Immunology of Infectious Disease News Volume 2.12 | Apr 2 2014

The Mucosal Inflammatory Response to Non-Typhoidal Salmonella in the Intestine Is Blunted by IL-10 during Concurrent Malaria Parasite Infection
Researchers reported that, in both a ligated ileal loop model and a mouse colitis model, malaria parasites caused a global suppression of gut inflammatory responses and blunted the neutrophil influx that is characteristic of non-typhoidal Salmonella infection. [Mucosal Immunol] Abstract

NKT Cells Determine Titer and Subtype Profile of Virus-Specific IgG Antibodies during Herpes Simplex Virus Infection
Investigators analyzed the role of invariant NKT cells in the generation of Abs against HSV type 1. [J Immunol] Abstract

Activation of Nucleotide Oligomerization Domain 2 (NOD2) by Human Cytomegalovirus Initiates Innate Immune Responses and Restricts Virus Replication
Researchers report that infection with human cytomegalovirus results in significant induction of NOD2 expression, beginning as early as 2 hours post infection and increasing steadily 24 hours post infection and afterwards. [PLoS One] Full Article | Press Release

Ecto-5′-Nucleotidase (CD73) Regulates Host Inflammatory Responses and Exacerbates Murine Salmonellosis
Scientists studied the expressions of CD39 and CD73 in tissues, and T helper cells in mice after Salmonella infection and evaluated the role of CD73 in regulating immune responses and bacterial clearance in wild-type and CD73-deficient mice. [Sci Reports] Full Article

HIV

Heat Shock Protein 90 Controls HIV-1 Reactivation from Latency
The authors report that specific inhibitors of heat shock protein 90 such as 17-(N-allylamino)-17-demethoxygeldanamycin and AUY922 prevent HIV-1 reactivation in CD4+ T cells. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract | Full Article

Quantification of HIV-1 Latency Reversal in Resting CD4⁺ T Cells from Patients on Suppressive Antiretroviral Therapy
Scientists quantified the fraction of HIV-1 proviruses in resting CD4⁺ T cells from patients on suppressive antiretroviral therapy that were reactivated ex vivo with suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid or antibodies to CD3/CD28. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract

TNFα Is Associated with Viral Control and Early Disease Progression in Patients with HIV-1 Infection
Patients with untreated primary HIV-1 infection were studied to determine associations of inflammatory proteins with early disease progression. High plasma TNFα levels were significantly associated with increased viral load set point, and shorter time to CD4⁺ T-cell count less than 500 cells/mm³ and initiation of antiretroviral therapy. [J Infect Dis] Abstract

Maraviroc Reduces Regulatory T Cells in ART-Naïve HIV-Infected Subjects
Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a key role in HIV-associated immunopathology and are susceptible to Maraviroc-mediated CCR5 blockade. Researchers evaluated the effect of Maraviroc on Tregs. [J Infect Dis] Abstract

Cultivated Vaginal Microbiomes Alter HIV-1 Infection and Antiretroviral Efficacy in Colonized Epithelial Multilayer Cultures
Researchers present the first vaginal mucosal culture model that supports colonization by both healthy and dysbiotic vaginal microbiome (VMB) from vaginal swabs collected from routine gynecological patients. Results showed that their culture system supports stable and reproducible colonization by VMB representing distinct community state types and that the selected representatives have significantly different effects on the replication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1). [PLoS One] Full Article | Press Release

The Innate Immune Response to HIV-1: To Sense or Not to Sense
Several research groups have made advances in understanding the innate immune response to HIV-1, although their findings differ. This article reviews the recent findings and discusses the similarities and differences. [DNA Cell Biol] Abstract

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

Janssen Submits New Drug Application to U.S. FDA for a Fixed-Dose Combination Tablet of HIV-1 Medicine Darunavir with Cobicistat as Part of Combination HIV Therapy
Janssen Research & Development, LLC has submitted a New Drug Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval for a once-daily fixed-dose antiretroviral combination tablet containing darunavir, a protease inhibitor developed by Janssen R&D Ireland and marketed as PREZISTA^® in the U.S., with cobicistat, an investigational pharmacokinetic enhancer or boosting agent, developed by Gilead Sciences, Inc. for use in combination with other human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) medicines. [Janssen Research & Development, LLC] Press Release

Arrowhead Completes Enrollment of First Cohort in Phase IIa Trial of Chronic Hepatitis B Candidate ARC-520
Arrowhead Research Corporation announced that the first cohort of eight patients has been fully enrolled and dosed in a Phase IIa clinical trial of ARC-520, its RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection. [Arrowhead Research Corporation] Press Release

Institute for Genome Sciences Awarded FDA Contract to Expand Genome Sequence Database for Pathogen Identification
Researchers at the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have been awarded a research program contract from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to sequence, assemble, and annotate a population of bacterial pathogens using two high-throughput sequencing technologies in support of the expansion of a vetted public reference database. [Institute for Genome Sciences]
Press Release

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