Immunology of Infectious Disease News Volume 5.05 | Feb 8 2017

TOP STORY

New Zika Vaccine Candidate Protects Mice and Monkeys with a Single Dose

A new Zika vaccine candidate has the potential to protect against the virus with a single dose, according to scientists. Preclinical tests showed promising immune responses in both mice and monkeys. [Press release from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania discussing online prepublication in Nature] Press Release | Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Targeting Mitochondrial Dysfunction Can Restore Antiviral Activity of Exhausted HBV-Specific CD8 T Cells in Chronic Hepatitis B

To gain broader insight and identify additional targets for the restoration of T cell function, researchers compared the transcriptome profiles of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-specific CD8 T cells from patients with acute and chronic disease with those of HBV-specific CD8 T cells from patients able to resolve HBV infection spontaneously and influenza-specific CD8 T cells from healthy participants. [Nat Med] Abstract

Therapy with CTLA4-Ig and an Antiviral Monoclonal Antibody Controls Chikungunya Virus Arthritis

Scientists treated mice with eight different disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and identified CLTA4-Ig and tofacitinib as candidate therapies based on their ability to decrease acute joint swelling. CTLA4-Ig reduced T cell accumulation in the joints of infected animals without affecting viral infection. [Sci Transl Med] Abstract

IL-27 Limits Type 2 Immunopathology following Parainfluenza Virus Infection

IL-27 deficiency led to increased pulmonary eosinophils, alternatively activated macrophages, and the emergence of T helper 2 responses. In control mice, IL-27 induced a population of IFN-γ⁺/IL-10⁺ CD4⁺ T cells that was replaced by IFN-γ⁺/IL-17⁺ and IFN-γ⁺/IL-13⁺ CD4⁺ T cells in IL-27-deficient mice. [PLoS Pathog] Full Article | Press Release

Colonization with Helicobacter Is Concomitant with Modified Gut Microbiota and Drastic Failure of the Immune Control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Scientists demonstrated that natural colonization of the digestive tract with Helicobacter hepaticus in mice is concomitant with modification of the gut microbiota, subclinical inflammation, and drastic impairment of immune control of the growth of subsequently administered M. tuberculosis, which results in severe lung tissue injury. [Mucosal Immunol] Abstract

Immune Signature of Enhanced Functional Avidity CD8⁺ T Cells In Vivo Induced by Vaccinia Vectored Vaccine

Previously, researchers found vaccinia vectored vaccine induced antigen-specific CD8⁺ T cells with relatively high functional avidity to those from DNA vaccine. Researchers used functional, immune phenotyping and transcriptomic studies to define the immune signature of these CD8⁺ T cells with high functional avidity. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Exploits the PPM1A Signaling Pathway to Block Host Macrophage Apoptosis

Investigators established PPM1A as a checkpoint target used by M. tuberculosis (Mtb) to suppress macrophage apoptosis. Overproduction of PPM1A suppressed apoptosis of Mtb-infected macrophages by a mechanism that involves inactivation of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase. [Sci Rep] Full Article

CXCR5⁺ CD8⁺ T Cells Indirectly Offer B Cell Help and Are Inversely Correlated with Viral Load in Chronic Hepatitis B Infection

The authors investigated the role of CXCR5⁺ CD8⁺ T cells in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. Compared to healthy individuals, both CHB patients and hepatitis B virus-infected hepatocellular carcinoma patients presented significant upregulation of CXCR5⁺ CD8⁺ T cells in peripheral blood, in which CXCR5⁺ CD8⁺ T cells were negatively correlated with the frequency of CXCR5⁺ CD4⁺ T cells in CHB patients. [DNA Cell Biol] Abstract

HIV

Dynamics of SIV-Specific CXCR5⁺ CD8 T Cells during Chronic SIV Infection

Investigators showed a population of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-specific CD8 T cells express CXCR5 and expand in lymph nodes following pathogenic SIV infection in a cohort of vaccinated macaques. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract | Full Article | Press Release

Astrocytes Resist HIV-1 Fusion but Engulf Infected Macrophage Material

The authors investigated astrocyte infection by HIV-1. They confirm that astrocytes trap and internalize HIV-1 particles for subsequent release but find no evidence that these particles infect the cell. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

HIV-1 Vpu Downmodulates ICAM-1 Expression Resulting in Decreased Killing of Infected CD4⁺ T Cells by NK Cells

Vpu-mediated intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 downregulation lowered packaging of this adhesion molecule into virions, resulting in decreased infectivity. Importantly, while Vpu-mediated downregulation of ICAM-3 has a limited effect on the conjugation of NK cells to HIV-1-infected CD4⁺ T cells, downregulation of ICAM-1 by Vpu resulted in a reduced ability of NK cells to bind and kill infected T cells. [J Virol] Abstract

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Mechanisms of HIV Persistence in HIV Reservoirs

The establishment and maintenance of HIV reservoirs that lead to persistent viremia in patients on antiretroviral drugs remains the greatest challenge of the highly active antiretroviral therapy era. Cellular reservoirs include resting memory CD4⁺ T lymphocytes, implicated as the major HIV reservoir, having a half-life of approximately 44 months while this is less than six hours for HIV in plasma. [Rev Med Virol] Abstract

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Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Names First Cohort of Engineers, Scientists and Technologists Assembled to Combat All Human Disease

The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub (CZ Biohub) announced its first cohort of 47 CZ Biohub Investigators from the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco. This group includes both highly accomplished senior professors as well as up-and-coming young faculty. Each of the CZ Biohub Investigators will receive a five-year appointment and up to $1.5 million in funding to conduct life science research in their respective areas of expertise. [The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub (Business Wire, Inc.)] Press Release

U.S. FDA Grants Abbott the First Commercial Authorization for a Molecular Test to Detect Zika Virus Using Whole Blood

Abbott announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized its molecular test, the Abbott RealTime ZIKA test, to detect Zika virus in whole blood for emergency use. [Abbott (PR Newswire Association LLC.)] Press Release

‘Riskiest Ideas’ Win $50 Million from Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

The biomedical research initiative created by Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, physician Priscilla Chan, has awarded its first grants to scientists, on topics ranging from the genomics of obscure microbes to a memory-retrieval device. [Nature News] Editorial

The Most Powerful Man in UK Science on His New Role

Mark Walport is preparing to take on the most powerful job in UK science. From 2018, he will be the first head of a new central funding organization called UK Research and Innovation, which will oversee more than £6 billion of research funding per year. [Nature News] Editorial

Updated: USDA Responds to Outcry over Removal of Animal Welfare Documents, Lawsuit Threats

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a statement regarding the removal of animal welfare reports from its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service website. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW Gordon Research Conference – Phagocytes
June 11-16, 2017
Waterville Valley, United States

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NEW Junior Research Group Leaders – Infectious Disease Research (Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research)

Research Technologist – Cell Separation (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

Research Fellow – Immunology (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Immunology (Otto-von-Guericke-Universitat Magdeburg)

Postdoctoral Position – Immune Responses in the Controlled Human Malaria Infection Model (Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre)

Senior Scientist Virology – Infectious Diseases Unit (Sanofi)

PhD Opportunities – Infection Research (Helmholtz Association)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Immunology/Epigenetics/Infection Biology (CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – HIV Immunotherapy (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – CAR T Cell Therapy for HIV Infection (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Viral Infection Modeling (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

Faculty Position – Senior Immunologist (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

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

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