1 Regulation of Vibrio mimicus metalloprotease (VMP) production by the quorum-sensing master regulatory protein, LuxR El-Shaymaa Abdel-Sattar 1, 2 , Shin-ichi Miyoshi 1 and Abdelaziz Elgaml 1, 3 * 1 Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, 1-1-1, Tsushima-Naka, Kita-Ku, Okayama 700-8530, Japan 2 Chemical Industries Development Company, Assiut 71511, Egypt 3 Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mansoura University, Elgomhouria Street, Mansoura 35516, Egypt * Correspondence: Corresponding author: Abdelaziz Elgaml Postal address: Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, 1-1-1, Tsushima-Naka, Kita-Ku, Okayama 700-8530, Japan Tel: +81-86-251-7968, Fax: +81-86-251-7926 E-mail: elgamel3a@mans.edu.eg ; elgamel3a@hotmail.com Running title: Regulation of V. mimicus metalloprotease by LuxR Key words: Vibrio mimicus; Metalloprotease; Quorum-sensing; LuxR protein