Virology Commons^™

The Design, Construction, And Testing Of Mrna Vaccine Against Equine Herpes Virus, Bhawana Devkota

LSU Master's Theses

Equine Herpesvirus-1 (EHV 1) is a worldwide significant pathogen that causes respiratory illness, abortion, and neurological disorders in equine. Current vaccines, including live attenuated, inactivated, and subunit platforms, do not prevent viral latency, mucosal shedding, or cross-strain immunity, requiring alternative approaches. To address these gaps, this project explores the design, synthesis, and in vitro testing of an mRNA vaccine targeting immunogenic EHV 1 glycoprotein (gB, gC, gD, gG, and gM). Epitopes were computationally predicted using the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB), codon-optimized for Bos taurus, and cloned into pUCIDT vectors using SP6/T7 promoters. In vitro transcription (IVT) used nucleotide modifications …

Investigations Of Emerging Zoonotic And Vector-Borne Viruses At The Juncture Of Environmental, Human, And Animal Health, Erik A. Turner

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Reemerging and emerging zoonotic viruses are some of the most important public and One Health threats facing the world. Understanding the transmission dynamics of these viruses is vital to reducing the disease burden, and one of the key aspects to these transmission systems is the environmental vertex of the One Health triangle. SARS-CoV-2 has only recently emerged as a global public health threat, and within 4 years, over 700 million cases have been reported. As a novel pathogen, many aspects of transmission, including environmental fomite transmission and disinfection, were initially a glaring gap in knowledge. Additionally, while chikungunya virus (CHIKV) …

Functional Domains Of The Hsv-1 Ul37 Protein In Virus Infectivity And Retrograde Transport In Neurons, Carolyn Clark

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Herpes simplex virus type 1 is large alphaherpesvirus with 20 envelope proteins and 23 tegument proteins. Virus entry is via fusion of the viral envelope with cellular membranes mediated by a complex of viral glycoproteins. Glycoprotein B (gB) is the only fusogenic glycoprotein, while other viral glycoproteins and membrane proteins including gD, gH, gL, gK and UL20 membrane protein modulate gB’s fusogenicity. Previously, Our laboratory developed the HSV-1 (VC2) vaccines strain with partial deletions in the amino termini of gK (ΔgK(31–68)) and the UL20 membrane protein (ΔUL20(4–22)). VC2 enters epithelial cells only via endocytosis followed by release of the capsid …

Determinants Of Fine-Scale Heterogeneity In Mosquito-Borne Virus Systems, Elizabeth Handly Mayton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are the etiological agents of much morbidity and mortality, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Many of these viruses are spread and maintained by mosquitoes, particularly the urban mosquito Aedes aegypti. Zika virus (ZIKV) is responsible for one of the largest vector-borne disease outbreaks in the past decade, affecting millions in Central and South America including a wave of microcephaly among newborns. Mayaro virus (MAYV) is a mosquito-borne virus endemic to South America and is predicted to become an emergent public health threat. Describing the vector-virus transmission systems are critical for understanding the potential spread …

Functional And Phenotypic Evaluation Of Murine Cytomegalovirus Infection Of The Heart, Cassandra Marie Bonavita

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a ubiquitous pathogen which infects 50-90% of the world population and results in lifelong latent infection with periodic transient reactivations. In immunocompetent populations acute infection is generally asymptomatic but seropositivity is associated with many chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Despite 139 years of research into HCMV pathogenesis there is still no licensed vaccine and many gaps in the general knowledge of the virus. This includes the role of long term infection as it pertains to chronic diseases. In these studies, murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) was used as a model of HCMV pathogenesis in the heart. MCMV shares …

Cellular And Viral Determinants Of Hsv-1 Entry And Transport, Farhana Musarrat

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Previously, it was shown that the deletion of 38 amino acids from the N terminal end of glycoprotein K (gK) prevents the Herpes Simplex virus Type-1 (HSV-1McKrae ∆gK31-68) from entering into the axons of neurons. Herein, we showed for the first time that this modification in gK disrupts the ability of the virus to carry out a fusion of the viral envelope with the cellular plasma membrane and forces the virus to enter via endocytosis in epithelial cells and neuronal cell bodies. We showed that HSV-1 McKrae infection triggers cellular calcium signaling, Akt activation, and flipping of Akt to the …

A Case-Study Approach To Investigate Transmission, Co-Infection, And Clinical Sequelae During Epidemics Of Dengue And Ebola Virus Disease, Jennifer Elizabeth Giovanni

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

From within their ecologic niches, zoonotic viruses emerge from animal reservoirs into the edges and centers of human habitation to exploit opportunities for unabated transmission within immunologically–naïve populations. Our understanding of where, in whom, and how these viruses emerge is under direct challenge, driving the evolution of modern infectious disease epidemiology within a rapidly-connected global community. The studies presented herein are based on analyses of both aggregate and case-level data, which, we argue, provide unique insight into the complexities of transmission, co-infection, and clinical sequelae occurring within, and arising from, epidemics of emerging zoonotic viruses. In Chapter II, we investigate …

Survival And Inactivation Of Salmonella Enterica And Human Norovirus On Consumer Contact Surfaces, Dorra Simmons

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Salmonella enterica and human norovirus (HuNoV) are the leading cause of bacterial and viral gastroenteritis worldwide, respectively. One of the most important transmission routes of these pathogens is contaminated surfaces. In this study, we investigated the survival and the disinfection of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) and HuNoV on selected consumer contact surfaces.

In the case of S. Typhimurium, formica laminate, stainless steel, and plastic cutting board surfaces were inoculated with different microbial loads of cells collected at log (6 h), stationary (24 h), or LTS (14 days) phases. The disinfection efficacy of two disinfectants (sodium hypochlorite or …

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 …

Sweetpotato Virus C And Its Contribution To The Potyvirus Complex In Sweetpotato (Ipomoea Batatas), Favio E. Herrera Eguez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In Louisiana, sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) is infected in Louisiana by the four ubiquitous potyviruses: Sweetpotato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV), Sweetpotato virus G (SPVG), Sweetpotato virus 2 (SPV2) and the strain of SPFMV previously known as the common strain, recently renamed as Sweetpotato virus C (SPVC). These four viruses belong to the Potyviridae family, with single stranded RNA of ~11kb. In this group of plant viruses, a single polyprotein is coded entirely but later cleaved into ten mature proteins: P1, HC-pro, P3, 6K1, CI, 6K2, NIa-VPg, NIa-Pro Nib and Coat Protein (CP). In sweetpotato potyviruses, two additional open reading …