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Knowledge can be dangerous. As neuroscience delves more deeply into our organ of thought and its complex soup of neurotransmitters - could it also be exploited for malign purposes? Is the brain the next target of terrorism? Pharmaceutically enhanced soldiers, chemical torture, incapacitants, neurological weaponry... The possibilities are frightening and progress rapid. Two leading researchers into biological weapons present their concerns, and argue scientists need to take action now. But are we at risk of paranoia?

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Bordetella pertussis is an important human pathogen that causes an infection disease called whooping cough. This gram-negative bacterium produces an adenylate cyclase toxin (CyaA) that recognizes an integrin receptor CD11b/CD18 present on the surface of myeloid phagocytes and delivers an adenylate cyclase (AC) domain into the cell cytosol. This thesis deals with the endocytic machinery of CyaA and its potential use as a specific marker for endocytosis of the CD11b/CD18 receptor molecule. Detoxified mutant of CyaA, CyaA-AC- , that has the capacity to promote calcium influx as well the potassium efflux, was shown to trigger activation of the integrin receptor CD11b/CD18 followed with endocytic uptake by clathrin-dependent pathway. On the other side, the inactive mutant CyaA-KP-AC- that is unable to provoke integrin activation was endocytosed by clathrin-independent pathway. These results suggest that the various endocytic pathways of the CD11b/CD18 are determined by different conformational states of the receptor molecule.

Clostridium difficile is the most common antibiotic related diarrhéa disease in Sweden. New recommendations from the Swedish public health authority and European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) had led to that a more advanced diagnostic algorithm is of priority. Hence this study, whose purpose was to investigate whether the performance of the rapid test C. diff Quik Chek Complete® could enable the introduction of a new diagnostic algorithm for detection of toxin-forming C. difficile in laboratory medicine in Sundsvall, according to these new recommendations. In the study 119 patient stool-samples were analysed with both GeneXpert and C. diff Quik Chek Complete® and these two combined fulfils these new recommendations of detecting toxin A and B from toxigenic C. difficile together with the enzyme Glutamate Dehydrogenase (GDH) which is produced by all C. difficile stems. The results shows that C. diff Quik Chek Complete® is well matched with GeneXpert and that most of the samples would come to be answered immediately after analysis with C. diff Quik Chek Complete®. The laboratory will save both time and money to establish C. diff Quik Chek Complete® in their algorithm for diagnosing C. difficile infection.