Virology Commons^™

Editorial: High-Impact Respiratory Rna Virus Diseases, Victor Manuel Patrone-García, Inkar Castellanos-Huerta, Guillermo Tellez-Isaias

Poultry Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Editorial on the Research Topic

High-impact respiratory RNA virus diseases

The Role Of Adenovirus Serotype 5 E4 11k In The Relocalization Of The Cellular P Body Proteins, Kasey A. Karen, La`Quita Randolph, Kevin Neubrecht, Heather Vincent

Georgia Journal of Science

Human adenoviruses are a useful tool to understand basic cellular biology in addition to viral infections. Historically, cellular splicing was first discovered in adenovirus, but other cellular processes, such as double-strand break repair and aggresome formation, have been further elucidated through adenoviral infection. The adenovirus protein E4 11k has been shown to disrupt cytoplasmic processing bodies (p bodies), which are not well-understood but are involved in mRNA metabolism. Several p body proteins were found to be reorganized in the cytoplasm with adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) able to cause the colocalization of these p body proteins with aggresomes. The p body …

Investigating The Physiological Mechanisms Between Resistance Training And Pain Relief In The Cancer Population: A Literature Review, Yvonne Jiang, Peter C. Angeletti, Amy J. Hoffman

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

This literature review examines the mechanisms of how exercise, specifically in the form of resistance training, may lead to pain relief in the cancer population. Primary data from three different cancer populations: breast, prostate, and lung, will be examined. A number of experimental studies have been conducted to confirm the effectiveness of resistance training on pain relief as well as the biochemical pathways that relate to this process. In this review, we will examine 5 randomized controlled trials. For the purposes of this review, pain is defined as physical suffering or discomfort associated with illness. Pain is the body’s natural …

Sars‑Cov‑2 Entry Into And Evolution Within A Skilled Nursing Facility, Nicole R. Sexton, Parker Parker Cline, Emily N. Gallichotte, Emily Fitzmeyer, Michael C. Young, Ashley J. Janich, Kristy L. Pabilonia, Nicole Ehrhart, Gregory D. Ebel

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the family Coronaviridae which includes multiple human pathogens that have an outsized impact on aging populations. As a novel human pathogen, SARS-CoV-2 is undergoing continuous adaptation to this new host species and there is evidence of this throughout the scientific and public literature. However, most investigations of SARS-CoV-2 evolution have focused on largescale collections of data across diverse populations and/or living environments. Here we investigate SARS-CoV-2 evolution in epidemiologically linked individuals within a single outbreak at a skilled nursing facility beginning with initial introduction of the pathogen. The data demonstrate that SARSCoV- 2 was introduced to the …

Yes-Associated Protein-1 Overexpression In Ocular Surface Squamous Neoplasia; A Potential Diagnostic Marker And Therapeutic Target, Peter Julius, Stepfanie N. Siyumbwa, Fred Maate, Phyllis Moonga, Guobin Kang, Trevor Kaile, John T. T., Charles Wood

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Yes-associated protein-1 (YAP-1) is a Hippo system transcription factor, which serves as an oncogene in squamous cell carcinoma, and several solid tumors when the Hippo pathway is dysregulated. Yet, the activity of YAP-1 in ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) has not been determined. Here, we investigate the relationship between YAP-1 overexpression and OSSN. Using a cross-sectional study design, we recruited 227 OSSN patients from the University Teaching Hospitals in Lusaka, Zambia. Immunohistochemistry was used to assess YAP-1 protein overexpression in tumor tissue relative to surrounding benign squamous epithelium. OSSN patient samples (preinvasive, n = 62, 27% and invasive, n = …

Nac1 Confines Virus‐Specific Memory Formation Of Cd4+ T Cells Through The Rock1‐Mediated Pathway, Liqing Wang, Hao-Yun Peng, Jugal Kishore Das, Anil Kumar, Yijie Ren, Darby J. Ballard, Xiaofang Xiong, Wen Yang, Xingcong Ren, Paul De Figueiredo, Jin-Ming Yang, Jianxun Song

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Nucleus accumbens‐associated protein 1 (NAC1), a transcriptional cofactor, has been found to play important roles in regulating regulatory T cells, CD8 + T cells, and antitumor immunity, but little is known about its effects on T‐cell memory. In this study, we found that NAC1 expression restricts memory formation of CD4 + T cells during viral infection. Analysis of CD4 + T cells from wild‐type (WT) and NAC1‐ deficient (−/−) mice showed that NAC1 is essential for T‐cell metabolism, including glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation, and supports CD4 + T‐cell survival in vitro. We further demonstrated that a deficiency of NAC1 downregulates …

Exploring The Interactions Between Sars-Cov-2 And Host Proteins, Sojan Shrestha

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of the current pandemic, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 is considered to be of zoonotic origin; it originated in non-human animals and was transmitted to humans. Since the early stage of the pandemic, however, the evidence of transmissions from humans to animals (reverse zoonoses) has been found in multiple animal species including mink, white-tailed deer, and pet and zoo animals. Furthermore, secondary zoonotic events of SARS-CoV-2, transmissions from animals to humans, have been also reported. It is suggested that non-human hosts can act as SARS-CoV-2 reservoirs where accumulated …

Acetate-Encapsulated Linolenic Acid Liposomes Reduce Sars-Cov-2 And Rsv Infection, Andrew R. Mcgill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), is an ongoing pandemic-endemic. In the United States, it remains the third leading cause of death in 2022. SARS-CoV-2, an RNA virus, has a genome prone to rapid mutation, generating variant species capable of resisting therapies and vaccination efforts. However, it has been estimated that more than 40% of SARS-CoV-2 infections may be asymptomatic, which calls into question any biological differences between the asymptomatic and afflicted groups. Additionally, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is the most significant cause of bronchiolitis and asthma in neonates, with an increasing burden on the …

The Heat Shock Response, Heat Tolerance, And Drosophila Melanogaster Nora Virus, Blase Rokusek

Biology Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

The heat shock response (HSR) is highly conserved across the animal kingdom and is characterized by the activation of heat shock factors (HSF) and the subsequent induction of inducible heat shock proteins (HSP). The HSR and associated HSPs have been implicated in a variety of disease states. In this project, we explored two aspects of this response. First., we expanded the scope of the Drosophila melanogaster heat tolerance phenotype by involving an automated measure of activity. We discovered that heat hardening reduces motility during subsequent heat stress, and we provide evidence that the level of relative early motility can predict …

Viral Dna Accumulation Regulates Replication Efficiency Of Chlorovirus Osy-Ne5 In Two Closely Related Chlorella Variabilis Strains, Ahmed Esmael, Irina V. Agarkova, David D. Dunigan, You Zhou, James L. Van Etten

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Many chloroviruses replicate in Chlorella variabilis algal strains that are ex-endosymbionts isolated from the protozoan Paramecium bursaria, including the NC64A and Syngen 2-3 strains. We noticed that indigenous water samples produced a higher number of plaque-forming viruses on C. variabilis Syngen 2-3 lawns than on C. variabilis NC64A lawns. These observed differences led to the discovery of viruses that replicate exclusively in Syngen 2-3 cells, named Only Syngen (OSy) viruses. Here, we demonstrate that OSy viruses initiate infection in the restricted host NC64A by synthesizing some early virus gene products and that approximately 20% of the cells produce a …

Influenza C And D Viruses Demonstrated A Differential Respiratory Tissue Tropism In A Comparative Pathogenesis Study In Guinea Pigs, Chithra C. Sreenivasan, Runxia Liu, Rongyuan Gao, Yicheng Guo, Ben M. Hause, Milton Thomas, Ahsan Naveed, Travis Clement, Dana Rausch, Jane Christopher-Hennings, Eric Nelson, Julian Druce, Miaoyun Zhao, Radhey S. Kaushik, Qingsheng Li, Zizhang Sheng, Dan Dan, Feng Li

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Influenza C virus (ICV) is increasingly associated with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children and its disease severity is worse than the influenza B virus, but similar to influenza A virus associated CAP. Despite the ubiquitous infection landscape of ICV in humans, little is known about its replication and pathobiology in animals. The goal of this study was to understand the replication kinetics, tissue tropism, and pathogenesis of human ICV (huICV) in comparison to the swine influenza D virus (swIDV) in guinea pigs. Intranasal inoculation of both viruses did not cause clinical signs, however, the infected animals shed virus in nasal …

Adenoviral-Vectored Epigraph Vaccine Elicits Robust, Durable, And Protective Immunity Against H3 Influenza A Virus In Swine, Erika M. Petro-Turnquist, Matthew J. Pekarek, Nicholas Jeanjaquet, Cedric Wooledge, David J. Steffen, Hiep Vu, Eric A. Weaver

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Current methods of vaccination against swine Influenza A Virus (IAV-S) in pigs are infrequently updated, induce strain-specific responses, and have a limited duration of protection. Here, we characterize the onset and duration of adaptive immune responses after vaccination with an adenoviral-vectored Epigraph vaccine. In this longitudinal study we observed robust and durable antibody responses that remained above protective titers six months after vaccination. We further identified stable levels of antigen-specific T cell responses that remained detectable in the absence of antigen stimulation. Antibody isotyping revealed robust class switching from IgM to IgG induced by Epigraph vaccination, while the commercial comparator …

Development Of Recombinant Varicella-Zoster Virus Vaccines Expressing Sars-Cov-2 Antigens, Cody Wilson

Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) continues to cause infections and deaths around the globe. Since its emergence, scientists have worked diligently to discover and produce vaccines to battle the virus. While they successfully created and distributed vaccines, the vaccines are not without flaw. These vaccines do not grant long term immunity, require multiple booster shots, and have not prevented the emergence of viral variants. In this study, the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD), which is a key part of the spike protein (S), and nucleocapsid (N) genetic sequences were inserted into the live varicella …

The Alphaviral Capsid Protein Inhibits Irak1-Dependent Tlr Signaling To Promote Pathogenesis., V. "Trey" Landers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alphaviruses are positive-sense RNA viruses spread by mosquitos. They can cause a severe multi-joint febrile arthritis or encephalitis resulting in death or life-long cognitive impairments. To date there are no approved antiviral therapeutics or vaccine strategies for the treatment of alphaviruses creating a critical need to better understand the host pathogen interactions of alphaviruses that enable pathogenesis. It is known that alphaviruses evade innate immune responses by shutting down host transcription and translation, but these methods are dependent on viral gene expression and leave a critical time frame during early infection before viral gene expression has begun that the virus …

Exploring Extreme Viruses With Ken Stedman, Kenneth Stedman

PDXPLORES Podcast

In this episode of PDXPLORES, Ken Stedman, Professor of Biology at Portland State University, discusses his distinguished virology career. From discovering his love of extreme viruses at Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich, Germany, to heading the Advanced Molecular and Cell Biology Research Laboratory and the eXtreme Virus Lab, Steadman has investigated extreme virus structures, function, genetics, and evolution for more than 25 years. He is the co-founder of the research lab Center for Life in Extreme Environments as well as the Chief Scientific Officer of StoneStable, Inc. Adding to his scientific accomplishments and accolades, Professor Stedman …

Oncolytic Virus Immunotherapy: Development And Potential For Cancer Treatment, Olivia Guinness

Honors Scholar Theses

The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2023, 1,958,310 new cancer cases and 609,820 cancer deaths will occur in the United States [16]. A promising therapeutic option that has been supported by recent clinical trials is the use of oncolytic viruses to treat malignant tumors. The mechanism of action of existing treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery, differs from that of oncolytic virus therapy because oncolytic viruses are able to affect cancer cells with specificity, minimizing side effects. When infecting a normal, non-cancerous cell, oncolytic viruses do not replicate, leaving healthy cells unaffected. In tumor cells, oncolytic viruses will …

Disinfectant Efficacy Against Sars-Cov-2 Surrogates, Bovine Coronavirus And Human Coronavirus Oc43, On Hard And Soft Non-Porous Surfaces, Breanna Kimbrell

All Theses

The novel human coronavirus (HCoV), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged from Wuhan, China in the latter part of 2019. The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 amid the most recent COVID-19 pandemic forced countless foodservice establishments (FSEs) across the United States to close, taking a tremendous toll on the foodservice industry. Although primarily transmitted person-to-person, previous studies indicate that the duration of SARS-CoV-2 survival on different environmental surfaces provides adequate time for secondary transmission to occur. To prevent the further spread of SARS-CoV-2, effective disinfection of surfaces in FSEs is necessary. While disinfectants approved for use against SARS-CoV-2 are …

Development Of A Novel Fluorescent Reporter Baculovirus Vector For Testing Promoters In Lepidopterans, Daniel Howard

All Theses

Testing gene expression patterns is an important process in learning more about an organism. The standard methods of rtPCR and RNASeq provide highly detailed data on specific expression patterns, but can be resource consuming if many different samples including genes or organisms must be tested. A potential alternative for studying expression is the use of a reporter system carried by a vector system that encodes fluorescent proteins under the control of promoters of interest. Many lepidopterans (moths) are pestiferous and better understanding of gene expression levels in lepidopterans, both endogenous and exogenous including from their viruses, would be beneficial. Baculoviruses …

An Ecological Perspective Of American Rodent-Borne Orthohantavirus Surveillance, Nathaniel Mull

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Orthohantaviruses are a global group of viruses found primarily in rodents, though several viruses have also been found in shrews and moles. Many rodent-borne orthohantaviruses are capable of causing one of several diseases in humans, and the mortality associated with these diseases ranges from < 0.1% - 50% depending on the specific etiological virus. In North and South America, orthohantavirus research was ignited by an outbreak of severe disease in the Four Corners region of the United States in 1993. However, despite the discovery of over 20 orthohantaviruses in the Americas, our understanding of orthohantavirus ecology and virus-host dynamics in this region is still limited, and orthohantavirus surveillance is generally restricted in scope to select regions and small portions of host distributional ranges. In Chapter I, I present a literature review on the current understanding of American rodent-borne orthohantavirus ecology. This review focused on under-studied orthohantaviruses, addressing gaps in knowledge by extrapolating information from well-studied orthohantaviruses, general rodent ecology, and occassionally from Eurasian orthohantavirus-host ecology. There were several key conclusions generated from this review that warrant further research: 1) the large number of putative orthohantaviruses and gaps in orthohantavirus evolution necessitate further surveillance and characterization, 2) orthohantavirus traits differ and are more generalizable based on host taxonomy rather than geography, and 3) orthohantavirus host species are disproportionately found in grasslands and disturbed habitats. In Chapter II, I present a prioritized list of rodent species to target for orthohantavirus surveillance based on predictive modeling using machine learning. Probable orthohantavirus hosts were predicted based on traits of known orthohantavirus hosts using two different types of evidence: RT-PCR and virus isolation. Predicted host distributions were also mapped to identify geographic hotspots to spatially guide future surveillance efforts. In Chapter III, I present a framework for understanding and predicting orthohantavirus traits based on reservoir host phylogeny, as opposed to the traditional geographic dichotomy used to group orthohantaviruses. This framework establishes three distinct orthohantavirus groups: murid-borne orthohantaviruses, arvicoline-borne orthohantaviruses, and non-arvicoline cricetid-borne orthohantaviruses, which differ in several key traits, including the human disease they cause, transmission routes, and virus-host fidelity. In Chapter IV, I compare rodent communities and orthohantavirus prevalence among grassland management regimes. Sites that were periodically burned had high rodent diversity and a high proportion of grassland species. However, rodent seroprevalence for orthohantavirus was also highest in burned sites, representing a trade-off in habitat management outcomes. The high seroprevalence in burned sites is likely due to the robust populations supported by the high quality habitat resulting from prescribed burning. In Chapters V and VI, I describe Ozark virus and Sager Creek virus, two novel orthohantaviruses discovered from specimens collected during Chapter IV. Both chapters report full genome sequences of the respective viruses and compare both nucleotide and protein phylogenies with related orthohantaviruses. Additionally in Chapter VI, I support the genetic analyses with molecular and ecological characterizations, including seasonal fluctuations in host abundance, correlates of prevalence, evidence of virus shedding, and information on host cell susceptibility to Sager Creek virus.

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 …

The Role Of Community In Immunity Against Sars-Cov-2, Jessica Kobilas

Kean Quest

This literature review investigated the roles genes activated by social interactions had in helping to build immunity against COVID-19. Past studies have shown that individuals who are more socially connected are less likely to become ill due to social interactions strengthening the immune system through optimal exposure to bacteria and viruses in the environment. The IL-6 and TLR4 genes that are activated through social interactions and associated with cytokines have been analyzed in cases of various viral infections. Cytokines play a role in inflammation and have both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses to infections and viruses. The results suggest that the …

Cancer-Specific Perturbations To Arginine Metabolism Blunt Replication And Performance Of Oncolytic Myxoma Virus, Parker Dryja

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Oncolytic virotherapy (OV) is a class of immunotherapy for treatment of malignancy. Using viruses that exhibit natural coincidental tropisms for cancer, or others that have been engineered to the same effect, intentional infection of lesions leads to two therapeutically beneficial effects: (1) direct destruction of the infected tumor through virally-mediated cell lysis, and (2) recruitment of an otherwise blunted or absent anti-cancer immune response to affect both local and disseminated disease. A surfeit of cancer-specific changes are accumulated during progression from first genetic insult to clinical detection, presenting a dramatically altered underlying biology of cell and tissue. The viruses employed …

Application Of A Novel Lytic Jerseyvirus Phage Lpsent1 For The Biological Control Of The Multidrug-Resistant Salmonella Enteritidis In Foods, Rashad R. Al-Hindi, Mona G. Alharbi, Ibrahim Alotibi, Sheren A. Azhari, Khloud M. Algothmi, Ahmed Esmael

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Non-typhoidal Salmonella is the tremendously predominant source of acquired foodborne infection in humans, causing salmonellosis which is a global threat to the healthcare system. This threat is even worse when it is combined with the incidence of multidrug-resistant Salmonella strains. Bacteriophage therapy has been proposed as a promising potential candidate to control a diversity of foodborne infective bacteria. The objective of this study designed to isolate and characterize lytic phages infecting zoonotic multi-drug resistant and strong biofilm producer Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis EG.SmE1 and then apply the isolated phage/s as a biocontrol agent against infections in ready-to-eat food articles including …

The Sars-Cov-2 Utr’S Intrudes Host Rbp’S And Modulates Cellular Splicing, Anjali Singh, Kush Kumar Pandey, Shubham Kumar Agrawal, Rupesh K. Srivastava, Sankar Bhattacharyya, Bhupendra Verma

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus that causes a potentially fatal respiratory disease known as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and is responsible for the ongoing pandemic with increasing mortality. Understanding the host-virus interaction involved in SARS-CoV-2 pathophysiology will enhance our understanding of the mechanistic basis of COVID-19 infection. The characterization of post-transcriptional gene regulatory networks, particularly pre-mRNA splicing, and the identification and characterization of host proteins interacting with the 5' and 3'UTRs of SARS-CoV-2 will improve our understanding of posttranscriptional gene regulation during SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis. Here, we demonstrate that either SARS-CoV-2 infection or exogenous overexpression of the 5' and 3’UTRs of the …

Rna Virus-Mediated Changes In Organismal Oxygen Consumption Rate In Young And Old Drosophila Melanogaster Males, Eli Hagedorn, Dean Bunnell, Beate Henschel, Daniel Smith Jr, Stephanie Dickinson, Andrew Brown, Maria De Luca, Ashley Turner, Stanislava Chtarbanova

Research, Publications & Creative Work

Aging is accompanied by increased susceptibility to infections including with viral pathogens resulting in higher morbidity and mortality among the elderly. Significant changes in host metabolism can take place following virus infection. Efficient immune responses are energetically costly, and viruses divert host molecular resources to promote their own replication. Virus-induced metabolic reprogramming could impact infection outcomes, however, how this is affected by aging and impacts organismal survival remains poorly understood. RNA virus infection of Drosophila melanogaster with Flock House virus (FHV) is an effective model to study antiviral responses with age, where older flies die faster than younger flies due …

Fresh Produce As A Potential Vector And Reservoir For Human Bacterial Pathogens: Revealing The Ambiguity Of Interaction And Transmission, Ahmed Esmael, Rashad R. Al-Hindi, Raed S. Albiheyri, Mona G. Alharbi, Amani A. R. Filimban, Mazen S. Alseghayer, Abdulaziz M. Almaneea, Meshari Ahmed Alhadlaq, Jumaa Ayubu, Addisu D. Teklemariam

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

The consumer demand for fresh produce (vegetables and fruits) has considerably increased since the 1980s for more nutritious foods and healthier life practices, particularly in developed countries. Currently, several foodborne outbreaks have been linked to fresh produce. The global rise in fresh produce associated with human infections may be due to the use of wastewater or any contaminated water for the cultivation of fruits and vegetables, the firm attachment of the foodborne pathogens on the plant surface, and the internalization of these agents deep inside the tissue of the plant, poor disinfection practices and human consumption of raw fresh produce. …

Identifying Non-Traditional Slippery Sequences Associated With Translational Frameshifts, Aaron J. Gin, Kari Lynn Clase

Graduate Industrial Research Symposium

Genetic frameshifts are a mutation in which
a nucleotide skip leads to a shift in the
reading frame. In viruses, these frameshifts
can be programmed using a slippery
sequence to bypass the stop codon
associated with the initial protein. This
allows for variable control of protein
expression. In bacteriophages, translational
frameshifts have been identified but only a
few have been proven experimentally. Using
experimental data and comparative
genomics, non-traditional slippery
sequences can be identified as assisting in
controlling the protein coding throughout
viruses. Novel slippery sequences can aid in
the understanding of protein expression in
biological environments and further the …

Comparison Of Two Diagnostic Assays For The Detection Of Serum Neutralizing Antibody To Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus, Justin Brown, Korakrit Poonsuk, Ting-Yu Cheng, Chris Rademacher, Erin Kalkwarf, Liying Tian, Lauren A. Mckeen, Chong Wang, Luis Gimenez-Lirola, Gimenez-Lirola Baum, Locke A. Karriker

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Lactogenic immunity is important for the protection of piglets against many pathogens including porcine epidemic diarrhea virus. Circulating neutralizing antibodies levels in sow sera may help determine if a detectable immune response could confer protection to piglets. Neutralizing antibodies can be detected through various diagnostic assays. This study evaluated the diagnostic characteristics of two neutralizing antibody assays for porcine epidemic diarrhea virus neutralizing antibodies in serum of challenged gilts. Four treatment groups, control, non-vaccinated, vaccinated prior to challenge, and vaccinated following challenge, were comprised of 20 gilts. Serum sample were collected from each gilt prior to and following challenge with …

Was Kaposi’S Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Introduced Into China Via The Ancient Silk Road? An Evolutionary Perspective, Zhenqiu Liu, Qiwen Fang, Jialu Zuo, Veenu Minhas, Charles Wood, Na He, Tiejun Zhang

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) has become widely dispersed worldwide since it was first reported in 1994, but the seroprevalence of KSHV varies geographically. KSHV is relatively ubiquitous in Mediterranean areas and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. The origin of KSHV has long been puzzling. In the present study, we collected and analysed 154 KSHV ORF-K1 sequences obtained from samples originating from Xinjiang, Italy, Greece, Iran and southern Siberia using Bayesian evolutionary analysis in BEAST to test the hypothesis that KSHV was introduced into Xinjiang via the ancient Silk Road. According to the phylogenetic analysis, 72 sequences were subtype A …

Recombinant Protein Vaccines Formulated With Enantio-Specific Cationic Lipid R-Dotap Induce Protective Cellular And Antibody-Mediated Immune Responses In Mice, Siva Gandhapudi, Hua Shi, Martin Ward, John Peyton Bush, Margarita G. Avdiushko, Karuna Sundarapandiyan, Lauren V. Wood, Mania Dorrani, Afsheen Fatima, Joe Dervan, Frank Bedu-Addo, Greg Conn, Ted M. Ross, Jerold Woodward

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Adjuvants are essential components of subunit vaccines added to enhance immune responses to antigens through immunomodulation. Very few adjuvants have been approved for human use by regulatory agencies due to safety concerns. Current subunit vaccine adjuvants approved for human use are very effective in promoting humoral immune responses but are less effective at promoting T-cell immunity. In this study, we evaluated a novel pure enantio-specific cationic lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (R-DOTAP) as an immunomodulator for subunit vaccines capable of inducing both humoral- and cellular-mediated immunity. Using recombinant protein antigens derived from SARS-CoV2 spike or novel computationally optimized broadly reactive influenza antigen (COBRA) …