About the Authors

Mariana L. Coutinho

Affiliations Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, United States of America, Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnologico, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Brasil

Henry A. Choy

Affiliations Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, United States of America, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, California, United States of America

Melissa M. Kelley

Affiliation Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

James Matsunaga

Affiliations Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, United States of America, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, California, United States of America

Jane T. Babbitt

Affiliations Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, United States of America, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, California, United States of America

Michael S. Lewis

Affiliation Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

Jose Antonio G. Aleixo

Affiliation Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnologico, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Brasil

David A. Haake

dhaake@ucla.edu

Affiliations Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, United States of America, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, California, United States of America, Department of Urology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, United States of America, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have read the journal's policy and have the following conflicts: Authors D.A.H. and J.M. are coinventors on United States Patent 7935357.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: MLC HAC JM DAH. Performed the experiments: MLC HAC MMK. Analyzed the data: MLC HAC JM MSL DAH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: HAC JM DAH. Wrote the paper: MLC HAC JM JTB JAGA DAH.