Deciphering the Role of a SLOG Superfamily Protein YpsA in Gram-Positive Bacteria

Bacteria adapt to different environments by regulating cell division and several conditions that modulate cell division have been documented. Understanding how bacteria transduce environmental signals to control cell division is critical in understanding the global network of cell division regulation. In this article we describe a role for Bacillus subtilis YpsA, an uncharacterized protein of the SLOG superfamily of nucleotide and ligand-binding proteins, in cell division. We observed that YpsA provides protection against oxidative stress as cells lacking ypsA show increased susceptibility to hydrogen peroxide treatment. We found that the increased expression of ypsA leads to filamentation and disruption of the assembly of FtsZ, the tubulin-like essential protein that marks the sites of cell division in B. subtilis. We also showed that YpsA-mediated filamentation is linked to the growth rate. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we targeted several conserved residues and generated YpsA variants that are no longer able to inhibit cell division. Finally, we show that the role of YpsA is possibly conserved in Firmicutes, as overproduction of YpsA in Staphylococcus aureus also impairs cell division

High fluorescence lymphocyte count in dengue

Background: High fluorescence lymphocyte count (HFLC) is a research parameter indicating the presence of high fluorescence lymphocytes, which represent activated cells (antibody-secreting B- lymphocytes/plasma cells). HFLC in dengue fever is used to estimate the cellular immune response through the presence of blue plasma lymphocytes. Aims: To determine the HFLC in patients with dengue fever using hematology analyser, and to assess the severity of the disease based of the percentage of HFLC. Methods and Material: The present study was conducted in the department of Pathology in a tertiary care hospital. Eighty dengue positive cases and 20 controls were included in the study. HFLC values were obtained from the automated SYSMEX XN 1000 analyser. Statistical analysis of data was done by SPSS23 software. Results: Kruskal Wallis test showed significant difference in platelets between dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic cases and control groups(p<0.01). Average HFLC% count in dengue fever group is 1.7 and in dengue hemorrhagic fever it is 18.85 and there exist significant difference between them with p<0.01. Conclusions: Increase in HFLC values can be related to the pathogenesis of dengue hemorrhagic fever. The immunological response can be detected by an increase in High Fluorescent Lymphocytes Count (HFLC) which can be observed in the automated Sysmex XN-1000 hematology analyzer. Thus HFLC can be used to assess the severity of the disease, at an early stage

Modulation of colonic immunometabolic responses during Clostridioides difficile infection ameliorates disease severity and inflammation

Abstract Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is the leading cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and its clinical symptoms can span from asymptomatic colonization to pseudomembranous colitis and even death. The current standard of care for CDI is antibiotic treatment to achieve bacterial clearance; however, 15 to 35% of patients experience recurrence after initial response to antibiotics. We have conducted a comprehensive, global colonic transcriptomics analysis of a 10-day study in mice to provide new insights on the local host response during CDI and identify novel host metabolic mechanisms with therapeutic potential. The analysis indicates major alterations of colonic gene expression kinetics at the acute infection stage, that are restored during the recovery phase. At the metabolic level, we observe a biphasic response pattern characterized by upregulated glycolytic metabolism during the peak of inflammation, while mitochondrial metabolism predominates during the recovery/healing stage. Inhibition of glycolysis via 2-Deoxy-d-glucose (2-DG) administration during CDI decreases disease severity, protects from mortality, and ameliorates colitis in vivo. Additionally, 2-DG also protects intestinal epithelial cells from C. difficile toxin damage, preventing loss of barrier integrity and secretion of proinflammatory mediators. These data postulate the pharmacological targeting of host immunometabolic pathways as novel treatment modalities for CDI

Abstracts of Scientifica 2022

This book contains the abstracts of the papers presented at Scientifica 2022, Organized by the Sancheti Institute College of Physiotherapy, Pune, Maharashtra, India, held on 12–13 March 2022. This conference helps bring researchers together across the globe on one platform to help benefit the young researchers. There were six invited talks from different fields of Physiotherapy and seven panel discussions including over thirty speakers across the globe which made the conference interesting due to the diversity of topics covered during the conference. Conference Title:  Scientifica 2022Conference Date: 12–13 March 2022Conference Location: Sancheti Institute College of PhysiotherapyConference Organizer: Sancheti Institute College of Physiotherapy, Pune, Maharashtra, Indi