[en] Non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a human-adapted bacterial pathogen, responsible for infections of the human respiratory tract. This pathogen expresses a range of adhesins that mediate binding to host cells. Most NTHi strains can express the related adhesins HMW1 and HMW2. Expression of HMW proteins is phase-variable: changes in the length of simple-sequence repeats located in the encoding genes promoter regions results in changes in expression levels of these adhesins. HMW expression is also controlled by epigenetic regulation. HMW1 has been previously demonstrated to bind α 2–3 sialyl-lactosamine, but affinity of this interaction has not been investigated. The host receptor(s) for HMW2 is currently unknown. We hypothesized that host glycans may act as receptors for HMW2-mediated adherence. We examined the glycan-binding activity of HMW2 using glycan arrays and Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR). These studies demonstrate that HMW2 binds 2–6 linked N-acetylneuraminic acid with high affinity. HMW2 did not bind glycan structures containing the non-human form of sialic acid, N-glycolylneuraminic acid. Thus, the specificity of HMW1 and HMW2 have complementary lectin activities that may allow NTHi distinct niches in the human host.

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[en] Aim: To investigate the clinical and radiological features of meningitis with subarachnoid diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) hyperintensity. Materials and methods: The clinical features, laboratory data, and radiological findings, including the number and distribution of subarachnoid DWI hyperintense lesions and other radiological abnormalities, of 18 patients seen at five institutions were evaluated. Results: The patients consisted of eight males and 10 females, whose ages ranged from 4 months to 82 years (median 65 years). Causative organisms were bacteria in 15 patients, including Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus agalactiae, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Listeria monocytogenes. The remaining three were fungal meningitis caused by Cryptococcus neoformans. Subarachnoid DWI hyperintense lesions were multiple in 16 of the 18 cases (89%) and predominantly distributed around the frontal lobe in 16 of the 18 cases (89%). In addition to subarachnoid abnormality, subdural empyema, cerebral infarction, and intraventricular empyema were found in 50, 39, and 39%, respectively. Compared with paediatric patients, adult patients with bacterial meningitis tended to have poor prognoses (7/10 versus 1/5; p = 0.1). Conclusion: Both bacterial and fungal meningitis could cause subarachnoid hyperintensity on DWI, predominantly around the frontal lobe. This finding is often associated with poor prognosis in adult bacterial meningitis.

[en] Background: Haemophilus influenza persists as a well-known root of ill health in children throughout the entire world. Before the introduction of the vaccine, Haemophilus influenza remained a well-known and eminent source of septic arthritis, pneumonia, and epiglottitis. Haemophilus influenza, Neisseria meningitides, and staphylococcus pneumonia spreads through respiratory droplets and cause diseases such as meningitis, pneumonia, and other secondary infections related to respiratory diseases. Objective was to analyze the 3D structure of the protein of Haemophilus influenzae by homology modelling to design antibiotics. Methods: For the effective study of protein, computational tools were used to investigate protein structure and function, Comprehensive microbial resource (CMR) for comparative modelling, Interproscan, BLAST for sequence similarity searching, MODELLER 9.10 for homology modeling, Procheck and Protein Structure Analysis (ProSA) software for assessing model quality and structural validation. Results: The model showed that it consists of three alpha helices (red) and one beta-sheet. Ramachandran Plot statistics show that 97.4% of the debris is in the favoured region, 0% in the additional allowed region, 2.65% in the generally allowed part, and 0% in the disallowed part. Stability and energy were checked through ProSa. Z score was highly negative which showed that the model is highly stable. The greater the negative value, the more will be the stability of the model. Conclusion: Cell division protein H11025 was selected. The structure was modelled which has provided all the required information to design antibiotics to control the harmful effects regarding that protein. (author)

[en] Breakage of tRNA by Escherichia coli anticodon nuclease PrrC (EcoPrrC) underlies a host antiviral response to phage T4 infection. Expression of EcoPrrC is cytocidal in yeast, signifying that PrrC ribotoxicity crosses phylogenetic domain boundaries. EcoPrrC consists of an N-terminal NTPase module that resembles ABC transporters and a C-terminal nuclease module that is sui generis. PrrC homologs are prevalent in many other bacteria. Here we report that Haemophilus influenzae PrrC is toxic in E. coli and yeast. To illuminate structure–activity relations, we conducted a new round of mutational analysis of EcoPrrC guided by primary structure conservation among toxic PrrC homologs. We indentify 17 candidate active site residues in the NTPase module that are essential for toxicity in yeast when EcoPrrC is expressed at high gene dosage. Their functions could be educed by integrating mutational data with the atomic structure of the transition-state complex of a homologous ABC protein.

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[en] Meningococcal disease is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality among children in many parts of the world. Main reservoir of carriage and site of meningococcal dissemination appears to be the upper respiratory tract. Colonization of Neisseria meningitidis and lactamica and factors affecting this carriage were determined in a group of healthy children aged 0-10 years. Meningococcus and N. lactamica carriage were detected in 17 (1.23%) and 245 (17.7%) of 1382 subjects, respectively. Number (%) of serogroups for meningococci was 1 (6), 5 (29), 0 (0), 1 (6), 1 (6), and 9 (53) for A, B, C, D, W135, and Y, respectively. Having more than three household members, elementary school attendance, pharyngeal carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae were associated with carriage of meningococci, whereas age less than 24-month was associated with carriage of N. lactamica. There was a reverse carriage rate between N. meningitidis and N. lactamica by age which may suggest a possible protective role of N. lactamica against meningococcal colonization among pre-school children

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[en] The construction and some properties of Haemophilus influenzae Rd strains with long and different R plasmid-derived DNA segments (nonhomologous inserts) at the same site in the HP1 prophage have previously been described. These inserts can be added to a recipient's genome by genetic transformation, they can be deleted from the recipient genome, or they can be replaced by another insert. It is reported that the UV inactivation of all three phenomena followed single hit kinetics. Deletion was roughly 10 times more resistant; its UV-sensitivity equalled that of a high-efficiency point mutation. There was an inverse correlation between UV-sensitivity and additive transformation efficiency of the various inserts; sensitivity may thus be a measure of insert size. This correlation was not seen for deletion. All three phenomena were more sensitive when they were measured on excision repair-deficient uvr^- recipients. The dose-reduction factor for addition was about 1.5 while it was about 2.6 for deletion. (author)