Immunology of Infectious Disease News Volume 5.45 | Nov 15 2017

TOP STORY

A T Cell Receptor Locus Harbors a Malaria-Specific Immune Response Gene

Scientists discovered a non-major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-linked immune response (Ir) gene in a T cell receptor locus that was required for CD8⁺ T cell responses to the Plasmodium berghei GAP5040-48 epitope in mice expressing the MHC class I allele H-2D^b. [Immunity] Abstract

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Dengue Virus-Reactive CD8⁺ T Cells Mediate Cross-Protection against Subsequent Zika Virus Challenge

The authors showed that dengue virus-immune Ifnar1^−/− or wild-type C57BL/6 mice infected with Zika virus (ZIKV) have cross-reactive immunity to subsequent ZIKV infection and pathogenesis. [Nat Commun] Full Article | Press Release

Co-Infection with Chikungunya Virus Alters Trafficking of Pathogenic CD8⁺ T Cells into the Brain and Prevents Plasmodium-Induced Neuropathology

Using the Plasmodium berghei ANKA experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) model, researchers showed that concurrent co-infection induced the most prominent changes in ECM manifestation. [EMBO Mol Med] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

A Temperature Sensitive Mycobacterium paragordonae Induces Enhanced Protective Immune Responses against Mycobacterial Infections in the Mouse Model

Intravenous infections of mice with M. paragordonae led to lower colony forming units compared to infection with BCG, suggesting its usefulness as a live vaccine. [Sci Rep] Full Article

A Zika Vaccine Targeting NS1 Protein Protects Immunocompetent Adult Mice in a Lethal Challenge Model

Investigators describe the development of an alternative vaccine strategy encompassing the expression of Zika virus (ZIKV) non-structural-1 (NS1) protein from a clinically proven safe, Modified Vaccinia Ankara vector, thus averting the potential risk of antibody-dependent enhancement associated with structural protein-based ZIKV vaccines. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Plasmodium falciparum Variant Erythrocyte Surface Antigens: A Pilot Study of Antibody Acquisition in Recurrent Natural Infections

Immunofluorescence was used to explore the dynamics of anti-variant surface antigen IgG responses generated by children to primary malaria episodes and recurrent P. falciparum infections. [Malar J] Full Article

Assessing Zika Virus Replication and the Development of Zika-Specific Antibodies after a Mid-Gestation Viral Challenge in Guinea Pigs

When pregnant guinea pigs were challenged with Zika virus (ZIKV) at between 18 and 21 days gestational age, ZIKV was not detected in maternal or pup blood, plasma, or tissues and no significant differences in maternal weight gain or pup size were observed following challenge. Nonetheless, a robust antibody response against ZIKV was detected in both the pups and dams. [PLoS One] Full Article

IL-23 Signaling in Th17 Cells Is Inhibited by HIV Infection and Is Not Restored by HAART: Implications for Persistent Immune Activation

The effects of in vitro HIV infection on responses to IL-23 in Th17 cells were examined. These included the production of IL-17, phosphorylated STAT3 and the transcription of retinoic acid orphan receptor C gene. [PLoS One] Full Article

T-Cell Responses against Rhinovirus Species A and C in Asthmatic and Healthy Children

The authors characterized and compared T-cell responses between rhinovirus (RV)-A and RV-C and tested the hypothesis that T-cell responses would differ between asthmatic children and healthy controls. [Immun Inflamm Dis] Full Article

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Cytokine-Mediated Regulation of CD8 T-Cell Responses during Acute and Chronic Viral Infection

Administration of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-7, or IL-15 can increase function of exhausted CD8 T cells, and thus can be an attractive therapeutic approach. A new subset of stem-cell-like CD8 T cells, which provides a proliferative burst after programmed cell death-1 therapy, has been recently described during chronic viral infection. [Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol] Abstract

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Merck Receives FDA Approval of PREVYMIS™ (Letermovir) for Prevention of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infection and Disease in Adult Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant Patients

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that the FDA has approved PREVYMIS™, indicated for prophylaxis of CMV infection and disease in adult CMV-seropositive recipients of an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant. [Merck & Co., Inc.] Press Release

$2.6 Million NIH Grant Funds Research in Boosting Healthy Infant Immune Development

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded a grant totaling $2,619,262 over five years to researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and The Jackson Laboratory to find new and better ways to boost the immune systems of infants and young children against invasive infections. [The Jackson Laboratory] Press Release

Excision BioTherapeutics Exclusively Licenses New CRISPR-Cas Gene Editors from UC Berkeley, to Be Used for Viral Infections

Excision BioTherapeutics announced they are the first company to secure exclusive licenses from UC Berkeley for their newly discovered CRISPR gene editors. [Excision BioTherapeutics] Press Release

Resurrected Malaria Strategy Saves Thousands of Lives in Africa

In a sea of high-tech malaria fixes — everything from drug-delivery by drone to gene-edited mosquitoes — an old-fashioned approach is saving thousands of children in West Africa, according to studies. [Nature News] Editorial

African Scientists Get Their Own Open-Access Publishing Platform

Africa’s academy of science has announced that it will launch an open-access publishing platform — the first of its kind aimed exclusively at scientists on the continent. [Nature News] Editorial

Graduate Students Face Alarming Tax Hike

The last thing that graduate students need is a tax hike. But that is what many would face under a clause in the federal-tax-reform bill passed by the US House of Representatives. It will need to be reconciled with the Senate’s tax-reform bill (which retains many existing student tax benefits), and signed by the president. [Nature News] Editorial

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