Virus Diseases Commons^™

P16ink4a Expression And Immunologic Aging In Chronic Hiv Infection, Susan Ribeiro, Jeffrey Milush, Edecio Cunha-Neto, Esper Kallas, Jorge Kalil, Luiz Felipe D. Passero, Peter W. Hunt, Steven Deeks, Douglas F. Nixon, Devi Sengupta

Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine Faculty Publications

Chronic HIV infection is characterized by increased immune activation and immunosenescence. p16 INK4a (p16) is a member of the cyclin-dependent kinase antagonist family that inhibits cellular proliferation, and its protein expression increases during normal chronological aging. However, some infectious diseases can increase the expression of this anti-proliferative protein, potentially accelerating immunological aging and dysfunction. In order to investigate the immunological aging in HIV patients, p16 protein expression was evaluated by flow cytometry, in T cell subsets in a cohort of chronically HIV-infected patients on and off ART as well as age-matched healthy controls. Results showed that untreated HIV-infected subjects exhibited …

Chemokine Levels In The Penile Coronal Sulcus Correlate With Hiv-1 Acquisition And Are Reduced By Male Circumcision In Rakai, Uganda., Jessica L Prodger, Ronald H Gray, Brett Shannon, Kamnoosh Shahabi, Xiangrong Kong, Kate Grabowski, Godfrey Kigozi, Fred Nalugoda, David Serwadda, Maria J Wawer, Steven J Reynolds, Cindy M. Liu, Aaron A R Tobian, Rupert Kaul

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Individual susceptibility to HIV is heterogeneous, but the biological mechanisms explaining differences are incompletely understood. We hypothesized that penile inflammation may increase HIV susceptibility in men by recruiting permissive CD4 T cells, and that male circumcision may decrease HIV susceptibility in part by reducing genital inflammation. We used multi-array technology to measure levels of seven cytokines in coronal sulcus (penile) swabs collected longitudinally from initially uncircumcised men enrolled in a randomized trial of circumcision in Rakai, Uganda. Coronal sulcus cytokine levels were compared between men who acquired HIV and controls who remained seronegative. Cytokines were also compared within men before …

Does Persistent Hiv Replication Explain Continued Lymphoma Incidence In The Era Of Effective Antiretroviral Therapy?, Jennifer Totonchy, Ethel Cesarman

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Non-Hodgkin lymphomas are highly increased in incidence in individuals infected with HIV, and this continues to be the case in spite of highly effective combined antiretroviral therapy (cART). New evidence has demonstrated that while successful virtual recovery of CD4 counts and elimination of HIV from peripheral blood can be achieved with cART, viral replication can still occur in lymphoid tissues. In addition, recent studies have suggested that adipose tissue provides an additional reservoir for HIV-infected macrophages and T lymphocytes even in the context of successful cART therapy. In this review article, we discuss possible mechanisms leading to the development of …

Surveillance, Epidemiological, And Virological Detection Of Highly Pathogenic H5n1 Avian Influenza Viruses In Duck And Poultry From Bangladesh, Wahedul Karim Ansari, Md Safiullah Parvej, Mohamed E. El Zowalaty, Sally Jackson, Stephen A. Bustin, Adel K. Ibrahim, Md Tanvir Rahman, Han Zhang, Mohammad Ferdousur Rahman Khan, Md Mostakin Ahamd, Md. Fasiur Rahman, Marzia Rahman, Khm Nazmul H. Nazir, Sultan Ahmed, Md Liakot Hossenn, Md Abdul Kafi, Mat Yamage, Nitish C. Debnath, Graba Ahmed, Hossam Ashour, Md Masoud, Ayman Noreddin, Md B. Rahman

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) continue to pose a global threat. Waterfowl are the main reservoir and are responsible for the spillover of AIVs to other hosts. This study was conducted as part of routine surveillance activities in Bangladesh and it reports on the serological and molecular detection of H5N1 AIV subtype. A total of 2169 cloacal and 2191 oropharyngeal swabs as well as 1725 sera samples were collected from live birds including duck and chicken in different locations in Bangladesh between the years of 2013 and 2014. Samples were tested using virus isolation, serological tests and molecular methods of RT-PCR. …

Hepatic Fibrosis And Immune Phenotype Vary By Hcv Viremia In Hcv/Hiv Co-Infected Subjects: A Women's Interagency Hiv Study., Seema N Desai, Jennifer L Dodge, Alan L Landay, Marshall J Glesby, Patricia S. Latham, Maria C Villacres, Audrey L French, Stephen J Gange, Ruth M Greenblatt, Marion G Peters

Pathology Faculty Publications

HCV and HIV independently lead to immune dysregulation. The mechanisms leading to advanced liver disease progression in HCV/HIV coinfected subjects remain unclear.

In this cross-sectional study, we assessed the association of HCV viremia, liver fibrosis, and immune response patterns in well-characterized HIV phenotypes: Elite controllers (Elites), HIV controlled (ARTc), and HIV uncontrolled (ARTuc) matched by age and race. Groups were stratified by HCV RNA status. Regulatory T-cell frequencies, T-cell activation (HLADR+CD38+), apoptosis (Caspase-3+), and intracellular cytokines (interferon-γ, IL-2, IL-17) were assessed using multiparametric flow-cytometry. Liver fibrosis was scored by AST to platelet ratio index (APRI).

We found liver fibrosis (APRI) …

Cellular Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 5 (Mcm5) Is Incorporated Into Hiv-1 Virions And Modulates Viral Replication In The Newly Infected Cells., Steven Santos, Yuri Obukhov, Sergei Nekhai, Tatiana Pushkarsky, Beda Brichacek, Michael Bukrinsky, Sergey Iordanskiy

Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine Faculty Publications

The post-entry events of HIV-1 infection occur within reverse transcription complexes derived from the viral cores entering the target cell. HIV-1 cores contain host proteins incorporated from virus-producing cells. In this report, we show that MCM5, a subunit of the hexameric minichromosome maintenance (MCM) DNA helicase complex, associates with Gag polyprotein and is incorporated into HIV-1 virions. The progeny virions depleted of MCM5 demonstrated reduced reverse transcription in newly infected cells, but integration and subsequent replication steps were not affected. Interestingly, increased packaging of MCM5 into the virions also led to reduced reverse transcription, but here viral replication was impaired. …

Microrna Mir-155 Is Necessary For Efficient Gammaherpesvirus Reactivation From Latency, But Not For Establishment Of Latency, Rebecca L. Crepeau, Peisheng Zhang, Edward J. Usherwood

Dartmouth Scholarship

MicroRNA-155 (miR-155) has been shown to play significant roles in the immune response, including in the formation of germinal centers (GC) and the development and maturation of T follicular helper (Tfh) cells. There is in vitro evidence to support a critical role for cellular miR-155 and viral miR-155 homologs in the establishment of gammaherpesvirus latency in B cells. We sought to determine the contribution of miR-155 to the establishment and maintenance of latency in vivousing murine gammaherpesvirus (MHV-68) infection. MHV-68-infected mice deficient in miR-155 exhibited decreases in GC B cells and Tfh cells. However, the frequencies of spleen cells …

The Frequency Of Influenza And Bacterial Co-Infection: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis., Eili Y. Klein, Bradley Monteforte, Alisha Gupta, Wendi Jiang, Larissa May, Yu-Hsiang Hsieh, Andrea Freyer Dugas

Emergency Medicine Faculty Publications

AIM: Co-infecting bacterial pathogens are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in influenza. However, there remains a paucity of literature on the magnitude of co-infection in influenza patients.

METHOD: A systematic search of MeSH, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, SCOPUS, EMBASE, and PubMed was performed. Studies of humans in which all individuals had laboratory confirmed influenza, and all individuals were tested for an array of common bacterial species, met inclusion criteria.

RESULTS: Twenty-seven studies including 3,215 participants met all inclusion criteria. Common etiologies were defined from a subset of eight articles. There was high heterogeneity in the results (I(2) …

Mathematical Models Of Hiv And Hpv Coinfection, Samantha Erwin, Meghna Verma, Vida Abedi, Raquel Hontecillas-Magarzo, Stefan Hoops, Josep Bassaganya-Riera, Stanca M. Ciupe

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Phylogenetic Analysis Of Human Cytomegalovirus Pus27 And Pus28: Ascertaining An Independent Or Linked Evolutionary History, Jessica A. Scarborough

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a widespread pathogen that is particularly skilled at evading immune detection and defense mechanisms, largely due to extensive co-evolution with its host’s immune system. One aspect of this co-evolution involves the acquisition of four virally encoded GPCR chemokine receptor homologs, products of the US27, US28, UL33 and UL78 genes. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) are the largest family of cell surface proteins, found in organisms from yeast to humans. In this research, phylogenetic analysis was used to investigate the origins of the US27 and US28 genes, which are adjacent in the viral genome. The results indicate that …

Norovirus Infection And Acquired Immunity In 8 Countries: Results From The Mal-Ed Study, Furqan Kabir, Adil Kalam, Pascal Bessong Pascal Bessong, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Anita K. M. Zaidi, (Mal-Ed) Network Investigators, Imran Ahmed, Didar Alam, Syed Asad Ali, Shahida Qureshi, Muneera Rasheed, Sajid Bashir Soofi, Ali Turab, Aisha Khizar Yousafzai

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Norovirus is an important cause of childhood diarrhea. We present data from a longitudinal, multicountry study describing norovirus epidemiology during the first 2 years of life.
Methods: A birth cohort of 1457 children across 8 countries contributed 7077 diarrheal stools for norovirus testing. A subset of 199 children contributed additional asymptomatic samples (2307) and diarrheal stools (770), which were used to derive incidence rates and evaluate evidence for acquired immunity.
Results: Across sites, 89% of children experienced at least 1 norovirus infection before 24 months, and 22.7% of all diarrheal stools were norovirus positive. Severity of norovirus-positive diarrhea was …

Viruses, Vaccines And The Public, Judy Diamond, Julia Mcquillan, Amy Spiegel, Patricia Wonch Hill, Rebecca Smith, John T. West, Charles Wood

World of Viruses

Current research in virology is changing public conceptions about vaccines and infectious disease. The University of Nebraska State Museum collaborated with research virologists, science writers, artists and learning researchers to create public outreach materials about viruses and infectious disease. The project, funded by the National Institute of Health’s SEPA program, developed comics, a book with Carl Zimmer, and other materials and programs. The project launched three kinds of learning research: 1) a survey of Nebraska adults on their opinions about vaccines and infectious disease; 2) a study comparing the mental models of viruses, vaccines and infection from virologists, teachers, and …

Stabilization Of Gp120 Outer Domain For Hiv-1-1 Vaccine Immunogen Design, Duoyi Hu

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The sole envelope glycoprotein spike on the surface of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1) is composed of two subunits: gp120 and gp41. The gp120 consists of three domains: the inner domain, outer domain and bridging sheet, to which the viral primary receptor CD4 binds and induces a conformational change in gp120 to expose the co-receptor binding site. Previous studies have found that the outer domain of gp120 is relatively more stable than the inner domain and bridging sheet. When superimposed, the co-crystal structures of CD4-gp120 complex and VRC01-gp120 complex revealed that the CD4-binding site (CD4-BS) antibody VRC01 actually mainly bound to …

The Emergence Of The Zika, Chikungunya, And Dengue Viruses In Brazil, The Dominican Republic, And Puerto Rico, Nelson Xavier Del Pilar

Honors Scholar Theses

The Zika, Chikungunya, and Dengue viruses are three emerging viral infections of the 21st century. Outbreaks have occurred in twenty countries, including areas of South America, and territories in the Caribbean. These viral diseases are mosquito-borne infections transmitted primarily by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. The origins of the diseases, viral morphology, and vector transmission will be described in this review as well as symptoms that humans experience, medical testing procedures, and preventative measures. This study will focus on three locations: Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. There are many similarities between the three viruses to emphasize, but …

Virus-Host Co-Evolution: Determining The Origin Of Human Cytomegalovirus Us27 And Us28, Jessica A. Scarborough, Juliet Spencer, John Paul

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) are the largest family of cell surface proteins, found in organisms from yeast to humans. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a widespread pathogen that is particularly skilled at evading immune detection and defense mechanisms, largely due to extensive co-evolution with its host’s immune system. One aspect of this co-evolution involves the acquisition of four virally encoded GPCR homologs: US27, US28, UL33 and UL78. In this research, phylogenetic analysis was used to investigate the origins of the US27 and US28 genes, which are adjacent in the viral genome. The results indicate that both US27 and US28 share the …

The Association Between Vitamin A Status Or Supplementation And Hiv/Aids, Mikaela Kathleen Curtis

Food Science and Nutrition

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has infected millions of people since the start of the epidemic in the early 1980s. HIV is the etiologic agent of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which has taken millions of lives. It is extremely difficult for particular populations to receive medication to treat HIV infection and prevent the progression of HIV to AIDS. Multiple studies have examined the effect of vitamin A on HIV infection, due to its immune stimulating effects. It is unclear whether an association exists between vitamin A and different aspects of HIV. This review examined the effect of vitamin A …

Herpes Simplex Virus And Interferon Signaling Induce Novel Autophagic Clusters In Sensory Neurons, Sarah Katzenell, David A. Leib

Dartmouth Scholarship

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) establishes lifelong infection in the neurons of trigeminal ganglia (TG), cycling between productive infection and latency. Neuronal antiviral responses are driven by type I interferon (IFN) and are crucial to controlling HSV-1 virulence. Autophagy also plays a role in this neuronal antiviral response, but the mechanism remains obscure. In this study, HSV-1 infection of murine TG neurons triggered unusual clusters of autophagosomes, predominantly in neurons lacking detectable HSV-1 antigen. Treatment of neurons with IFN-β induced a similar response, and cluster formation by infection or IFN treatment was dependent upon an intact IFN-signaling pathway. The autophagic …

Molecular Evolution And Intraclade Recombination Of Enterovirus D68 During The 2014 Outbreak In The United States., Yi Tan, Ferdaus Hassan, Jennifer E. Schuster, Ari Simenauer, Rangaraj Selvarangan, Rebecca A. Halpin, Xudong Lin, Nadia Fedorova, Timothy B. Stockwell, Tommy Tsan-Yuk Lam, James D. Chappell, Tina V. Hartert, Edward C. Holmes, Suman R. Das

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

In August 2014, an outbreak of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) occurred in North America, causing severe respiratory disease in children. Due to a lack of complete genome sequence data, there is only a limited understanding of the molecular evolution and epidemiology of EV-D68 during this outbreak, and it is uncertain whether the differing clinical manifestations of EV-D68 infection are associated with specific viral lineages. We developed a high-throughput complete genome sequencing pipeline for EV-D68 that produced a total of 59 complete genomes from respiratory samples with a 95% success rate, including 57 genomes from Kansas City, MO, collected during the 2014 …

The Impact Of Urbanization On Mosquito-Borne Viruses, Nikhita Puthuveetil

UROP Posters

Mosquito-borne diseases such as yellow fever, dengue, and West Nile are rapidly emerging across the globe. Their emergence is often aided by the growth of their vector population, or the organisms that transmit the virus to the host. Urbanization and land use often destroys the habitat of the virus and its vector. However, the virus and its vector often survive despite the changes to its environment. The goal of this paper is to find out exactly how urbanization and changes in land use affect mosquito-borne viruses and how these viruses survive despite the destruction of their habitats. To understand how …

Phylogenetic Investigation Of Enteric Bovine Coronavirus In Ireland Reveals Partitioning Between European And Global Strains, Lynda Gunn, P. J. Collins, M. J. O'Connell, Helen O'Shea

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

Background

Bovine coronavirus is a primary cause of neonatal calf diarrhea worldwide, and is also associated with acute diarrhea in adult cattle during the winter season. There are no reports on molecular characterization of bovine coronavirus in Ireland, and little data exists apart from serological studies.

Findings

In this study, 11 neonatal (mean age 9 days) calf BCoV strains from the south of Ireland were collected over a one year period and characterized using molecular methods. The spike gene which encodes a protein involved in viral entry, infectivity and immune response shows the most variability amongst the isolates and was …

Whole-Genome Sequencing Of Kshv From Zambian Kaposi’S Sarcoma Biopsies Reveals Unique Viral Diversity, Landon N. Olp, Adrien Jeanniard, Clemence Marimo, John T. West, 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 as 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 …

Effects Of Antiretroviral Therapy On Kaposi’S Sarcoma–Associated Herpesvirus (Kshv) Transmission Among Hiv-Infected Zambian Children, Landon Olp, Veenu Minhas, Clement Gondwe, Chipepo Kankasa, Janet M. Wojcicki, Charles Mitchell, John T. West, Charles Wood

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Background: The risk of Kaposi’s sarcoma–associated herpesvirus (KSHV) acquisition among children is increased by HIV infection. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) was recently made widely available to HIV-infected children in Zambia. However, the impact of early ART on KSHV transmission to HIV-infected children is unknown.

Methods: We enrolled and followed a cohort of 287 HIV-exposed, KSHV-negative children under 12 months of age from Lusaka, Zambia, to identify KSHV seroconversion events. Potential factors associated with KSHV infection—with an emphasis on HIV, ART, and immunological measures—were assessed through structured questionnaires and blood analyses. Incidence rate, Kaplan- Meier, and multivariable Cox regression models were used …

Cationic Cell-Penetrating Peptides Are Potent Furin Inhibitors, Bruno Ramos-Molina, Adam N. Lick, Amir Nasrolahi Shirazi, Donghoon Oh, Rakesh Tiwari, Naglaa Salem El-Sayed, Keykavous Parang, Iris Lindberg

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Cationic cell-penetrating peptides have been widely used to enhance the intracellular delivery of various types of cargoes, such as drugs and proteins. These reagents are chemically similar to the multi-basic peptides that are known to be potent proprotein convertase inhibitors. Here, we report that both HIV-1 TAT47-57 peptide and the Chariot reagent are micromolar inhibitors of furin activity in vitro. In agreement, HIV-1 TAT47-57 reduced HT1080 cell migration, thought to be mediated by proprotein convertases, by 25%. In addition, cyclic polyarginine peptides containing hydrophobic moieties which have been previously used as transfection reagents also exhibited potent furin inhibition in vitro …

Effect Of Cmvil-10 On Exosome Production By Human Breast Cancer Cells, Susanna N. Basappa

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a ubiquitous virus that infects 70-90% of the general population, primarily the immunocompromised, but has been implicated in several forms of cancer, including breast cancer. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in women in North America, usually from metastasis. Exosomes are 30-100nm vesicles produced by most cells which carry protein and RNA to cells in their microenvironment. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of HCMV-infection of a secreted viral cytokine, cmvIL-10, on exosome production by highly metastatic breast cancer cells.

MDA-MB-231 cells were cultured in vitro, …

Structural And Functional Interactions Between Bro1 Domain Of Human Alix Protein And Nucleocapsid Packaging Rna Complex From Hiv, Scott Gross

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

A virus is only as powerful as its ability to spread. Enveloped retroviruses, namely HIV-1, use exocytosis pathways that normal host cells use to release particles from the plasma membrane. The main pathways of interest in this study are the Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport (ESCRT) and adjacent ALIX pathways. The ESCRT pathway is especially important for degradation of receptor/cargo complexes that form Multi-Vesicular Bodies (MVBs). Currently, there is no known therapy that targets this endosomal pathway, which would prevent the spread of the virus to other cells. The virus has adapted to jump from pathway to pathway when …

Adapting The Standard Sir Disease Model In Order To Track And Predict The Spreading Of The Ebola Virus Using Twitter Data, Armin Smailhodzic

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A method has been developed to track infectious diseases by using data mining of active Twitter accounts and its efficacy was demonstrated during the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014. Using a meme based n-gram semantic usage model to search the Twitter database for indications of illness, flight and death from the spread of Ebola in Africa, principally from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Memes of interest relate disease to location and severity and are coupled to the density of Tweets and re-Tweets. The meme spreads through the community of social users in a fashion similar to nonlinear wave propagation- …

True Durability: Hiv Virologic Suppression In An Urban Clinic And Implications For Timing Of Intensive Adherence Efforts And Viral Load Monitoring, Debra A. Benator, Angelo Elmi, Manuel D. Rodriguez, Howard B. Gale, Virginia L. Kan, Heather J. Hoffman, Susan Tramazzo, Karen Hall, Angela Mcknight, Leah Squires

Medicine Faculty Publications

Although the majority of HIV-infected patients who begin potent antiretroviral therapy should expect long-term virologic suppression, the realities in practice are less certain. Durability of viral suppression was examined to define the best timing of targeted adherence strategies and intensive viral load monitoring in an urban clinic population with multiple challenges to ART adherence. We examined the risk of viral rebound for patients who achieved two consecutive viral loads lower than the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) within 390 days. For 791 patients with two viral loads below the LLOQ, viral rebound >LLOQ from the first viral load was 36.9 …

True Durability: Hiv Virologic Suppression In An Urban Clinic And Implications For Timing Of Intensive Adherence Efforts And Viral Load Monitoring., Debra A Benator, Angelo Elmi, Manuel D Rodriguez, Howard B Gale, Virginia L. Kan, Heather J. Hoffman, Susan Tramazzo, Karen Hall, Angela Mcknight, Leah Squires

Medicine Faculty Publications

Although the majority of HIV-infected patients who begin potent antiretroviral therapy should expect long-term virologic suppression, the realities in practice are less certain. Durability of viral suppression was examined to define the best timing of targeted adherence strategies and intensive viral load monitoring in an urban clinic population with multiple challenges to ART adherence. We examined the risk of viral rebound for patients who achieved two consecutive viral loads lower than the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) within 390 days. For 791 patients with two viral loads below the LLOQ, viral rebound >LLOQ from the first viral load was 36.9 …

Kaposi Sarcoma Herpesvirus Induces Ho-1 During De Novo Infection Of Endothelial Cells Via Viral Mirna-Dependent And -Independent Mechanisms, Sara Botto, Jennifer Totonchy, Jean K. Gustin, Ashlee V. Moses

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Kaposi sarcoma (KS) herpesvirus (KSHV) infection of endothelial cells (EC) is associated with strong induction of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), a stress-inducible host gene that encodes the rate-limiting enzyme responsible for heme catabolism. KS is an angioproliferative tumor characterized by the proliferation of KSHV-infected spindle cells, and HO-1 is highly expressed in such cells. HO-1 converts the pro-oxidant, proinflammatory heme molecule into metabolites with antioxidant, antiinflammatory, and proliferative activities. Previously published work has shown that KSHV-infected EC in vitro proliferate in response to free heme in a HO-1-dependent manner, thus implicating virus-enhanced HO-1 activity in KS tumorigenesis. The present study investigated …

Acanthamoeba Spp. As Reservoirs For Transmission Of Norovirus, Tun-Yun Hsueh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Human noroviruses (HuNoV) are the most common cause of foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States and the most common food commodities implicated in HuNoV outbreaks are leafy greens; however, the vehicle of transmission and point of contamination are often unknown. Here, we hypothesize that common free-living amoebae (FLA) ubiquitous in the environment may act as reservoirs of HuNoV and facilitate the transmission of these pathogens to fresh produce. The objective of this research was to first evaluate the interaction/association between HuNoV surrogates and Acanthamoeba by incubating them together and analyzing virus titer associated with amoeba through an 8 day …