Immunology of Infectious Disease News Volume 6.34 | Aug 29 2018

TOP STORY

A Multi-Cohort Study of the Immune Factors Associated with M. tuberculosis Infection Outcomes

Using high-dimensional mass cytometry analyses and functional assays of a cohort of South African adolescents, scientists showed that latent tuberculosis was associated with enhanced cytotoxic responses, which were mostly mediated by CD16 and natural killer cells, and continuous inflammation coupled with immune deviations in both T and B cell compartments. [Nature] Abstract | Press Release

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Lung γδ T Cells Mediate Protective Responses during Neonatal Influenza Infection that Are Associated with Type 2 Immunity

The authors found that γδ T cells protected neonatal mice against mortality during influenza infection. γδ T cell deficiency did not alter viral clearance or interferon-γ production. [Immunity] Abstract | Press Release | Graphical Abstract

Neutralizing Antibodies Inhibit Chikungunya Virus Budding at the Plasma Membrane

Researchers describe a mechanism by which neutralizing antibodies inhibit chikungunya virus, the most common alphavirus infecting humans, by preventing virus budding from infected human cells and activating IgG-specific Fcγ receptors. [Cell Host Microbe] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

Alveolar Macrophages Provide an Early Mycobacterium tuberculosis Niche and Initiate Dissemination

Using a murine infection model, the authors revealed that early, productive M. tuberculosis (Mtb) infection occured almost exclusively within airway-resident alveolar macrophages (AMs). Thereafter Mtb-infected, but not uninfected, AMs localized to the lung interstitium through mechanisms requiring an intact Mtb ESX-1 secretion system. [Cell Host Microbe] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

Early Cellular Innate Immune Responses Drive Zika Viral Persistence and Tissue Tropism in Pigtail Macaques

Researchers showed that robust cellular innate immune responses arising early in the blood and tissues in response to Zika virus infection are significantly stronger in males and correlate with increased viral persistence. [Nat Commun] Full Article

HIV-1 Intron-Containing RNA Expression Induces Innate Immune Activation and T Cell Dysfunction

Investigators showed Rev-CRM1-dependent nuclear export and peripheral membrane association of intron-containing HIV-1 RNA, independent of primary viral sequence or viral protein expression, was subject to sensing and signaling via MAVS, resulting in type I interferon-dependent pro-inflammatory responses in macrophages. [Nat Commun] Full Article | Press Release

NLRC3 Negatively Regulates CD4⁺ T Cells and Impacts Protective Immunity during Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

Researchers demonstrated that NLRC3 deficiency promoted the activation, proliferation, and cytokine production of CD4⁺ T cells via negatively regulating the NF-κB and MEK-ERK signaling pathways. [PLoS Pathog] Full Article

An Adult Zebrafish Model Reveals that Mucormycosis Induces Apoptosis of Infected Macrophages

Investigators developed an adult zebrafish model of Mucor circinelloides infection which confirmed the link between sporangiospore size and virulence. Transcriptomic studies revealed a local, strong inflammatory response of the host elicited after sporangiospore germination and mycelial tissue invasion, while avirulent and UV-killed sporangiospores failed to induce inflammation and were rapidly cleared. [Sci Rep] Full Article

DNA-Launched RNA Replicon Vaccines Induce Potent Anti-Ebolavirus Immune Responses that Can Be further Improved by a Recombinant MVA Boost

Scientists demonstrated that alphavirus-based DNA-launched self-replicating RNA replicon vaccines encoding either the glycoprotein (GP) gene or co-expressing the GP and VP40 genes of Sudan or Zaire Ebolavirus are immunogenic in mice inducing both binding and neutralizing antibodies as well as CD8 T cell responses. [Sci Rep] Full Article

A Plasmodium berghei Sporozoite-Based Vaccination Platform against Human Malaria

The authors describe a novel whole-sporozoite malaria vaccine that employs transgenic sporozoites of rodent P. berghei (Pf) parasites as cross-species immunizing agents and as platforms for expression and delivery of Pf circumsporozoite protein. [npj Vaccines] Full Article

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Effects of Mycoplasma Infection on the Host Organism Response via p53/NF-κB Signaling

Scientists summarize the information known to date on the role of mycoplasmas in the regulation of the host immune response and their functional interactions with p53. [J Cell Physiol] Abstract

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

GeoVax and PharmaJet to Collaborate on Development of Needle-Free Vaccine for Zika Virus

GeoVax Labs, Inc. announced that it is collaborating with PharmaJet, Inc. on the evaluation of PharmaJet’s needle-free injection system for administration of GeoVax’s Zika vaccine. [GeoVax Labs, Inc.] Press Release

Theratechnologies Files Marketing Authorization Application for Trogarzo™ in Europe

Theratechnologies Inc. announced that the application for marketing authorization of Trogarzo™ was filed with the European Medicines Agency through its centralized procedure. Theratechnologies seeks to obtain approval for ibalizumab for the treatment of multidrug resistant HIV-1 in the European Union. [Theratechnologies Inc.] Press Release

Experts Call for Reversing the Decision to Deny the Ebola Vaccine to Pregnant Women

The exclusion of pregnant and lactating women from an effort to vaccinate people exposed to the Ebola virus in the current outbreak is wrong, indefensible, and should be reversed, three public health experts wrote in an opinion article. [STAT News] Editorial

Publish Peer Reviews

Long shrouded in secrecy, the contents of peer review are coming into the open. In the past decade, outlets such as eLife, F1000Research, Royal Society Open Science, Annals of Anatomy, Nature Communications, PeerJ and EMBO Press have begun to publish referee reports. [Nature Comment] Editorial

NEW 29^th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID)
April 13-16, 2019
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.

NEW PhD Positions – Infection Biology and Immunology (ZIBI Graduate School Berlin)

Postdoctoral Scholar – Hepatitis B Infection (The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine)

Assistant/Associate Member Faculty Position – Viral Diseases (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

Postdoctoral Scientist – Infection and Immunity (Charite – Universitatsmedizin Berlin)

Postdoctoral Fellows – Molecular Immunology and Infection Biology (CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences)

PhD Student – Virology (University Hospital of Münster)

PhD Student/Postdoctoral Position – Infection and Cancer Immunology (Heinrich-Heine University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – HIV Transmission and Pathogenesis (University of California, San Francisco)

Research Assistant/Associate – Hepatitis C (University of Glasgow)

Faculty Positions – Infectious Disease Research (Institut Pasteur of Shanghai)

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

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