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Full-Text Articles in Immunology of Infectious Disease

Livestock Ticks In The Uae: Prevalence, Distribution, Population Dynamics, And Associated Microorganisms, Nighat Perveen Nov 2021

Livestock Ticks In The Uae: Prevalence, Distribution, Population Dynamics, And Associated Microorganisms, Nighat Perveen

Dissertations

Ticks are important vectors of an array of viral, bacterial, and protozoan pathogens resulting in a wide range of animal and human diseases in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In this study, ticks were collected from camels, cows, sheep, and goats in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The objectives of the study were to (1) identify tick species of livestock through taxonomic keys and using molecular markers, and determine their prevalence and distribution in the UAE, (2) assess Hyalomma dromedarii seasonal population fluctuation over a year under common camel breeding and management …

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The Histoplasma Capsulatum Ddr48 Gene Is Required For Survival Within Macrophages And Resistance To Oxidative Stress And Antifungal Drugs, Logan Blancett Dec 2019

The Histoplasma Capsulatum Ddr48 Gene Is Required For Survival Within Macrophages And Resistance To Oxidative Stress And Antifungal Drugs, Logan Blancett

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Histoplasma capsulatum(Hc)is a systemic, dimorphic fungal pathogen that affects upwards of 500,000 individuals in the United States annually. Hc grows as a multicellular mold at environmental temperatures; whereas, upon inhalation into a human or other mammalian host, it transforms into a unicellular, pathogenic yeast. The research presented in this dissertation is focused on characterizing the DNA damage-responsive gene HcDDR48. HcDDR48was originally isolated via a subtractive DNA library enriched for transcripts enriched in the mold-phase of Hcgrowth. Upon further analysis we found that HcDDR48is not just expressed in the mold morphotype, but both growth programs …

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Binge Alcohol Drinking Exacerbates Ulcerative Colitis Flare, Abigail Cannon Jan 2019

Binge Alcohol Drinking Exacerbates Ulcerative Colitis Flare, Abigail Cannon

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Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) remains a prominent medical concern affecting over 1.4 million people in the U.S. One of the most common forms of the disease is ulcerative colitis (UC), and UC patients will often head doctor's advice to refrain from drinking alcohol. However, whether this phenomenon of alcohol exacerbating UC symptoms occurs is still unknown, which necessitated the generation of a mouse model of UC and binge alcohol. Therefore, we examined a range of DSS concentrations (2-4%) and 2 alcohol paradigms in C57BL/6 mice. Mice receiving 2% DSS ad libitum for five days with a three-day alcohol binge had …

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Modulating The Tumor Microenvironment To Induce Cross-Priming For Cancer Immunotherapy, Erica Fleming-Trujillo Jan 2019

Modulating The Tumor Microenvironment To Induce Cross-Priming For Cancer Immunotherapy, Erica Fleming-Trujillo

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Adoptive cell transfer (ACT) using T cells engineered to express tumor-specific T cell receptors (TCR) holds great promise in treating cancer patients. ACT involves the in vitro generation of large numbers of tumor-specific T cells, which are then administered back to the patient, to establish an in vivo response and effective tumor control. Our lab conducted a phase I clinical trial in which metastatic melanoma patients received systemic infusions of autologous T cells transduced to express a tyrosinase-specific TCR (TIL 1383I). We observed tumor regression in one of seven patients and the development of vitiligo, indicative of T cell-mediated killing …

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Structure-Guided T Cell Receptor Mutations That Alter Antigen Specificity, Cross-Reactivity, And Polyfunctional Phenotypes In Gene-Modified T Cells, Kendra Foley Jan 2019

Structure-Guided T Cell Receptor Mutations That Alter Antigen Specificity, Cross-Reactivity, And Polyfunctional Phenotypes In Gene-Modified T Cells, Kendra Foley

Dissertations

Adoptive cell transfer of T cell receptor (TCR) gene-modified T cells targeting specific tumor antigens is currently in clinical trials for patients with advanced malignancies. Despite the clinical responses, there are still hurdles to be overcome in achieving an effective and safe therapy. One of the limitations in the success of this type of therapy is the potential for cross-reactivity and unanticipated off-target reactivity which could lead to autoimmunity. Adverse events encompassing these "off-target, off-tumor" cross-reactivities leading to autoimmunity have been seen in patients in different clinical trials. Here, we demonstrate a novel approach to improve antigen specific reactivity and …

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Determination Of Transforming Growth Factor-Β Signaling Targets In Activated T Cells, Ramiah Jacks Jan 2019

Determination Of Transforming Growth Factor-Β Signaling Targets In Activated T Cells, Ramiah Jacks

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T lymphocytes are a critical component of the adaptive immune system and their responses in pathogenic and steady state conditions require strict regulation. One mechanism involved in this regulation is Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGF-β) signaling. TGF-β can act on activated T cells to facilitate the differentiation of TGF-β dependent T helper subsets or the suppression of T cell activation and proliferation. However, the molecular mechanism(s) by which TGF-β signaling controls T cell differentiation vs T cell suppression remain poorly understood.TGF-β signaling is propagated by initially binding to the TGF-β type II receptor, which subsequently activates TGF-β type I receptor (TGF-βRI) …

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Protection From Staphylococcus Aureus Bloodstream Infection By Probiotic Exopolysaccharide, Wonbeom Paik Jan 2019

Protection From Staphylococcus Aureus Bloodstream Infection By Probiotic Exopolysaccharide, Wonbeom Paik

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Staphylococcus aureus is known to cause severe systemic infection with high mortality rates. Antibiotics are the only approved therapy for patients, but the widespread prevalence of antibiotic resistant strains limits treatment efficacy, and many patients succumb to the disease. Many probiotic agents are commercially available, but the mechanisms by which they benefit are not known. Understanding these mechanisms will help develop novel therapeutics that can improve healthcare, including systemic infections by S. aureus. Bacillus subtilis is a probiotic bacterium that produces an exopolysaccharide (EPS) that induces anti inflammatory macrophages (MΦ). We tested if EPS could be used for systemic S. …

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A Novel Role For Osteopontin In Facilitating West Nile Virus Neuroinvasion, Amber M. Paul May 2017

A Novel Role For Osteopontin In Facilitating West Nile Virus Neuroinvasion, Amber M. Paul

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West Nile virus (WNV) is a positive-sensed, single-stranded RNA flavivirus that can cause human neuroinvasive diseases, including encephalitis, meningitis, and flaccid paralysis. The mechanisms by which WNV enters the central nervous system and the host-factors that are involved in WNV-neuroinvasiveness are not completely understood. Osteopontin (OPN), a multifunctional glycoprotein, has been implicated as a bio-marker for a number of neuroinflammatory diseases. In particular, secreted (s)OPN has been implicated to participate in recruitment of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) to sites of its expression, while PMNs have been suggested to act as WNV reservoirs. Therefore, sOPN recruitment of PMNs may contribute to neuroinvasive …

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Elucidating The Role Of Interleukin-17a In West Nile Virus Infection, Dhiraj Acharya May 2017

Elucidating The Role Of Interleukin-17a In West Nile Virus Infection, Dhiraj Acharya

Dissertations

West Nile virus (WNV) is a neurotropic flavivirus of significant public health importance for which no therapeutics and vaccine are currently available. Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is an inflammatory cytokine that regulates diverse immune functions, while its role is unclear in host’s immune response to WNV. Furthermore, CD8+ T cells are crucial components of immunity and play a vital role in recovery from WNV infection. Here, we report a previously unrecognized function of IL-17A in regulating CD8+ T cell cytotoxicity. We show that WNV induces the expression of IL-17A in both mouse splenocytes and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells cultured …

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Clam (Corbicula Fluminea) As A Potential Sentinel Of Human Norovirus Contamination In Freshwater, Xunyan Ye May 2012

Clam (Corbicula Fluminea) As A Potential Sentinel Of Human Norovirus Contamination In Freshwater, Xunyan Ye

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and validate the use of the clam Corbicula fluminea as a sentinel of human noroviruses (HuNoV) contamination in freshwater. The first specific aim was to develop a new method to extract HuNoV RNA from contaminated bivalves (e.g. oysters, clams) that would be much faster than existing methods. The procedure developed includes an initial total RNA extraction using TRI Reagent, followed by HuNoV RNA concentration and purification using biotinylated probe-capture technology. HuNoV RNA is finally detected by real-time RT-PCR. Using bivalve homogenates spiked with HuNoV, 100 PCR detection units of the virus was …

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