Immunology of Infectious Disease News Volume 6.37 | Sep 19 2018

TOP STORY

Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Production Contributes to Pathogenesis in SIV-Infected Nonhuman Primates

Scientists compared and contrasted the levels of neutrophil extracellular traps between SIV-uninfected, SIV-infected, and SIV-infected antiretroviral-treated nonhuman primates. They also cocultured neutrophils from these animals with either peripheral blood mononuclear cells or platelets. [J Clin Invest] Abstract | Full Article

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Induction of HIF-1α by HIV-1 Infection in CD4⁺ T Cells Promotes Viral Replication and Drives Extracellular Vesicle-Mediated Inflammation

The authors showed that cytosolic double-stranded DNA generated in infected CD4⁺ T cells during the HIV-1 replication cycle promotes the mitochondrial reactive oxygen species-dependent stabilization of the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), which in turn, enhances viral replication. [mBio] Full Article

CD4⁺T Cells Mediate Protection against Zika Associated Severe Disease in a Mouse Model of Infection

Scientists identified an important role for CD4⁺T cells in protection, demonstrating that in the absence of CD4⁺T cells mice have more severe neurological sequela and significant increases in viral titers in the central nervous system. [PLoS Pathog] Full Article

β1 Integrins Are Required to Mediate NK Cell Killing of Cryptococcus neoformans

Scientists used primary human NK cells and a human NK cell line and found that NKp30 activates Src family kinase → PI3K but not Rac1 cytotoxic signaling, which led to a search for the receptor leading to Rac1 activation. [J Immunol] Abstract

Modulation of Vaccine-Induced CD4 T Cell Functional Profiles by Changes in Components of HIV Vaccine Regimens in Humans

Researchers assessed responses from several Phase I/II clinical trials and compared them to natural HIV-1 infection. They found that all vaccines induced a lower magnitude of HIV-specific CD4 T cell responses compared to chronic infection. [J Virol] Abstract

Diminished TLR2-TLR9 Mediated CD4⁺ T Cell Responses Are Associated with Increased Inflammation in Intraocular Tuberculosis

The authors investigated the role of toll like receptor (TLR)2, TLR4 and TLR9 in generation of CD4⁺ T effector cell responses during intraocular tuberculosis (IOTB). The cells in vitreous fluids showed lower expression of TLR2 and TLR9 in IOTB as compared to non-uveitis and non-TB uveitis groups. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Effective B Cell Activation In Vitro during Viremic HIV-1 Infection with Surrogate T Cell Stimulation

Among 34 viremic HIV-1-infected and 20 seronegative control adults, investigators measured baseline frequencies and activation of B and T cell subsets, expression of activation-induced cytidine deaminase, potential determinants of B cell activation in vivo and B and T cell responses in vitro. [Immunobiology] Abstract

Salmonella Stimulates Pro-Inflammatory Signaling through p21-Activated Kinases Bypassing Innate Immune Receptors

Researchers showed that S. typhimurium stimulates pro-inflammatory signaling by a unique mechanism initiated by effector proteins that are delivered by its type III protein secretion system. [Nat Microbiol] Abstract

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Carrying a Rifampicin Drug Resistance Mutation Reprograms Macrophage Metabolism through Cell Wall Lipid Changes

Using a collection of multidrug-resistant W-M. tuberculosis (Mtb) strains, investigators demonstrated that the overexpression of Mtb cell wall lipids, phthiocerol dimycocerosates, bypasses the interleukin 1 receptor, type I signaling pathway, instead driving the induction of interferon-β to reprogram macrophage metabolism. [Nat Microbiol] Abstract | Press Release

Subscribe to our sister publications: Human Immunology News & Immune Regulation News.

Correlating Efficacy and Immunogenicity in Malaria Vaccine Trials

The availability of an effective and appropriately implemented malaria vaccine would form a crucial cornerstone of public health efforts to fight this disease. Despite many decades of research, however, no malaria vaccine has yet shown satisfactory protective efficacy or been rolled-out. [Semin Immunol] Abstract

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

Bavarian Nordic Delivers Smallpox Vaccine to England in Response to Current Monkeypox Cases

After the confirmation on Friday 7^th September 2018 of the first case of human monkeypox in England, Public Health England, as part of their response, engaged Bavarian Nordic to assist in the supply of its IMVANEX^® smallpox vaccine, which is approved in the European Union. [Bavarian Nordic] Press Release

BioCryst Receives Additional $3.5 Million to Fund Clinical Trials of Galidesivir in Yellow Fever

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded BioCryst an additional $3.5 million to support clinical trials of galidesivir in patients with yellow fever. [BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.] Press Release

ContraVir Pharmaceuticals Announces Completion of Phase I with CRV431

ContraVir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the primary endpoints of safety and tolerability were met in a single ascending dose study of CRV431 conducted in the United States. [ContraVir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (GlobeNewswire, Inc.)] Press Release

NIH Director Expresses Concern but Offers No New Policy on Sexual Harassment for Grantees

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins in Bethesda, Maryland, ended a monthslong silence on the topic of sexual harassment in biomedical research, announcing plans to beef up procedures in NIH’s own laboratories. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Huge Peer-Review Study Reveals Lack of Women and Non-Westerners

The study looked at all submissions made to the open-access title eLife from its launch in 2012 to 2017 — nearly 24,000 in total. It found that women worldwide, and researchers outside North America and Europe, were less likely to be peer reviewers, editors and last authors. [Nature News] Editorial

NSF Spells Out New Sexual Harassment Policy: Talk to Us

Starting next month, universities must tell the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Alexandria, Virginia, if any faculty members with NSF grants have been found guilty of sexual and other forms of harassment, or if they have suspended them for any reason. But NSF won’t pull its funding if institutions can assure the agency that another faculty member can take over the research project. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

African and Asian Researchers Are Hampered by Visa Problems

Going to a conference? Good luck getting a visa. Researchers from Africa and Asia still encounter much greater obstacles in getting visas to visit other countries for work than do those from Europe or North America. They are also less likely to visit another country for research, according to a global survey of academics’ movements. [Nature News] Editorial

Researcher Fazlul Sarkar Has 12 More Papers Retracted

Fazlul Sarkar, a former Wayne State University cancer researcher who once sued anonymous commenters on the discussion forum PubPeer for criticizing his work, continues to have his publication record whittled down. According to Retraction Watch, Cancer Research has retracted 12 of Sarkar’s papers and added an editor’s note to another. [The Scientist] Editorial

Denied ‘Life-Extending Opportunities’: Black Patients Are Being Left Out of Clinical Trials amid Wave of New Cancer Therapies

Reflecting the reluctance of the FDA to force drug makers to enroll more minority patients, and the failure of most manufacturers to do so voluntarily, stark underrepresentation of African-Americans is widespread in clinical trials for cancer drugs, even when the type of cancer disproportionately affects them. [STAT News] Editorial

NEW Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) Single Topic Conference 2018
December 6-8, 2018
Beijing, China

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

NEW Research Technologist – Immunology (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

NEW PhD Position – Hepatitis C Research (Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research)

Postdoctoral Research Associate – Virus Research (University of Glasgow)

Associate/Full Specialist – Host-Pathogen Interactions (University of California, San Francisco)

Graduate Training Program – RNA & Infection (Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research)

Postdoctoral Researcher – Infection Medicine (Karolinska Institutet)

Postdoctoral Position – Pneumonia (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen)

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)

Recruit Top Talent: Reach potential candidates by posting your organization’s career opportunities on the Connexon Creative Job Board at no cost.

Have we missed an important article or publication in Immunology of Infectious Disease News? Click here to submit!

Comments or suggestions? Submit your feedback here.