Immunology of Infectious Disease News Volume 6.50 | Dec 19 2018

TOP STORY

CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Engineering of Primary CD4⁺ T Cells for the Interrogation of HIV-Host Factor Interactions

Researchers present detailed protocols for CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoprotein (crRNP) synthesis, primary T-cell culture, 96-well nucleofection, molecular validation, and HIV infection, and discuss additional considerations for guide and screen design, as well as crRNP multiplexing. [Nat Protoc] Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

An mRNA Vaccine Protects Mice against Multiple Tick-Transmitted Flavivirus Infections

Investigators developed a lipid nanoparticle-encapsulated modified mRNA vaccine encoding the Powassan virus prM and E genes and demonstrated its immunogenicity and efficacy in mice following immunization with one or two doses. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

The Role of Glutamine Metabolism for Host Defense against Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

Scientists assessed expression of glutamine pathway genes in M. tuberculosis infected macrophages and blood transcriptomics from individuals with latent or active tuberculosis. Subsequently, they studied the effect of blocking glutaminolysis on M. tuberculosis-induced cytokines. [J Infect Dis] Abstract

HIV Infection Functionally Impairs Mycobacterium tuberculosis-Specific CD4 and CD8 T-Cell Responses

M. tuberculosis (Mtb)-specific T-cell frequencies and cytokine profiles were investigated in untreated Tanzanian individuals suffering from latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) or pulmonary tuberculosis disease (PTB) and compared to those of untreated Mtb/HIV co-infected individuals suffering from LTBI or PTB. [J Virol] Abstract | Full Article

CCR5 Deficiency Enhances Hepatic Innate Immune Cell Recruitment & Inflammation in a Murine Model of Acute Hepatitis B Infection

To investigate the role of CCR5 in immune responses to acute hepatitis B virus (HBV), the authors intravenously infected Ccr5^+/+ and Ccr5^‐/‐ mice with a replication‐incompetent adenovirus containing the overlapping HBV1.3 construct, or vector control. [Immunol Cell Biol] Abstract

Memory CD4⁺ T Cells Enhance B Cell Responses to Drifting Influenza Immunization

Scientists adapted and developed sequential infection and immunization mouse models using drifted influenza strains to show that MHC Class II haplotype and T cell reactivity influences subsequent hemagglutination inhibitory antibody (hAb) responses. They found that CB6F1 mice infected with A/CA followed by immunization with A/PR8 have increased hAb responses to A/PR8 compared to C57BL/6 mice. [Eur J Immunol] Abstract

Role of Soluble Inflammatory Mediators and Different Immune Cell Populations in Early Control of Symptomatic Acute Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Researchers found that patients with a spontaneous early hepatitis C virus control demonstrated a distinct expression pattern of various soluble immune mediators including IFNα and IL‐16. Immune cell phenotype and frequency differed between patients who observation with a reduced ratio of CD4⁺ T cells to NK cells in the non‐early‐clearer. [J Viral Hepat] Abstract

A Yellow Fever−Zika Chimeric Virus Vaccine Candidate Protects against Zika Infection and Congenital Malformations in Mice

The authors report the engineering of a chimeric virus vaccine candidate by replacing the antigenic surface glycoproteins and the capsid anchor of yellow fever virus-17D with those of a prototypic Asian lineage Zika virus isolate. By intracellular passaging, a variant with adaptive mutations in the E protein was obtained. [npj Vaccines] Full Article

Experimental Severe Malaria Is Resolved by Targeting Newly-Identified Monocyte Subsets Using Immune-Modifying Particles Combined with Artesunate

Computational analysis identified Ly6C^lo monocytes as a major component of the immune infiltrate in both organs in a preclinical mouse model. Specifically targeting Ly6C^lo monocyte precursors, identified by adoptive transfer, with immune-modifying particles prevented experimental cerebral malaria in 50% of Plasmodium berghei ANKA-infected mice in early treatment protocols. [Commun Biol] Full Article

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Immunobiology of Monocytes and Macrophages during Chlamydia trachomatis Infection

The authors present and discuss important aspects of the interaction between C. trachomatis and monocytes/macrophages. [Microbes Infect] Abstract

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HOOKIPA Doses First Patient in a Phase II Clinical Trial of Prophylactic Vaccine Candidate HB-101 against Cytomegalovirus

HOOKIPA Pharma Inc. announced that it has dosed the first patient in its randomized, placebo-controlled, Phase II clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of HB-101, a bivalent prophylactic vaccine for cytomegalovirus (CMV), in CMV-negative patients awaiting kidney transplantation from living CMV-positive donors. [HOOKIPA Pharma Inc.] Press Release

Eiger Announces PRIME Designation Granted by European Medicines Agency for Lonafarnib for Treatment of Hepatitis Delta Virus Infection

Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the European Medicines Agency has granted PRIME (PRIority MEdicines) designation for lonafarnib for the treatment of hepatitis delta virus infection. [Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc.] Press Release

Eiger Announces Breakthrough Therapy Designation Granted by FDA for Lonafarnib for Treatment of Hepatitis Delta Virus (HDV) Infection

Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the FDA has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for lonafarnib for the treatment of HDV infection. [Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc.] Press Release

Despite Scathing Harassment Report, UNAIDS Board Gives Agency Head a Reprieve for Now

A board that oversees the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in Geneva, Switzerland, the global command center in the fight against the infectious disease, has resisted calls to immediately recommend the firing of the agency’s executive director in the wake of a report that found UNAIDS rife with harassment, bullying, and abuses of power. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Italian Scientists Protest Funding for Vaccine-Safety Investigation

Some scientists in Italy are up in arms over a donation from the organization that oversees the nation’s professional biology qualification to an advocacy group that opposes the country’s policy of mandatory childhood vaccination. [Nature News] Editorial

Flu Vaccinations Rise Sharply in Both Children and Adults

Last winter’s dreadful flu season may have had a silver lining: Flu vaccine uptake rose sharply this fall in both children and adults, according to newly released data. [STAT News] Editorial

University of California Squares Off against Major Publisher, with Big Stakes for Access to Research

There’s a high-stakes fight in California that could shape the way that academic research gets read and published far beyond the West Coast. The battle is pitting the University of California system against Elsevier, the Netherlands-based publisher of academic journals. At issue is how open-access research gets paid for. [STAT News] Editorial

NEW 2019 Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada Annual Conference
April 3-6, 2019
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

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

NEW Lectureship – Infectious Diseases (King’s College London)

NEW Postdoctoral Fellow – Immunology (Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School)

NEW Research Technician – Malaria Research (The Jenner Institute)

Senior Scientist – Immunology (Public Health England)

Director – Center for Cancer Cell Biology, Immunology, and Infection (Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Immunology and Infection (Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Position – Natural Killer Cells (The Scripps Research Institute)

Research Scientist – Virology (ViraTherapeutics GmbH)

Postdoctoral Training Fellow – Inflammation during Infection and Sterile Inflammatory Disease (The Francis Crick Institute)

Postdoctoral Research Associate – Bacterial Infection (University of Illinois at Chicago)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Host Cell-Mediated Immunity against HIV Infection (Temple University School of Medicine)

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