Project description:Acidaminococcus fermentans (Rogosa 1969) is the type species of the genus Acidaminococcus, and is of phylogenetic interest because of its isolated placement in a genomically little characterized region of the Firmicutes. A. fermentans is known for its habitation of the gastrointestinal tract and its ability to oxidize trans-aconitate. Its anaerobic fermentation of glutamate has been intensively studied and will now be complemented by the genomic basis. The strain described in this report is a nonsporulating, nonmotile, Gram-negative coccus, originally isolated from a pig alimentary tract. Here we describe the features of this organism, together with the complete genome sequence, and annotation. This is the first complete genome sequence of a member of the family Acidaminococcaceae, and the 2,329,769 bp long genome with its 2,101 protein-coding and 81 RNA genes is part of the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea project.
Project description:The gene expression levels in murine bone marrow-derived dendritic cells treated with γ-PGA NPs were examined by oligonucleitide microarray and compared with those in the cells treated with other adjuvants. The gene expression of proinflammatory chemokines, cytokines, and costimulatory molecules was upregulated considerably in DCs treated with γ-PGA NPs. The upregulation pattern was similar to that in DCs treated with LPS but not in DCs treated with unparticulate γ-PGA. The activation of DCs by γ-PGA NPs was confirmed by real-time RT-PCR analysis for the genes related to TLR signaling. The effect of γ-PGA NPs on DCs was not annihilated by treating with polymixin B, an inhibitor of LPS. Furthermore, the immunization of mice with γ-PGA NPs carrying OVA significantly induced Ag-specific CD8+ T cells and Ag-specific production of IL-2, TNF-α, and IFN-γ from the cells. Such activities of γ-PGA NPs were more prominent, when compared to the immunization with OVA plus aluminum hydroxide or OVA plus CFA. These results suggest that γ-PGA NPs induce a CD8+ T cell response through activating innate immunity in a fashion different from that of LPS. Thus, γ-PGA NPs may be an attractive adjuvant to be further developed for vaccine therapy.