Immunology of Infectious Disease News 4.47 November 30, 2016 | |
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TOP STORYScientists introduced a new concept ‘neutralizing immunogenicity index’ (NII) to evaluate an epitope’s neutralizing immunogenicity. To determine the NII, they masked the epitope with a glycan probe and then assessed the epitope’s contribution to the vaccine’s overall neutralizing immunogenicity. [Nat Commun] Full Article | Press Release | |
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PUBLICATIONS(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)Researchers showed that lung environmental cues program recently recruited central-like memory cells with migratory potentials for their tissue-specific functions during lethal respiratory virus infection. After entering the lung, some central-like cells retain their original CD27hiCXCR3hi phenotype, enabling them to localize near the infected bronchiolar epithelium and airway lumen to function as the first line of defense against pathogen encounter. [J Exp Med] Abstract To investigate how azidothymidine sensitizes primary effusion lymphomas to immune control the authors examined BJAB cells transduced with individual Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus-latent genes for their ability to resist apoptosis mediated by stimuli delivered through Fas and TNF-related apoptosis inducing ligand receptors. This showed that in addition to the previously described vFLIP protein, expression of vIRF3 also inhibited apoptosis delivered by these stimuli. [PLoS Pathog] Full Article The authors established and characterized a new model of peripheral Zika virus infection using immunocompetent neonatal C57BL/6 mice and compare its clinical progression, virus distribution, immune response, and neuropathology with that of C57BL/6-IFNAR KO mice. [PLoS Pathog] Full Article | Press Release Using a mouse model of tuberculosis, investigators compared protection and lung cellular infiltrates of parenteral and mucosal Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination. Adoptive transfer and gene expression analyses of lung airway cells were performed to determine the protective capacities and phenotypes of different memory T cell subsets. [mBio] Full Article Researchers investigated whether type I IFNs regulate CD8 T cell activation by fungal β-glucan particle–stimulated dendritic cells (DCs). They demonstrated that β-glucan–stimulated DCs induce CD8 T cell proliferation, activation marker expression, and production of IFN-γ, IL-2, and granzyme B. [J Immunol] Abstract Using a murine CMV that is highly sensitive to the antiviral drug famciclovir to modulate virus replication, investigators found that increased virus replication drove increased effector CD8+ T cell differentiation. [J Immunol] Abstract HIVScientists present evidence that persistent immune activation causes impairment of lymphocytes to respond to chemotactic stimuli, thus preventing their trafficking from the blood stream to peripheral organs. CCR6+ and CXCR3+ Th cells accumulate in the blood of aviremic HIV-1–infected patients on long-term antiretroviral therapy, and their frequency in the circulation positively correlates to levels of soluble CD14 in plasma, a marker of chronic immune activation. [J Immunol] Abstract Researchers employed a GPI-scFv X5 approach to confer resistance of human primary CD4 T cells to HIV-1. They showed that primary CD4 T cells expressing the GPI-scFv X5 were resistant to CCR5-, CXCR4- and dual tropic- HIV-1 and had survival advantage compared to control cells ex vivo. [J Virol] Abstract Gut Homing CD4+ and CD8+ T-Cell Frequencies in HIV Infected Individuals on Antiretroviral Treatment In an effort to understand the effect of antiretroviral treatment (ART) initiation and different ART regimens on the reconstitution of mucosal T cells within the gut associated lymphoid tissue, scientists quantified the frequency of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells expressing the gut homing receptors CCR9 and β7 in peripheral blood of HIV infected individuals naive to ART and treated individuals on both short-term and long-term ART. [PLoS One] Full Article Interleukin-15 (IL-15) Strongly Correlates with Increasing HIV-1 Viremia and Markers of Inflammation Investigators sought to measure the level of IL-15 in a large, well characterized cohort of HIV-1 infected patients and correlate this with well known markers of inflammation, including CRP, D-dimer, sCD163 and sCD14. [PLoS One] Full Article Subscribe to our sister publications: Human Immunology News & Immune Regulation News. | |
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REVIEWSCytomegalovirus Vaccines: Current Status and Future Prospects The authors provide an overview of human cytomegalovirus vaccine candidates in various stages of development, as well as an update on the current status of ongoing clinical trials. Protective correlates of vaccine-induced immunity may be different for pregnant woman and transplant patients. [Drugs] Abstract Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the immunology of infectious disease research field. | |
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INDUSTRY NEWSMylan N.V. announced that the company has signed an agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool to expand access to chronic hepatitis C medicines in developing countries. [Mylan N.V.] Press Release BiondVax Pharmaceuticals Ltd. announced positive preliminary safety results from its European Phase IIb clinical trial of M-001, its universal flu vaccine candidate. [BiondVax Pharmaceuticals Ltd.] Press Release | |
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POLICY NEWSNew U.S. Research Policy Board Would Aim to Slash Regulatory Paperwork Easing the regulatory burden on U.S. academic research certainly isn’t as sexy as curing cancer or understanding how the brain works. But creating an advisory body focused on eliminating government red tape—a tiny provision in a 996-page bill to accelerate medical research that could become law next month—is no less important to maintaining the health of the research community than is the infusion of billions of dollars, higher education lobbyists say. [ScienceInsider] Editorial UK Moves Closer to Allowing ‘Three-Parent’ Babies The United Kingdom may soon become the first country to explicitly permit the birth of children from embryos modified to contain three people’s DNA. At the same time, new research backs up concerns that such a treatment — which aims to erase diseases transmitted by the DNA found in cellular structures called mitochondria — may not always be 100% effective. [Nature News] Editorial Trump’s Pick for US Health Secretary Has Pushed to Cut Science Spending Republican congressman Tom Price of Georgia is US President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the US Department of Health and Human Services. If he is confirmed by the Senate, Price would oversee the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. [Nature News] Editorial Tracking the Trump Transition, Agency by Agency As US president-elect Donald Trump begins to sketch out the priorities of his administration, Nature tracks the key issues and likely leaders of vital science and research agencies. [Nature News] Editorial
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EVENTSNEW 27th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.
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JOB OPPORTUNITIESNEW Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Viral Infection Modeling (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) Research Technologist – Cell Separation (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.) Postdoctoral Position – Immunology of HIV-1 and Cancer (University of Alabama at Birmingham) Postdoctoral Research Scientist – Infection (Rush University Medical Center) Research Fellow – HIV Research (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) Postdoctoral Fellow – Immunology of Chronic HBV Infection (F. Hoffmann-La Roche) PhD Prize Studentships (University of Oxford) Postdoctoral Position – Immunology (Klinikum der Universität München) Faculty Position – Senior Immunologist (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) Recruit Top Talent: Reach potential candidates by posting your organization’s career opportunities on the Connexon Creative Job Board at no cost.
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