Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Pathogenic Microbiology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Pathogenic Microbiology

Leishmania Amazonensis Engages Cd36 To Drive Parasitophorous Vacuole Maturation, Kendi Okuda, Mei Tong, Brian Dempsey, Kathryn J. Moore, Ricardo T. Gazzinelli, Neal S. Silverman Sep 2016

Leishmania Amazonensis Engages Cd36 To Drive Parasitophorous Vacuole Maturation, Kendi Okuda, Mei Tong, Brian Dempsey, Kathryn J. Moore, Ricardo T. Gazzinelli, Neal S. Silverman

Neal Silverman

Leishmania amastigotes manipulate the activity of macrophages to favor their own success. However, very little is known about the role of innate recognition and signaling triggered by amastigotes in this host-parasite interaction. In this work we developed a new infection model in adult Drosophila to take advantage of its superior genetic resources to identify novel host factors limiting Leishmania amazonensis infection. The model is based on the capacity of macrophage-like cells, plasmatocytes, to phagocytose and control the proliferation of parasites injected into adult flies. Using this model, we screened a collection of RNAi-expressing flies for anti-Leishmania defense factors. Notably, we …


The Ifitms Inhibit Zika Virus Replication, George Savidis, Jill Perreira, Jocelyn M. Portmann, Paul Meraner, Zhiru Guo, Sharone Green, Abraham L. Brass Jun 2016

The Ifitms Inhibit Zika Virus Replication, George Savidis, Jill Perreira, Jocelyn M. Portmann, Paul Meraner, Zhiru Guo, Sharone Green, Abraham L. Brass

Sharone Green

Zika virus has emerged as a severe health threat with a rapidly expanding range. The IFITM family of restriction factors inhibits the replication of a broad range of viruses, including the closely related flaviruses West Nile virus and dengue virus. Here, we show that IFITM1 and IFITM3 inhibit Zika virus infection early in the viral life cycle. Moreover, IFITM3 can prevent Zika-virus-induced cell death. These results suggest that strategies to boost the actions and/or levels of the IFITMs might be useful for inhibiting a broad range of emerging viruses.