Virology Commons^™

The Role Of Dendritic Cell Subsets And Innate Immunity In The Pathogenesis Of Type 1 Diabetes And Other Autoimmune Diseases, Jeffrey D. Price, Kristin V. Tarbell

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Dendritic cells (DCs) are key antigen-presenting cells that have an important role in autoimmune pathogenesis. DCs control both steady-state T cell tolerance and activation of pathogenic responses. The balance between these two outcomes depends on several factors, including genetic susceptibility, environmental signals that stimulate varied innate responses, and which DC subset is presenting antigen. Although the specific DC phenotype can diverge depending on the tissue location and context, there are four main subsets identified in both mouse and human: conventional cDC1 and cDC2, plasmacytoid DCs, and monocyte-derived DCs. In this review, we will discuss the role of these subsets in …

Adar1 Facilitates Hiv-1 Replication In Primary Cd4+ T Cells., Eloy Cuadrado, Thijs Booiman, John L Van Hamme, Machiel H Jansen, Karel A Van Dort, Adeline Vanderver, Gillian I Rice, Yanick J Crow, Neeltje A Kootstra, Taco W Kuijpers

Neurology Faculty Publications

Unlike resting CD4+ T cells, activated CD4+T cells are highly susceptible to infection of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1). HIV-1 infects T cells and macrophages without activating the nucleic acid sensors and the anti-viral type I interferon response. Adenosine deaminase acting on RNA 1 (ADAR1) is an RNA editing enzyme that displays antiviral activity against several RNA viruses. Mutations in ADAR1 cause the autoimmune disorder Aicardi-Goutieères syndrome (AGS). This disease is characterized by an inappropriate activation of the interferon-stimulated gene response. Here we show that HIV-1 replication, in ADAR1-deficient CD4+T lymphocytes from AGS patients, is blocked at the level of …

Herpes Virus Infections, Inflammatory Markers And Risk Of Developing T2dm And Cvd: An Analysis Of Nhanes With Adults, Aged 20-49, 1999-2010, Margarita Irizarry-De La Cruz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Herpes simplex viruses (HSVs), are among the most virulent and widespread pathogens; they affect 60-90% of the population worldwide. Substantial evidence indicates a possible association between pathogens and chronic disease. HSVs, among other viruses, have been associated with increased risk for inflammatory diseases. However, prior findings have been inconsistent on the role of infection in triggering autoimmune response and chronic disease. This study builds on the premise that pathogens can induce an inflammatory response and increase the risk for disease development. A representative U.S. sample from NHANES, a national population-based cross-sectional survey, was used to examine the relationship between HSVs …

Characterization Of Cd8+ T Cell Differentiation Following Sivδnef Vaccination By Transcription Factor Expression Profiling, James M. Billingsley, Premeela A. Rajakumar, Michelle A. Connole, Nadine C. Salisch, Sama Adnan, Yury V. Kuzmichev, Henoch S. Hong, R. Keith Reeves, Hyung-Joo Kang, Wenjun Li, Qingsheng Li, Ashley T. Haase, R. Paul Johnson

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

The onset of protective immunity against pathogenic SIV challenge in SIVΔnef-vaccinated macaques is delayed for 15-20 weeks, a process that is related to qualitative changes in CD8⁺ T cell responses induced by SIVΔnef. As a novel approach to characterize cell differentiation following vaccination, we used multi-target qPCR to measure transcription factor expression in naïve and memory subsets of CD8+⁺ T cells, and in SIV-specific CD8⁺ T cells obtained from SIVΔnef-vaccinated or wild type SIVmac239-infected macaques. Unsupervised clustering of expression profiles organized naïve and memory CD8⁺ T cells into groups concordant with cell surface phenotype. Transcription factor …

Escherichia Coli Surface Display Of Single-Chain Antibody Vrc01 Against Hiv-1 Infection, Lin-Xu Wang, Michael Mellon, Dane Bowder, Meghan Quinn, Danielle Shea, Charles Wood, Shi-Hua Xiang

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transmission and infection occur mainly via the mucosal surfaces. The commensal bacteria residing in these surfaces can potentially be employed as a vehicle for delivering inhibitors to prevent HIV-1 infection. In this study, we have employed a bacteria-based strategy to display a broadly neutralizing antibody VRC01, which could potentially be used to prevent HIV-1 infection. The VRC01 antibody mimics CD4-binding to gp120 and has broadly neutralization activities against HIV-1. We have designed a construct that can express the fusion peptide of the scFv-VRC01 antibody together with the autotransporter β-barrel domain of IgAP gene from …

Evidence For Placental Hpv Infection In Both Hiv Positive And Negative Women, Chrispin Chisanga, Dawn Eggert, Charles D. Mitchell, Charles Wood, Peter C. Angeletti

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) have previously been reported to infect epithelial trophoblast cells of the placenta. To investigate this possibility, 200 placental samples from Zambian women were separated into HIV+ and HIV− groups and tested for HPV by redundant primer PCR, using GP5+/GP6+ and CPI/CPII primer sets. Three HPV genotypes (HPV6, 16 and 90) were detected in placental samples. Whereas, 20 different HPV genotypes were detected in vaginal sampling of the same patients, suggesting that compartment specific sub-populations of HPV may exist. The incidence of HPV16 in placental samples was almost 2-fold greater in HIV+ women compared to HIV− (p = …

Kaposi’S Sarcoma At The University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia In The Antiretroviral Therapy Era, Owen Ngalamika, Veenu Minhas, Charles Wood

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

With great interest, we read the recent publication “Kaposi’s sarcoma in HIV-infected patients in South Africa: Multicohort study in the antiretroviral therapy era” by Bohlius et al. We congratulate the authors for their contribution to this field. In this study the authors observed a decrease in incidence of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) in patients treated with anti-retroviral therapy (ART) when compared to patients who are not on ART. These results are encouraging because of the ongoing HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa where KS is still one of the most prevalent cancers. Also, it is a relevant topic to study in …

Activation And Degradation Of Open Reading Frame 45 By The Replication And Transcription Activator Of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus, Ying Wang, Kai Yu, Xiuzhi Pei, Tiancheng Zhang, Yuying Guo, Charles Wood, Jinzhong Wang

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

The open reading frame 45 (ORF45) of the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is an immediate-early phosphorylated tegument protein critical for viral escape from host immune surveillance. Its expression is upregulated by the viral replication and transcription activator (RTA), a key protein that controls the switch from latency to lytic replication. We report here that ORF45 expression was not only upregulated by RTA, but ORF45 could also be degraded by RTA in a proteasome-dependent manner. The ORF45 was activated by RTA via activation of the ORF45 promoter, and the promoter region from nt 69 271 to nt 69 026 was involved. …

A Nuclear Fraction Of Turnip Crinkle Virus Capsid Protein Is Important For Elicitation Of The Host Resistance Response, Sung-Hwan Kang, Feng Qu, Thomas J. Morris

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

The N-terminal 25 amino acids (AAs) of turnip crinkle virus (TCV) capsid protein (CP) are recognized by the resistance protein HRT to trigger a hypersensitive response (HR) and systemic resistance to TCV infection. This same region of TCV CP also contains a motif that interacts with the transcription factor TIP, as well as a nuclear localization signal (NLS). However, it is not yet known whether nuclear localization of TCV CP is needed for the induction of HRT-mediated HR and resistance. Here we present new evidence suggesting a tight correlation between nuclear inclusions formed by CP and the manifestation of HR. …

Long-Acting Parenteral Combination Antiretroviral Loaded Nano-Drug Delivery System To Treat Chronic Hiv-1 Infection: A Humanized Mouse Model Study, Subhra Mandal, Guobin Kang, Pavan Kumar Prathipati, Wenjin Fan, Qingsheng Li, Christopher J. Destache

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients are often diagnosed in the chronic stage of HIV/AIDS. Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has improved quality of life for HIV-infected patients. Present study describes a novel long-acting parenteral formulation of combination antiretroviral (cARV) loaded nano-drugs for treating chronic HIV-1 (cHIV) in a humanized-BLT (hu-BLT) mice model. The cARV (elvitegravir + tenofovir alafenamide + emtricitabine; EVG + TAF + FTC) drugs (mimicking marketed Genvoy® one-pill for HIV-treatment) were encapsulated in poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles (NPs). To establish cHIV, hu-BLT mice were intravaginally challenged with HIV-1 and maintained for 15 weeks. Plasma viral load (pVL) was monitored …

A Novel Codon-Optimized Siv Gag-Pol Immunogen For Genebased Vaccination, Catherine M. Crosby, Eric A. Weaver, Reeti Khare, Michael A. Barry

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) is a robust pathogen used in non-human primates to model HIV vaccines. SIV encodes a number of potential vaccine targets. By far the largest and most conserved protein target in SIV is its gag-pol protein that bears many epitopes to drive multivalent immune T cell responses. While gag-pol is an attractive antigen, it is only translated after a frame shift between gag and pol with the effect that gag and pol are expressed at an approximate 10/1 ratio. The codon bias of native lentiviral genes are also mismatched with the abundance of tRNAs in mammalian cells …

Elucidation Of A Novel Pathway In Staphylococcus Aureus: The Essential Site-Specific Processing Of Ribosomal Protein L27, Erin A. Wall

Theses and Dissertations

Ribosomal protein L27 is a component of the eubacterial large ribosomal subunit that has been shown to play a critical role in substrate stabilization during protein synthesis. This function is mediated by the L27 N-terminus, which protrudes into the peptidyl transferase center where it interacts with both A-site and P-site tRNAs as well as with 23S rRNA. We observed that L27 in S. aureus and other Firmicutes is encoded with a short N-terminal extension that is not present in most Gram-negative organisms, and is absent from mature ribosomes. The extension contains a conserved cleavage motif; nine N-terminal amino acids are …

Characterization Of The Interactions Between Staphylococcal Phage 80 Alpha Scaffold And Capsid Proteins, Laura Klenow

Theses and Dissertations

Staphylococcal phage 80α can serve as a helper bacteriophage for a family of mobile genetic elements called Staphylococcus aureus pathogenicity islands (SaPIs). The prototype island, SaPI1, is able to hijack the 80α capsid assembly process and redirect capsid formation to yield smaller, phage-like transducing particles carrying SaPI DNA. Capsid size redirection is accomplished through two SaPI1-encoded gene products, CpmA and an alternate scaffold protein, CpmB. The normal 80α scaffold and the SaPI1 CpmB scaffold share a small block of conserved residues at their C-termini, several of which had been shown to be essential for CpmB function. This led to the …

Malaria Transmission Blocking Vaccines, Lukasz Jacek Sewera

Master's Theses

Malaria affects 198 million people and kills 584,000 each year, predominantly in Sub-Saharan Africa (WHO). The most severe form of malaria is caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Development of a vaccine against P. falciparum has been hindered by its complex life cycle with multiple antigenically distinct human and mosquito stages. To effectively prevent disease and reduce the parasite burden in populations, a vaccine will need to target multiple stages, including blocking transmission at the mosquito stage.

Antibodies generated against P. falciparum mosquito stage antigen Pfs25 can prevent parasite transmission from humans to mosquitoes. However, Pfs25 is poorly immunogenic …

The Effects Of Stress And Alcohol On Hiv-1 Latency, Sarah Ilene Talley

Master's Theses

A major barrier to HIV eradication is the persistence of latent viral reservoirs that exist despite antiretroviral therapy. In order to develop effective therapeutics, a comprehensive understanding of latency and factors driving the formation of the latent reservoir is needed. As stress and alcohol are common comorbidities associated with HIV infection, the goal of this research was to determine how stress and alcohol could affect HIV-latency. Specifically, we hypothesized that the ability of latent proviruses to be reactivated by “shock and kill” approaches would be altered by glucocorticoid and ethanol treatments, and prolonged ethanol exposure would affect the size of …

The Role Of Pidd Protein In Adenoviral Induction Of Apoptosis, Iris Teresa Figueroa

Master's Theses

The Adenovirus E1A gene sensitizes cells to genetic insults and apoptosis, most notably in response to cytotoxic factors from innate immune cells. The mechanisms by which E1A sensitizes cells to apoptotic stressors have not been fully elucidated, however E1A actively represses NF-κB anti-apoptotic defenses, thereby sensitizing cells to alternative apoptotic cascades. Recent studies alternatively indicate that E1A also actively induces Caspase-2 activation and mitochondrial injury in the presence of certain cytotoxic injuries.

Caspase-2 is cleaved and activated in a large complex consisting of p53-inducible protein with a death domain (PIDD), an adaptor protein RAIDD, and pro-caspase 2. PIDD auto-proteolyzes into …

Whole-Genome Sequencing Of Kaposi’S Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus From Zambian Kaposi’S Sarcoma Biopsy Specimens Reveals Unique Viral Diversity, Landon Olp, Adrien Jeanniard, Clemence Marimo, Charles Wood

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the etiological agent for Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS). Both KSHV and KS are endemic in sub-Saharan Africa where approximately 84% of global KS cases occur. Nevertheless, whole-genome sequencing of KSHV has only been completed using isolates from Western countries—where KS is not endemic. The lack of whole-genome KSHV sequence data from the most clinically important geographical region, sub-Saharan Africa, represents an important gap since it remains unclear whether genomic diversity has a role on KSHV pathogenesis. We hypothesized that distinct KSHV genotypes might be present in sub-Saharan Africa compared to Western countries. Using a KSHV-targeted enrichment …

The Hippo/Yap Pathway Interacts With Egfr Signaling And Hpv Oncoproteins To Regulate Cervical Cancer Progression, Chunbo He, Dagan Mao, Guohua Hua, Xiangmin Lv, Xingcheng Chen, Peter C. Angeletti, Jixin Dong, Steven W. Remmenga, Kerry J. Rodabaugh, Jin Zhou, Paul F. Lambert, Peixin Yang, John S. Davis, Cheng Wang

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

The Hippo signaling pathway controls organ size and tumorigenesis

through a kinase cascade that inactivates Yes-associated

protein (YAP). Here, we show that YAP plays a central role in

controlling the progression of cervical cancer. Our results suggest

that YAP expression is associated with a poor prognosis for cervical

cancer. TGF-α and amphiregulin (AREG), via EGFR, inhibit the Hippo

signaling pathway and activate YAP to induce cervical cancer cell

proliferation and migration. Activated YAP allows for up-regulation

of TGF-α, AREG, and EGFR, forming a positive signaling loop to

drive cervical cancer cell proliferation. HPV E6 protein, a major

etiological molecule of …

Observed And Expected Incidence Of Cervical Cancer In Lusaka And The Southern And Western Provinces Of Zambia, 2007 - 2012, Mulele Kalima, Kennedy Lishimpi, Jane L. Meza, Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, Susan C. Msadabwe, Catherine K. Mwaba, Aaron L. Shibemba, Lewis Banda, Charles Wood, Robert M. Chamberlain, Amr S. Soliman

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Objectives—Cervical cancer is increasing but underestimated in developing countries. We calculated the observed and expected incidence of cervical cancer in Lusaka and Southern and Western provinces of Zambia.

Methods/Materials—Data for 2007-2012 was obtained for the 3 provinces. Data included age, residence, year of diagnosis, marital status, occupation, HIV, stage, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Expected incidence in Southern and Western provinces was calculated based on observed incidence for Lusaka province, adjusting for HIV.

Results—Crude and age-standardized incidence rates (ASR) in Lusaka were 2-4 times higher than incidence in the other 2 provinces. Lusaka had a rate of 54.1/10⁵ and ASR of …

Crf07_Bc Strain Dominates The Hiv-1 Epidemic In Injection Drug Users In Liangshan Prefecture Of Sichuan, China, Lin Li, Daying Wei, Wan-Ling Hsu, Tianyi Li, Tao Gui, Charles Wood, Yongjian Liu, Hanping Li, Zuoyi Bao, Siyang Liu, Xiaolin Wang, Jingyun Li

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

The Liangshan prefecture in Sichuan province is an area in China severely affected by the HIV epidemic, with intravenous drug use (IDU) as the main risk factor. No reports on HIV subtypes prevalent in IDUs in Liangshan prefecture could be found. In this study, we have characterized the genotypes of HIV-1 in the IDU population in Liangshan prefecture and further determined the phylogenetic relationship of the CRF07_BC strains to HIV-1 sequences from the other regions of China, including Xinjiang and Yunnan provinces, to explore the pattern and possible diffusion pathway of HIV-1 in these regions. HIV-1-seropositive drug-naive IDUs identified in …

Single-Dose Cpg Immunization Protects Against A Heterosubtypic Challenge And Generates Antigen-Specific Memory T Cells, Alexander J. Vogel, Deborah M. Brown

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Despite extensive research, influenza A virus (IAV) remains a major cause of morbidity, mortality, and healthcare expenditure. Emerging pandemics from highly pathogenic IAV strains, such as H5N1 and pandemic H1N1, highlight the need for universal, crossprotective vaccines. Current vaccine formulations generate strain-specific neutralizing antibodies primarily against the outer coat proteins, hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. In contrast to these highly mutable proteins, internal proteins of IAV are more conserved and are a favorable target for developing vaccines that induce strong T cell responses in addition to humoral immunity. Here, we found that intranasal administration with a single dose of CpG and inactivated …

Hiv Integrase Mechanisms Of Resistance To Raltegravir, Elvitegravir, And Dolutegravir, Kyla Nicole Ross

Wayne State University Theses

ABSTRACT

HIV INTEGRASE MECHANISMS OF RESISTANCE TO RALTEGRAVIR, ELVITEGRAVIR, AND DOLUTEGRAVIR

by

KYLA ROSS

December 2015

Advisor: Dr. Ladislau Kovari

Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Degree: Master of Science

HIV-1 integrase (HIV-1 IN or IN) is a multimeric enzyme that integrates the HIV-1 genome into the chromosomes of infected CD4+ T-cells. Currently there are three FDA approved HIV-1 IN strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) used in clinical practice: raltegravir (RAL), elvitegravir (ELV), and dolutegravir (DTG). The [Q148H], [Q148H, G140S], [Q148R], [Q148R, G140A] and [N155H, E92Q] mutations decrease IN susceptibility to RAL and ELV and may result in therapeutic failure. As an …

Infection And Dissemination Of Tav-Gfp Tagged Sindbis In Aedine Mosquitoes And Cell Lines, Jason J. Saredy

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Arthropod-borne-viruses (arboviruses) pose a global threat due to their ability to be transmitted by hematophagous insects to vertebrate hosts resulting in a range of serious infectious diseases. Sindbis virus (SINV) is the prototype arbovirus of the genus Alphavirus in the family Togaviridae. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of a fluorescent tagged reporter virus in both in vitro and in vivo environments. The fluorescent protein GFP was inserted between the Capsid and PE2 in the genome of TR339; SINV TaV-GFP (Wm. Klimstra Lab). This virus construct should have the same infectivity and virulence as wild type …

Mcl1 Enhances The Survival Of Cd8+ Memory T Cells After Viral Infection, Jingang Gui, Zhuting Hu, Ching-Yi Tsai, Tian Ma, Yan Song, Amanda Morales, Li-Hao Huang, Ethan Dmitrovsky, Ruth Craig, Edward Usherwood

Dartmouth Scholarship

Viral infection results in the generation of massive numbers of activated effector CD8+ T cells that recognize viral components. Most of these are short-lived effector T cells (SLECs) that die after clearance of the virus. However, a small proportion of this population survives and forms antigen-specific memory precursor effector cells (MPECs), which ultimately develop into memory cells. These can participate in a recall response upon reexposure to antigen even at protracted times postinfection. Here, antiapoptotic myeloid cell leukemia 1 (MCL1) was found to prolong survival upon T cell stimulation, and mice expressing human MCL1 as a transgene exhibited a skewing …

Exploiting Bacteriophages And Associated Peptidoglycan Hydrolases With Potential For Biocontrol In Food Related Applications, Lorraine Endersen

Theses

The work presented in this thesis describes the isolation and characterisation of novel bacteriophages, and the subsequent exploitation of their bactericidal properties against two opportunistic food related pathogens, Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and Cronobacter sakazakii.

MAP is a proven animal pathogen known to cause Johne’s disease in cattle but has been implicated as a causative agent of Crohn’s disease in humans. Despite the fact that this association has yet to be proven, significant focus has been directed towards evaluating the consequences of consuming milk contaminated with MAP. Accordingly, six mycobacteriophages were isolated and characterised in terms of temperature and …

Characterization Of The Nodamura Virus Rna Dependent Rna Polymerase And Formation Of Rna Replication Complexes In Mammalian Cells, Vincent Ulysses Gant

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Positive-strand RNA viruses amplify their genomes in membrane-bound structures associated with intracellular membranes and organelles called replication complexes (RCs). Here, we begin to elucidate mechanisms of Nodamura virus (NoV; family Nodaviridae) RC assembly. The literature reports that NoV-infected muscle tissue exhibits mitochondrial aggregation and rearrangement of mitochondrial structure, leading to disorganization of the muscle fibrils. However, the molecular basis for this pathogenesis and the role of mitochondria in NoV infection remained unclear until now. We tested the hypoThesis that NoV establishes RCs in association with mitochondria in cultured mammalian cells at physiological temperature. We used immunofluorescence confocal microscopy and biochemical …

Correlation Analysis Of Climatic Variables, Migration And Dengue Cases In Southeast Florida, Brunilda Lugo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Dengue fever is a debilitating, viral, mosquito-borne disease occurring in tropical and subtropical areas in the world. The majority of dengue cases in the United States were acquired in endemic areas by travelers or immigrants. However, in recent years, autochthonous (locally acquired) dengue cases have been diagnosed in Florida. The purpose of this study was to find an association between potential risk factors and the expansion of dengue fever in the United States. Guided by the eco-bio-social framework, which offers a broad assessment of risk factors for the illness, a retrospective design was used with archival data to correlate changes …