Immunology of Infectious Disease Commons^™

A Mathematical Model Of The Inflammatory Response To Pathogen Challenge, Lester Caudill, Fiona Lynch

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Simulating Antibiotic Resistance In The Computer Lab And Biology Lab: Ideas For Undergraduate Projects, Anne E. Yust

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Congenital Zika Virus Infection In Immunocompetent Mice Causes Postnatal Growth Impediment And Neurobehavioral Deficits, Amber M. Paul, Dhiraj Acharya, Biswas Neupane, E. Ashley Thompson, Gabriel Gonzalez-Fernandez, Katherine M. Copeland

Publications

A small percentage of babies born to Zika virus (ZIKV)-infected mothers' manifest severe defects at birth, including microcephaly. Among those who appeared healthy at birth, there are increasing reports of postnatal growth or developmental defects. However, the impact of congenital ZIKV infection in postnatal development is poorly understood. Here, we report that a mild congenital ZIKV-infection in pups born to immunocompetent pregnant mice did not display apparent defects at birth, but manifested postnatal growth impediments and neurobehavioral deficits, which include reduced locomotor and cognitive deficits that persisted into adulthood. We found that the brains of these pups were smaller, had …

Schistosomiasis In The Wild: A Transcriptomics Perspective On Field-Derived Biomphalaria Pfeifferi And Schistosoma Mansoni, And Their Interactions, Sarah K. Buddenborg

Biology ETDs

Schistosomiasis, caused by trematodes in the genus Schistosoma, is a widespread neglected tropical disease with the species S. mansoni infecting over 100 million people. We aimed to better understand the snail host and parasite responses during intramolluscan stages of infection by performing dual RNA-Seq on field-collected snails with natural infections from western Kenya. We collected uninfected Biomphalaria pfeifferi, B. pfeifferi with a patent cercariae-producing S. mansoni infection, and B. pfeifferi exposed to field-collected S. mansoni at 1 and 3d (days post infection).

We first created a high-quality B. pfeifferi transcriptome to identify the snail response to S. mansoni infection. …

Evolution Of Bordetella Pertussis Genome May Play A Role In The Increased Rate Of Whooping Cough Cases In The United States, Kevin Loftus

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Bordetella pertussis is the bacterium responsible for pertussis, a disease commonly referred to as whooping cough. Recently, pertussis has made a resurgence in the U.S. despite high-vaccination coverage. Possible causes of the increased number of pertussis cases include genetic evolution of B. pertussis, increased awareness of the disease, better laboratory diagnostics, and the switch from a whole-cellular (wP) vaccine to an acellular vaccine (aP) in the 1990s. Fortunately, just as B. pertussis is evolving, so is the arsenal of technologies used to understand and combat this pathogenic bacterium. Whole genome sequencing is one technology that helps researchers better understand …

Enhanced Production Of Pro-Il-1Βeta Contributes To Immunopathology During The Coinfection Of Influenza A Virus And Streptococcus Pneumoniae, Angeline E. Rodriguez

MSU Graduate Theses

Viral bacterial coinfections are known to cause severe pneumonia, especially in the elderly and in pediatric patients. Antibiotics like β-Lactams kill the bacteria but fail to improve symptoms suggesting a faulty immune system may play an important role in the disease. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is an important immune signaling cytokine responsible for inflammation. It exists as an inactive precursor that can be activated by caspase-1 containing inflammasomes (multi-protein complex). Influenza A virus (IAV) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) activate the inflammasome through the NOD-like receptor protein NLRP3 and/or AIM2. Previous reports in mice indicate that IL-1β levels are dramatically …

Genotype-Specific Insertion Of Cytotoxic Genetic Elements Into Cancer Cells, Ryan Englander

University Scholar Projects

The new gene editing system CRISPR/Cas9, composed of a complex composed of a guide RNA and the Cas9 endonuclease, promises to revolutionize biological research and potentially allow clinicians to directly modify patient DNA in vivo. While its applications in the treatment of genetic diseases and in modifying immune cells for immunotherapy are currently being explored, CRISPR/Cas9’s potential utility as a modular system for targeting tumor-specific mutated sequences has not as of yet been explored. While CRISPR/Cas9 is specific enough to target small insertions and deletions or gross chromosomal rearrangements, it is not specific enough to reliably restrict editing to …

Characterization Of The Interaction Between R. Conorii And Human Host Vitronectin In Rickettsial Pathogenesis, Abigail Inez Fish

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia are inoculated into the mammalian host during hematophagous arthropod feeding. Once in the bloodstream and during dissemination, the survival of these pathogens is dependent upon their ability to evade innate host defenses until a proper cellular target is reached. The establishment of a successful infection also relies on the ability of the bacteria to attach and invade target cells, as failure to do so results in destruction of the bacterium. Rickettsia conorii expresses an outer membrane protein, Adr1, which binds the multifunctional human glycoprotein, vitronectin, to promote resistance to complement mediated killing. Homologs of Adr1 are …

Role Of Mucin 19 In The Respiratory Tract, Kaitlin Mcbride

LSU Master's Theses

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a negative sense, single stranded RNA virus belonging to the Pneumoviridae family, and represents an important pathogen that causes severe respiratory disease worldwide. There is currently no vaccine against HMPV, so it is important to study the aspects of the immune response induced by HMPV. Because infiltration of mucus is a hallmark of HMPV infection, it is warranted to study the role of mucus in the disease process. Mucin proteins make up the major component of mucus and can be found within the airway and lungs. Previous work from our laboratory demonstrated a high upregulation of …

Developing Novel Therapeutics For Bacterial Lung Infections, Brandon J. Baer, Ruud Veldhuizen, Cory Yamashita

Western Research Forum

Background: Bacterial lung infections are leading causes of death worldwide. Unfortunately, increasing resistance to antibiotics and the inflammation often accompanying these infections are leading to poor outcomes despite antibiotic intervention. Complicating treatment further, the tree-like branching structure of the lung makes drug delivery to distal sites of infection difficult. Our research aims to address these challenges by developing new therapeutics and new tools to improve and assess drug delivery, bacterial killing and inflammation. Our therapy combines host defense peptides, which have been shown to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria and down regulate inflammation, with a pulmonary vehicle, exogenous surfactant, that can improve …

Frequency And Factors Associated With Adult Immunization In Patients Visiting Family Medicine Clinics At A Tertiary Care Hospital, Karachi, Samar Zaki, Asma Usman, Swaleha Tariq, Sameena Shah, Iqbal Azam Syed, Waris Qidwai, Kashmira Nanji

Department of Family Medicine

Objective: The goal of this study was to determine the frequency and factors associated with adult immunization in patients visiting family medicine clinics at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2014 to March 2015 in a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Participants more than 18 years were invited to participate in the study. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect information. Data were entered and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 19.0 (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp).
Results: A total of 340 patients were surveyed. The majority of patients …

Antibody Dependent Enhancement Of Visceral Leishmaniasis, Alan K. Mcnolty

All Master's Theses

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease caused by protozoans of the genus Leishmania. This vector-born disease, transmitted by biting phlebotomine sandflies, typically manifests in one of three ways. The cutaneous form of the disease is characterized by localized lesions of the skin and is by far the most common manifestation. The visceral form of the disease is caused by parasitic infiltration of internal organs, particularly the spleen, liver, and bone marrow. The mucocutaneous form is caused by parasitic infection of the mucosa in the nose or mouth. While cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is often self-healing, visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is fatal if …