Immunology of Infectious Disease News Volume 2.02 | Jan 22 2014

Cellular Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein cIAP2 Protects against Pulmonary Tissue Necrosis during Influenza Virus Infection to Promote Host Survival
Investigators find that mice deficient in cellular inhibitors of apoptosis protein2 (cIAP2) exhibit increased susceptibility and mortality to influenza A virus infection. The lethality was not due to impaired antiviral immune functions, but rather because of death-receptor-induced programmed necrosis of airway epithelial cells that led to severe bronchiole epithelial degeneration, despite control of viral replication. [Cell Host Microbe]
Abstract | Graphical Abstract | Press Release

Role of Th1/Th17 Balance Regulated by T-bet in a Mouse Model of Mycobacterium avium Complex Disease
Scientists identified that the fine balance between Th1 and Th17 responses is essential in defining the outcome of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) disease. T-bet functions as a regulator for Th1/Th17 balance and is a critical determinant for host resistance to MAC infection by controlling cytokine and NO levels. [J Immunol] Abstract

Regulatory Role of CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ Regulatory T Cells on IL-17-Secreting T Cells in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients
The frequencies of CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ T regulatory (Treg) cells and interleukin (IL)-17-secreting T cells in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and healthy subjects were measured by flow cytometric analysis. The role of Treg cells on the differentiation of Ag-specific IL-17-secreting T cells was determined by removing the Treg cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells in HBeAg-positive CHB patients. [Dig Dis Sci] Abstract

HIV

Role of Protease Inhibitor 9 in Survival and Replication of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Mononuclear Phagocytes from HIV-1-Infected Patients
Researchers studied the contribution of protease inhibitor 9 to successful Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection of monocytes from HIV-1-infected patients. [AIDS] Abstract

Specific Loss of Cellular L-Selectin on CD4+ T Cells Is Associated with PML Development during HIV Infection
The authors discovered that HIV+ progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) patients had a significantly lower expression of CD62L on CD4+ T cells when compared with HIV+ patients who did not develop PML. [AIDS] Abstract

CD8⁺ T Cells Are Activated in an Antigen-Independent Manner in HIV-Infected Individuals
Scientists report that CD8⁺ T cells were activated during in vivo HIV-1 replication irrespective of their Ag specificity. Cytokines present during untreated HIV-1 infection, most prominently IL-15, triggered proliferation and expression of activation markers in CD8⁺ T cells, but not CD4⁺ T cells, in the absence of TCR stimulation. [J Immunol] Abstract

Exome Analysis of HIV Patients Submitted to Dendritic Cells Therapeutic Vaccine Reveals an Association of CNOT1 Gene with Response to the Treatment
With the aim of searching genetic factors associated with the response to an immune treatment based on autologous monocyte-derived dendritic cells pulsed with autologous inactivated HIV, researchers performed exome analysis by screening more than 240,000 putative functional exonic variants in 18 HIV-positive Brazilian patients that underwent the immune treatment. [J Int AIDS Soc] Abstract

NK Cells in Hepatitis B Virus Infection: A Potent Target for Immunotherapy
This review addresses the recent data regarding the roles of natural killer (NK) cells as novel targets for immunotherapies that target hepatitis B infection. It also discusses the potential to reduce the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma or cirrhosis of the liver by targeting NK cells. [Arch Virol] Abstract

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the infectious disease research field.

Vivaldi Biosciences Signs Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to Develop Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine Against Influenza H7N9
Vivaldi Biosciences Inc. announced that it has signed a CRADA with the NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health, to generate and evaluate in preclinical studies live attenuated influenza vaccines candidates against influenza A (H7N9). [Vivaldi Biosciences Inc.] Press Release

NYBC Viral Immunology Lab Receives National Institutes of Health Support to Develop MERS Vaccine
New York Blood Center’s (NYBC’s) Laboratory of Viral Immunology at its Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute has received a significant grant to continue development of a vaccine against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus – one of the most dangerous emerging viruses. [New York Blood Center]
Press Release

Case Western Reserve Wins $12.7 Million for AIDS Research and Clinical Trials
AIDS researchers from Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center have received a seven-year funding award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. [Case Western Reserve University] Press Release

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Postdoctoral Associate – Immune Response against New and Emerging Respiratory Viruses (University of Florida)

Postdoctoral Position – HIV Research (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease/National Institutes of Health)

Postdoctoral Research Fellows – Quantitative Infectious Disease Methods (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

Postdoctoral Position – Regulation by Small RNAs in Bacterial Pathogens (Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung GmbH)

Postdoctoral Position – Immunology-Vaccinology (University of Liège, Belgium)

Postdoctoral Position – Identification of Tick Molecules that Contribute to Tick-Borne Pathogens Transmission (ANSES)

Postdoctoral Associate – Molecular Biology (State University of New York)

Postdoctoral Position – Immunology (The Wistar Institute)

Postdoctoral Position – Pathogenesis of Enterovirus 71 (Institut Pasteur)

Postdoctoral Position – Importance of Trypanosome Motility during the Early Infection in the Mammalian Host (Institut Pasteur)

Research Associate – Translational Immunology (Genentech, Inc.)

Associate Professor – B Cell Immunologist (Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine)

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