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Interference of Mycoplasma infection in a gene expression study: it was the environment and not the gene
Gregor Hoermann1, Joachim Spergser, Elisa Einwallner
1Division of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnosis, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
Abstract:
We show that short-term exposure to doxycycline, as used in tetracycline-inducible gene expression models, protects cells from stress-induced death in cultures infected with Mycoplasma arginini. Coinciding with the expected maximum level of gene activity, antimicrobial effects of tetracyclines might be mistaken for antiapoptotic properties of the expressed gene product.
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