1. Seham M. Rabadi1,
2. Belkys C. Sanchez1,
3. Mrudula Varanat1,
4. Zhuo Ma2,
5. Sally V. Catlett2,
6. Juan Andres Melendez3,
7. Meenakshi Malik2 and
8. Chandra Shekhar Bakshi1*

1. New York Medical College, United States;
2. Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, United States;
3. SUNY Polytechnic Institute, United States

* Corresponding author; email: shekhar_bakshi@nymc.edu

Author contributions: CSB, MM and JAM conceived, designed and coordinated the study. CSB and MM wrote the paper. BCS performed and analyzed the experiments shown in Figure 2. SMR, ZM and SVC performed and analyzed the experiments shown in Figure 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9. MV performed and analyzed the experiments shown in Figure 3 and 8. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Abstract

Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of a fatal human disease known as tularemia has been used in the bioweapon programs of several countries in the past, and now is considered a potential bioterror agent. Extreme infectivity and virulence of F. tularensis is due to its ability to evade immune detection and to suppress hosts innate immune responses. However, Francisella encoded factors and mechanisms responsible for causing immune suppression are not completely understood. Macrophages and neutrophils generate Reactive Oxygen-Nitrogen Species (ROS,RNS) as a defense mechanism for the clearance of phagocytosed microorganisms.

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