Immunology of Infectious Disease News Volume 6.11 | Mar 21 2018

TOP STORY

Newly Described Human Antibody Prevents Malaria in Mice

Scientists have discovered a human antibody that protected mice from infection with the deadliest malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. The research findings provide the basis for future testing in humans to determine if the antibody can provide short-term protection against malaria, and also may aid in vaccine design. [Press release from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases discussing online prepublication in Nature Medicine] Press Release 1 | Press Release 2 | Abstract

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A Public Antibody Lineage that Potently Inhibits Malaria Infection through Dual Binding to the Circumsporozoite Protein

Researchers isolated IgM and IgG monoclonal antibodies from Tanzanian volunteers who were immunized with repeated injection of Sanaria Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites (PfSPZ) Vaccine and who were found to be protected from controlled human malaria infection with infectious homologous PfSPZs. [Nat Med] Abstract | Press Release

Sensing Microbial Viability through Bacterial RNA Augments T Follicular Helper Cell and Antibody Responses

Investigators found that vaccination of mice with live, but not dead, Gram-negative bacteria heightened follicular T helper cell (Tfh) differentiation, germinal center formation, and protective antibody production through the signaling adaptor TRIF. The interferon and inflammasome pathways downstream of TRIF orchestrated Tfh responses extrinsically to B cells and classical dendritic cells. [Immunity] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

Recognition of Microbial Viability via TLR8 Drives T_FH Cell Differentiation and Vaccine Responses

Scientists identified recognition of microbial viability as a potent stimulus for follicular helper T cell (T_FH cell) differentiation and vaccine responses. Antigen-presenting cells distinguished viable bacteria from dead bacteria through Toll-like receptor 8 (TLR8)-dependent detection of bacterial RNA. [Nat Immunol] Abstract

Reshaping of the Dendritic Cell Chromatin Landscape and Interferon Pathways during HIV Infection

By allowing reverse transcription to proceed, investigators found that dendritic cells (DCs) detect HIV-1 in distinct phases, before and after virus integration. Blocking integration suppresses, but does not abolish, activation of the transcription factor IRF3, downstream interferon responses, and DC maturation. [Cell Host Microbe] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

The β2 Integrin Mac-1 Induces Protective LC3-Associated Phagocytosis of Listeria monocytogenes

Scientists demonstrated that Listeria monocytogenes (L.m.) infection of macrophages in vivo exclusively evokes LC3-associated phagocytosis (LAP), but not canonical autophagy, and that targeting of L.m. by LAP is required for anti-listerial immunity. [Cell Host Microbe] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

IL-1β as Mucosal Vaccine Adjuvant: The Specific Induction of Tissue-Resident Memory T Cells Improves the Heterosubtypic Immunity against Influenza A Viruses

Intranasal immunizations with recombinant adenoviral vectors (rAd) encoding hemagglutinin and nucleoprotein in combination with rAd-Interleukin-(IL)-1β or rAd-IL-18 were evaluated for their efficacy in BALB/c mice. [Mucosal Immunol] Abstract

TSLP Signaling in CD4⁺ T Cells Programs a Pathogenic T Helper 2 Cell State

Researchers found that thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) signaling in mouse CD4⁺ T cells initiated transcriptional changes associated with T helper 2 cell programming. IL-4 signaling amplified and stabilized the genomic response of T cells to TSLP, which increased the frequency of T cells producing IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13. [Sci Signal] Abstract

Constitutive STAT3 Phosphorylation and IL-6/IL-10 Co-Expression Are Associated with Impaired T-Cell Function in Tuberculosis Patients

Researchers characterized blood samples from tuberculosis patients and healthy contacts from Ghana for Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific T-cell responses, constitutive cytokine production, and SOCS3 and pSTAT3 expression. Lentiviral modulation of primary CD4⁺ T-cells was performed to determine the effects of SOCS3 on T-cell functions. [Cell Mol Immunol] Abstract

Differential Expression Pattern of Co-Inhibitory Molecules on CD4⁺ T Cells in Uncomplicated versus Complicated Malaria

Investigators compared the CD4⁺ T cell phenotypes of Ghanaian children with complicated malaria, uncomplicated malaria, asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infection or no infection. Using flow cytometric analysis and automated multivariate clustering, they characterized the expression of the co-inhibitory molecules CTLA-4, PD-1, Tim-3, and LAG-3 and other molecules implicated in regulatory function on CD4⁺ T cells. [Sci Rep] Full Article

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Baseline Mapping of Lassa Fever Virology, Epidemiology and Vaccine Research and Development

Seropositive individuals in endemic regions have been shown to have Lassa virus-specific T cells recognizing epitopes for nucleocapsid protein and glycoprotein precursor, suggesting that these will be important vaccine immunogens. [npj Vaccines] Full Article

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AbCellera Awarded Multi-Year Contract to Lead the Development of a Rapid Response Platform against Pandemic Viral Threats

AbCellera Biologics Inc. announced that it was awarded a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop rapid countermeasures against viral outbreaks. Over the four-year contract, AbCellera will receive up to USD $30 million in funding to establish an end-to-end platform for rapid pandemic response, and will lead an internationally recognized team of experts in virology, antibody discovery, and gene therapy. [AbCellera Biologics Inc.] Press Release

H7N9 Influenza Vaccine Clinical Trials Begin

Two new clinical trials testing an experimental vaccine to prevent influenza caused by an H7N9 influenza virus are now enrolling volunteers at sites across the United States. [National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases] Press Release

AIDS Researcher Top Candidate to Lead the C.D.C.

One of the nation’s leading AIDS researchers and an expert in the treatment of heroin addiction is the leading candidate to oversee the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.). [The New York Times] Editorial

Reporter’s Notebook: House Budget Hearing Shows Science Chairman’s Impact on NSF Peer Review

Representative Lamar Smith has repeatedly criticized the peer-review process at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Alexandria, Virginia, since becoming chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives’s science committee in 2013. It was no surprise, then, that during a hearing on NSF’s 2019 budget request he railed against a handful of grants from NSF’s $6 billion research portfolio as a waste of taxpayer dollars. [Science Insider] Editorial

NEW 5^th European Congress of Immunology (ECI)
September 2-5, 2018
Amsterdam, Netherlands

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NEW Research Associate – Vaccine Research (University of Bristol)

NEW Senior Research Associate – Infectious Disease (Moderna Therapeutics)

Research Technologist – Cell Separation (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

Postdoctoral Scientist – Viral Vectored Vaccines for Hepatitis Infections (University of Oxford)

Assistant/Associate Professor – Virology (Saint Louis University)

Associate Senior Lecurer – Tissue Repair in Infectious Diseases (Lund University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Host-Pathogen Interactions (The University of Tennessee Health Science Center)

Faculty Position – Immunology (Northwestern University)

Professorship – Structural Biology of Infectious Processes (Kiel University)

Postdoctoral Fellow Positions – HIV Research (Massachuesetts General Hospital)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Microbiology & Immunology (Johns Hopkins University)

Postdoctoral Training Opportunity – Infection and Immunity (Institut Pasteur of Shanghai – Chinese Academy of Sciences)

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