant Australian, English-speaking women experiencing adversity recruited from antenatal clinics across 2 states. Intervention: 25 nurse home visits to 2 years; Control: universal well-child nursing service. Measures: Parents reported formal ECEC use (government approved and subsidized), comprising long or family day care (LDC), and reasons for use. ECEC quality was classified using the Australian government's national ratings. Eighty-three percent of parents provided data at 2 years (306 intervention/290 control); and 69% at 3 years (255 intervention/240 control). Analysis: Intention-to-treat analyses were conducted using adjusted regression models, addressing missing data using multiple imputation and inverse probability weighting. Results: There was no evidence of group differences in ECEC uptake or quality, although control families may have used more LDC at 3 years (mean difference 2.8 hours, 95% confidence interval, -0.2 to 5.8 hours). Intervention parents reported using ECEC to support their children's social development more frequently than controls (48% vs 33%) but less for work/study (39% vs 46%). Conclusions: The right@home NHV program did not impact ECEC uptake or quality, although it may influence parents’ reasons for using ECEC. If supported by policy and provision, there is an opportunity for NHV programs to promote the transition to high-quality ECEC and evaluate the synergistic benefit on children's development

Valency conversion in the type 1 fimbrial adhesin of Escherichia coli

FimH protein is a lectin-like adhesive subunit of type 1, or mannose-sensitive, fimbriae that are found on the surface of most Escherichia coli strains. All naturally occurring FimH variants demonstrate a conserved mannotriose-specific (i.e. multivalent) binding. Here, we demonstrate that replacement of residues 185-279 within the FimH pilin domain with a corresponding segment of the type 1C fimbrial adhesin FocH leads to a loss of the multivalent mannotriose-specific binding property accompanied by the acquisition of a distinct monomannose-specific (i.e. monovalent) binding capability. Bacteria expressing the monovalent hybrid adhesins were capable of binding strongly to uroepithelial tissue culture cells and guinea pig erythrocytes. They could not, however, agglutinate yeast or bind human buccal cells functions readily accomplished by the E. coli-expressing mannotriose-specific FimH variants. Based on the relative potency of inhibiting compounds of different structures, the receptor binding site within monovalent FimH-FocH adhesin has an extended structure with an overall configuration similar to that within the multivalent FimH of natural origin. The monomannose-only specific phenotype could also be invoked by a single point mutation, E89K, located within the lectin domain of FimH, but distant from the receptor binding site. The structural alterations influence the receptor-binding valency of the FimH adhesin via distal effects on the combining pocket, obviously by affecting the FimH quaternary structure