About the Authors

Maria J. Fernandez-Cabezudo

Affiliation Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Rkia El-Kharrag

Affiliation Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Fawaz Torab

Affiliation Department of Surgery, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Ghada Bashir

Affiliation Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Junu A. George

Affiliation Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Hakam El-Taji

Affiliation Department of Surgery, Tawam Hospital –Johns Hopkins Medicine, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Basel K. al-Ramadi

ramadi.b@uaeu.ac.ae

Affiliation Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: MJF-C FT HE BKA. Performed the experiments: MJF-C RE GB JAG. Analyzed the data: MJF-C HE BKA. Wrote the paper: MJF-C BKA.