Immunology of Infectious Disease News Volume 7.09 | Mar 13 2019

TOP STORY

Scientists Discover a Potential Strategy to Treat Influenza A

Researchers discovered an orally active small molecule that neutralizes influenza A group 1 viruses, the most common flu strains. They uncovered the potential therapy in a large chemical library and optimized lead compounds to produce JNJ-4796. Now they have proven its effectiveness against influenza in mice. [Press release from The Scripps Research Institute discussing online prepublication in Science] Press Release | Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Aedes aegypti AgBR1 Antibodies Modulate Early Zika Virus Infection of Mice

Using a yeast surface display screen, scientists identified five antigenic A. aegypti salivary proteins in mice. Antiserum against one of these five proteins—A. aegypti bacteria-responsive protein 1 (AgBR1)—suppressed early inflammatory responses in the skin of mice bitten by Zika-virus-infected mosquitoes. [Nat Microbiol] Abstract

Innate Gene Signature Distinguishes Humoral versus Cytotoxic Responses to Influenza Vaccination

This randomized Phase I/II clinical study used transcriptomic analysis to discover early biomarkers of immune response quality after transcutaneous, intradermal, and intramuscular administration of a trivalent influenza vaccine. [J Clin Invest] Abstract | Full Article

Vaccination to Prevent T Cell Subversion Can Protect against Persistent Hepacivirus Infection

Investigators describe an experimental rat model of chronic hepatitis C virus-related hepacivirus infection and its response to T cell immunization. Immune-competent rats challenged with a rodent hepacivirus developed chronic viremia characterized by expansion of non-functional CD8⁺ T cells. [Nat Commun] Full Article

KAT8 Selectively Inhibits Antiviral Immunity by Acetylating IRF3

Researchers identified an unconventional posttranslational modification of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) that directly inhibited its transcriptional activity and attenuated antiviral immune response. [J Exp Med] Abstract

Immunization of Vγ2Vδ2 T Cells Programs Sustained Effector Memory Responses that Control Tuberculosis in Nonhuman Primates

The authors selectively immunized Vγ2Vδ2 T cells and assessed the effect on infection in a rhesus tuberculosis model. A single respiratory vaccination of macaques with an (E)-4-hydroxy-3-methyl-but-2-enyl pyrophosphate (HMBPP)-producing attenuated Listeria monocytogenes caused prolonged expansion of HMBPP-specific Vγ2Vδ2 T cells in circulating and pulmonary compartments. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Full Article

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Rv3463 Induces Mycobactericidal Activity in Macrophages by Enhancing Phagolysosomal Fusion and Exhibits Therapeutic Potential

Investigators identified a novel Rv3463 hypothetical protein that induces macrophage activation in M. tuberculosis culture filtrate. Recombinant Rv3463 activated mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages to induce the expression of surface molecules and secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines via the TLR2 and TLR4 pathways. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Antibody and Memory B Cell Responses in Hepatitis E Recovered Individuals, 1–30 Years Post Hepatitis E Virus Infection

The levels and persistence of anti-hepatitis E virus (HEV) antibodies were assessed in hepatitis E recovered individuals 1–30 years post HEV infection. The frequencies and functionality of recombinant HEV capsid protein-stimulated memory B and T cells were also investigated 1–16 years post infection. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Antibody and B Cell Responses to an Investigational Adjuvanted RSV Vaccine for Older Adults

Scientists studied the humoral, mucosal and B cell responses of an investigational adjuvanted respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) sF vaccine, MEDI7510, in older adults. [Hum Vaccin Immunother] Abstract

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The Evolving Role of T-Bet in Resistance to Infection

The authors provide an overview of the discovery and evolutionary relationship between T-bet and eomesodermin and highlight the studies that have uncovered broader functions of T-bet in innate and adaptive immunity and in the development of the effector and memory T cell populations that mediate long-term resistance to infection. [Nat Rev Immunol] Abstract

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STEMCELL Technologies Wins Deloitte Best Managed Companies Award

STEMCELL Technologies announced that the company has been selected as a winner of Canada’s Best Managed Companies program for 2019. Canada’s Best Managed Companies is the country’s leading business awards program, recognizing excellence in the management abilities and practices of Canadian owned and managed companies with revenues over $15 million. [STEMCELL Technologies Inc.] Press Release

Bavarian Nordic Announces FDA Delay in the Review of the Biologics License Application for MVA-BN Smallpox Vaccine

Bavarian Nordic A/S announced that it has received information from the FDA that the review of the company’s Biologics License Application for the liquid-frozen formulation of the MVA-BN^® smallpox vaccine will be extended by three months. [Bavarian Nordic A/S] Press Release

The Planet’s Premier Health Agency Has Announced Drastic Reforms. Critics Say They Aren’t Drastic Enough

In a speech, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recalled the posters about smallpox that he saw as a child in his hometown Asmara, in what is now Eritrea. “I remember hearing about an organization called the World Health Organization (WHO) that was ridding the world of this terrifying disease, one vaccination at a time,” he said. Much has changed since then. Smallpox was vanquished; Tedros, who’s Ethiopian, is the first African head of WHO; and in a series of reforms laid out in the same speech, he is trying to restore the storied organization to health. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

In a First, U.S. Private Sector Employs Nearly as Many Ph.D.s as Schools Do

The job market for U.S. science and engineering Ph.D.s is about to pass a long-anticipated milestone. For decades, educational institutions have been the largest employer of Ph.D.s. In 1997, for instance, they eclipsed private sector employment by 11 percentage points, according to the U.S. National Science Foundation’s biennial Survey of Doctorate Recipients. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW 11^th World Congress of the World Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (WSPID)
November 5-8, 2019
Manila, Philippines

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NEW Postdoctoral Fellow – Immunology, Infection and Tissue Injury (Hospital for Special Surgery/Weill Cornell Medicine)

NEW Postdoctoral Researcher – HIV Related to Antiretroviral Therapy and Cure (Karolinska Institutet)

Research Technologist – Immunology (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

Staff Scientist – Infection Biology and Immunity (Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens)

Professor Position – Infection, Inflammation or Cancer Epigenetics (Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd.)

Professor – Basic Research in Biology of Infectious Diseases of Poverty (University of Basel)

Postdoctoral Positions – Human Immunology (University of California, San Francisco)

Research Chairs – Infection, Immunity and Inflammation (University of Ottawa)

Postdoctoral Position – Bacterium-Host Interaction (Universitätsklinikum Münster)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Virology/Cell Biology (Feinberg School of Medicine)

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