Lung cancer remains a leading cause of cancer death globally and affects millions of lives across the globe. Early detection of lung cancer significantly improves survival rates. Screening with low-dose CT scans for high-risk individuals can lead to earlier diagnosis and better treatment outcomes. Breathomics is the systematic analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath to diagnose diseases and monitor health conditions. This research presents a novel electrochemical biosensor that detects eigh…

Abstract Group B Streptococcus (GBS; also known as Streptococcus agalactiae) is an opportunistic bacterial pathogen that causes sepsis, meningitis, pneumonia, and skin and soft tissue infections in neonates and healthy or immunocompromised adults. GBS is well-adapted to survive in humans due to a plethora of virulence mechanisms that afford responses to support bacterial survival in dynamic host environments. These mechanisms and responses include counteraction of cell death from exposure to excess metal ions that…

Group B streptococcus (GBS) is a chain-forming commensal bacterium and opportunistic pathogen that resides in the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tract of healthy adults. GBS can cause various infections and related complications in pregnant and nonpregnant women, adults, and newborns. Investigations of the mechanisms by which GBS causes disease pathogenesis often utilize colony count assays to estimate bacterial population size in experimental models. In other streptococci, such as group A streptococcus and pn…

Mycobacterium leprae is a slow-growing species of mycobacteria that cannot be cultured in axenic media. This presents a number of challenges for monitoring treatment efficacy and advancing new drugs and regimens for treating leprosy. We previously developed a molecular viability assay (MVA) which measures expression of hsp18 and esxA transcripts to determine viability of M. leprae directly from infected tissue. The objective of the current study was to determine the utility of the MVA for practical use on clinical…

<i>Streptococcus agalactiae</i> glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), encoded by <i>gapC</i>, is a glycolytic enzyme that is associated with virulence and immune-mediated protection. However, the role of GAPDH in cellular cytokine responses to <i>S. agalactiae</i>, bacterial phagocytosis and colonization of the female reproductive tract, a central host niche, is unknown. We expressed and studied purified recombinant GAPDH (rGAPDH) of <i>S. agalactiae</i> in cytokine elicitation assays with human monocy…