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Immunology and Infectious Disease Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Immunology and Infectious Disease

Design And Testing Of Novel Anthrax Vaccines Utilizing A Tobacco Mosaic Virus Expression System, Ryan C. Mccomb Dec 2015

Design And Testing Of Novel Anthrax Vaccines Utilizing A Tobacco Mosaic Virus Expression System, Ryan C. Mccomb

KGI Theses and Dissertations

Anthrax is a potentially fatal disease caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis. Infection and disease occur after spores gain entry into the body, germinate into vegetative bacteria, and produce toxin. Bacillus anthracis spores have been engineered as bioweapons and have been used repeatedly in warfare and terrorism to inflict casualties in military and civilian populations. Currently, only one vaccine has been approved for prevention of anthrax in the United States. This vaccine is an undefined product that is difficult to produce, requires a long vaccination schedule, and is reactogenic. Efforts to make an improved anthrax vaccine are being pursued. …


The Importance Of Physicochemical Characteristics And Nonlinear Classifiers In Determining Hiv-1 Protease Specificity, Timmy Manning, Paul Walsh Dec 2015

The Importance Of Physicochemical Characteristics And Nonlinear Classifiers In Determining Hiv-1 Protease Specificity, Timmy Manning, Paul Walsh

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

This paper reviews recent research relating to the application of bioinformatics approaches to determining HIV-1 protease specificity, outlines outstanding issues, and presents a new approach to addressing these issues. Leading machine learning theory for the problem currently suggests that the direct encoding of the physicochemical properties of the amino acid substrates is not required for optimal performance. A number of amino acid encoding approaches which incorporate potentially relevant physicochemical properties of the substrate are identified, and are evaluated using a nonlinear task decomposition based neuroevolution algorithm. The results are evaluated, and compared against a recent benchmark set on a nonlinear …


A Tail Of Two Phages: Genomic And Functional Analysis Of Listeria Monocytogenes Phages Vb_Lmos_188 And Vb_Lmos_293 Reveal The Receptor-Binding Proteins Involved In Host Specificity, Aidan Casey, Kieran Jordan, Horst Neve, Aidan Coffey, Olivia Mcauliffe Oct 2015

A Tail Of Two Phages: Genomic And Functional Analysis Of Listeria Monocytogenes Phages Vb_Lmos_188 And Vb_Lmos_293 Reveal The Receptor-Binding Proteins Involved In Host Specificity, Aidan Casey, Kieran Jordan, Horst Neve, Aidan Coffey, Olivia Mcauliffe

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

The physical characteristics of bacteriophages establish them as viable candidates for downstream development of pathogen detection assays and biocontrol measures. To utilize phages for such purposes, a detailed knowledge of their host interaction mechanisms is a prerequisite. There is currently a wealth of knowledge available concerning Gram-negative phage-host interaction, but little by comparison for Gram-positive phages and Listeria phages in particular. In this research, the lytic spectrum of two recently isolated Listeria monocytogenes phages (vB_LmoS_188 and vB_LmoS_293) was determined, and the genomic basis for their observed serotype 4b/4e host-specificity was investigated using comparative genomics. The late tail genes of these …


Role Of Macrophages In Muscle Transfection With Pdna/Pluronic Formulation, Vivek Mahajan Aug 2015

Role Of Macrophages In Muscle Transfection With Pdna/Pluronic Formulation, Vivek Mahajan

Theses & Dissertations

Non-ionic amphiphilic block copolymers of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(propylene oxide) (PPO), Pluronics, arranged in a tri-block structure PEO-PPO-PEO, have raised a considerable interest in skeletal muscle Gene Therapy. Previous studies have demonstrated that co-administration of Pluronics with naked plasmid DNA (pDNA) by direct i.m. injection enhanced transgene expression not only in muscle but also in distal lymphoid organs (spleen and lymph nodes) and this response was strain-dependent; not observed in athymic (BALB/c nu/nu) mouse; suggesting a role of immune cells in gene transfer to skeletal muscles. Therefore, we first evaluated the role of inflammation and inflammatory cells, on muscle …


Draft Genome Sequences Of Six Different Staphylococcus Epidermidis Clones, Isolated Individually From Preterm Neonates Presenting With Sepsis At Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary, Paul Walsh, M. Bekaert, J. Carroll, T. Manning, B. Kelly, A. O'Driscoll, X. Lu, C. Smith, P. Dickinson, K. Templeton, P. Ghazal, Roy D. Sleator May 2015

Draft Genome Sequences Of Six Different Staphylococcus Epidermidis Clones, Isolated Individually From Preterm Neonates Presenting With Sepsis At Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary, Paul Walsh, M. Bekaert, J. Carroll, T. Manning, B. Kelly, A. O'Driscoll, X. Lu, C. Smith, P. Dickinson, K. Templeton, P. Ghazal, Roy D. Sleator

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

Herein, we report the draft genome sequences of six individual Staphylococcus epidermidis clones, cultivated from blood taken from different preterm neonatal sepsis patients at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom.


Selection Methods For Genetically-Modified T Cells: In Support Of Translational Therapy, David Rushworth May 2015

Selection Methods For Genetically-Modified T Cells: In Support Of Translational Therapy, David Rushworth

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

T cells are blood cells which organize the immune system of the host. These cells are necessary for the host to respond appropriately to threats from foreign organisms and cancerous growth. However, in the case of certain infections and cancer, T cells are unable to respond appropriately to a threat and establish immunity. This leads to disease when the infection or cancer is not sufficiently eliminated. On the other hand, T cells can lack tolerance for healthy tissue and perceive healthy tissue as infected. The ensuing over-reactive immune response also leads to disease. A delicate balance must exist between immunity …


Understanding A Possible Wonder Drug: A Radial Diffusion Assay For The Rapid Evaluation Of Antimicrobial Peptides, Dustin Walter Apr 2015

Understanding A Possible Wonder Drug: A Radial Diffusion Assay For The Rapid Evaluation Of Antimicrobial Peptides, Dustin Walter

Honors Theses

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been a major research focus due to their potential to combat a variety of human pathogens. Our laboratory has identified several novel peptides that display significant antifungal activity. The effectiveness of these peptides in vitro has been promising; however, it has been shown that physiological concentrations of various salts along with other conditions are inhibitory to peptide activity. To further explore the inhibitory effects of these salts, a new assay was developed whereby we can observe the effects of various salts on the peptide killing activity. For our studies, we employed several clinical isolates of Candida …