Immunology of Infectious Disease News Volume 3.18 | May 13 2015

Recovery from Severe H7N9 Disease Is Associated with Diverse Response Mechanisms Dominated by CD8⁺ T Cells
Researchers found that a diversity of response mechanisms contribute to resolution and survival. Patients discharged within two to three weeks have early prominent H7N9-specific CD8⁺ T-cell responses, while individuals with prolonged hospital stays have late recruitment of CD8⁺/CD4⁺ T cells and antibodies simultaneously, augmented even later by prominent NK cell responses. [Nat Commun] Full Article

A Two-Component DNA-Prime/Protein-Boost Vaccination Strategy for Eliciting Long-Term, Protective T Cell Immunity against Trypanosoma cruzi
Scientists evaluated the long-term efficacy of a two-component subunit vaccine against T. cruzi infection. They examined whether vaccine-primed T cell immunity was capable of rapid expansion and intercepting the infecting T. cruzi. [PLoS Pathog] Full Article | Press Release

Candida albicans Stimulates IL-23 Release by Human Dendritic Cells and Downstream IL-17 Secretion by Vδ1 T Cells
Investigators showed that circulating Vδ1 T cell numbers are particularly high in patients with HIV and candidiasis, and that these cells expand and produce IL-17 in response to C. albicans in vitro. [J Immunol] Abstract

Deletion of Fibrinogen-Like Protein 2 (FGL-2), a Novel CD4⁺ CD25⁺ Treg Effector Molecule, Leads to Improved Control of Echinococcus multilocularis Infection in Mice
Researchers showed that alveolar echinococcosis-fgl2^-/- mice exhibited a significantly lower parasite load with reduced proliferation activity, an increased T cell proliferative response to ConA, reduced Treg numbers and function, and a persistent capacity of Th1 polarization and DC maturation. [PLoS Negl Trop Dis] Full Article

HIV

Nanoparticulate STING Agonists Are Potent Lymph Node–Targeted Vaccine Adjuvants
A combination of a poorly immunogenic liposomal HIV gp41 peptide antigen and cyclic di-GMP within PEGylated lipid nanoparticles robustly induced type I IFN in draining lymph nodes (dLNs), induced a greater expansion of vaccine-specific CD4⁺ T cells, and greatly increased germinal center B cell differentiation in dLNs compared with a combination of liposomal HIV gp41 and soluble cyclic dinucleotides. [J Clin Invest] Full Article

HIV-1 Immune Activation Induces Siglec-1 Expression and Enhances Viral trans-Infection in Blood and Tissue Myeloid Cells
Investigators showed that IFNα-activated dendritic cells, monocytes and macrophages have an enhanced ability to capture and trans-infect HIV-1 via Siglec-1 recognition of viral membrane gangliosides. Monocytes from untreated HIV-1-infected individuals trans-infect HIV-1 via Siglec-1, but this capacity diminishes after effective antiretroviral treatment. [Retrovirology] Full Article

Impaired Th17 Polarization of Phenotypically Naive CD4⁺ T-Cells during Chronic HIV-1 Infection and Potential Restoration with Early ART
Scientists investigated alterations in the Th17 polarization potential of naive-like CD4⁺ T-cells, depletion of Th17-commited subsets during HIV pathogenesis, and Th17 restoration in response to antiretroviral therapy (ART). [Retrovirology] Abstract | Full Article

SIV Infection of Lung Macrophages
Researchers investigated the relationship between depletion and infection of CD4⁺ T cells in the lung parenchyma. They showed that SIV infected macrophages in the lung parenchyma, but only in small numbers except in the setting of interstitial inflammation where large numbers of SIV RNA⁺ macrophages were detected. [PLoS One] Full Article

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Wayne State Researchers Seek to Stamp out Herpes Simplex Virus 1
With the help of a $1.8 million, five-year grant from the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, Haidong Gu, Ph.D., assistant professor of biological sciences in Wayne State University, aims to garner more genomic information about herpes simplex virus 1 and develop an understanding on how it employs multifunctional proteins to disrupt host defenses and escape immune surveillance. [Wayne State University] Press Release

Inovio Initiates Clinical Trial with DNA Immunotherapies to Prevent and Treat Ebola
Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the company has initiated a Phase I trial to evaluate safety, tolerability and immune responses of Inovio’s DNA immunotherapy for Ebola. [Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.] Press Release

First-of-Its-Kind West Nile Virus Vaccine Now in Phase I Clinical Trials
A novel investigational West Nile virus vaccine discovered and developed by scientists at the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health & Science University is being evaluated in an NIH-sponsored Phase I, first-in-human, clinical trial at Duke University. [Oregon Health & Science University] Press Release

FDA Approves Additional Antibacterial Treatment for Plague
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Avelox to treat patients with plague, a rare and potentially fatal bacterial infection. The agency approval for plague includes use of the drug for the treatment of pneumonic plague, and septicemic plague. Avelox is also approved for prevention of plague in adult patients. [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] Press Release

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Scientist – Immunology and Cell Separation (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

Research Associate – Cell Separation (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

Faculty Positions – Microbial Systems Biology for Infectious Diseases (Ohio State University)

Lecturer – Systems Immunity (Cardiff University)

Principle Investigator – Virology and Immunology (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Senior Scientist – Respiratory Infectious Immunology (Janssen)

Postdoctoral Fellow – HIV T Cell Immunology and Vaccine Development (University of Texas at El Paso)

Postdoctoral Fellow – HIV Resistant Macrophages (Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc.)

Postdoctoral Position – Immuno-Metabolism (East Carolina University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Innate Immunity (University of Connecticut Health Center)

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