According to the innate immunity concept [1], animals defend themselves from microbes by
recognizing pathogen-associated molecular patterns. To detect many Gram-negative …

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are essential for defence against pathogens in all living
organisms and possessed activities against bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites and even …

Yersinia pestis spread throughout the Americas in the early 20th century, and it occurs
predominantly as a single clone within this part of the world. However, within Eurasia and …

Plague—a deadly disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis—is still an international
public health concern. There are three main clinical forms: bubonic plague, septicemic …

Although adhesion to host cells is a critical step in the delivery of cytotoxic Yop proteins by
Yersinia pestis, the mechanism has not been defined. To identify adhesins critical for Yop …

SUMMARY A major challenge for microbiologists is to elucidate the strategies deployed by
microorganisms to adapt to and thrive in highly complex and dynamic environments. In vitro …

The transcriptional activator PhoP is important for survival of Yersinia pestis in macrophage
phagosomes. However, the phagosomes inhabited by Y. pestis have not been well …

Several host-adapted pathogens and commensals have evolved mechanisms to evade the
host innate immune system inducing a state of low-grade inflammation. Epidemiological …

Airway epithelial cells are the first line of defense against invading microbes, and they
protect themselves through the production of carbohydrate and protein matrices …

The omptin family of Gram-negative bacterial transmembrane aspartic proteases comprises
surface proteins with a highly conserved β-barrel fold but differing biological functions. The …