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Full-Text Articles in Medical Sciences

Intrinsic And Innate Defenses Of Neurons: Détente With The Herpesviruses, Lynn Enquist, David A. Leib Oct 2017

Intrinsic And Innate Defenses Of Neurons: Détente With The Herpesviruses, Lynn Enquist, David A. Leib

Dartmouth Scholarship

Neuroinvasive herpesviruses have evolved to efficiently infect and establish latency in neurons. The nervous system has limited capability to regenerate, so immune responses therein are carefully regulated to be nondestructive, with dependence on atypical intrinsic and innate defenses. In this article we review studies of some of these noncanonical defense pathways and how herpesvirus gene products counter them, highlighting the contributions that primary neuronal in vitro models have made to our understanding of this field.


Aspergillus Fumigatus Trehalose-Regulatory Subunit Homolog Moonlights To Mediate Cell Wall Homeostasis Through Modulation Of Chitin Synthase Activity, Arsa Thammahong, Alayna K. Caffrey-Card, Sourabh Dhingra, Joshua J. Obar, Robert Cramer Apr 2017

Aspergillus Fumigatus Trehalose-Regulatory Subunit Homolog Moonlights To Mediate Cell Wall Homeostasis Through Modulation Of Chitin Synthase Activity, Arsa Thammahong, Alayna K. Caffrey-Card, Sourabh Dhingra, Joshua J. Obar, Robert Cramer

Dartmouth Scholarship

Trehalose biosynthesis is found in fungi but not humans. Proteins involved in trehalose biosynthesis are essential for fungal pathogen virulence in humans and plants through multiple mechanisms. Loss of canonical trehalose biosynthesis genes in the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus significantly alters cell wall structure and integrity, though the mechanistic link between these virulence-associated pathways remains enigmatic. Here we characterize genes, called tslAand tslB, which encode proteins that contain domains similar to those corresponding to trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase but lack critical catalytic residues for phosphatase activity. Loss of tslA reduces trehalose content in both conidia and mycelia, impairs cell wall …


Filamentous Fungal Carbon Catabolite Repression Supports Metabolic Plasticity And Stress Responses Essential For Disease Progression, Sarah R. Beattie, Kenneth Mark, Arsa Thammahong, Laure Nicolas Annick Ries, Sourabh Dhingra, Alayna Caffrey-Carr, Chao Cheng Apr 2017

Filamentous Fungal Carbon Catabolite Repression Supports Metabolic Plasticity And Stress Responses Essential For Disease Progression, Sarah R. Beattie, Kenneth Mark, Arsa Thammahong, Laure Nicolas Annick Ries, Sourabh Dhingra, Alayna Caffrey-Carr, Chao Cheng

Dartmouth Scholarship

Aspergillus fumigatus is responsible for a disproportionate number of invasive mycosis cases relative to other common filamentous fungi. While many fungal factors critical for infection establishment are known, genes essential for disease persistence and progression are ill defined. We propose that fungal factors that promote navigation of the rapidly changing nutrient and structural landscape characteristic of disease progression represent untapped clinically relevant therapeutic targets. To this end, we find that A. fumigatus requires a carbon catabolite repression (CCR) mediated genetic network to support in vivo fungal fitness and disease progression. While CCR as mediated by the transcriptional repressor CreA is …


Cis-Eqtl-Based Trans-Ethnic Meta-Analysis Reveals Novel Genes Associated With Breast Cancer Risk, Joshua Hoffman, Rebecca Graff, Nima Emami, Caroline Tai, Michael Passarelli Mar 2017

Cis-Eqtl-Based Trans-Ethnic Meta-Analysis Reveals Novel Genes Associated With Breast Cancer Risk, Joshua Hoffman, Rebecca Graff, Nima Emami, Caroline Tai, Michael Passarelli

Dartmouth Scholarship

Breast cancer is the most common solid organ malignancy and the most frequent cause of cancer death among women worldwide. Previous research has yielded insights into its genetic etiology, but there remains a gap in the understanding of genetic factors that contribute to risk, and particularly in the biological mechanisms by which genetic variation modulates risk. The National Cancer Institute's "Up for a Challenge" (U4C) competition provided an opportunity to further elucidate the genetic basis of the disease. Our group leveraged the seven datasets made available by the U4C organizers and data from the publicly available UK Biobank cohort to …


A Novel Multi-Network Approach Reveals Tissue-Specific Cellular Modulators Of Fibrosis In Systemic Sclerosis, Jaclyn N. Taroni, Casey S. Greene, Viktor Martyanov, Tammara A. Wood Mar 2017

A Novel Multi-Network Approach Reveals Tissue-Specific Cellular Modulators Of Fibrosis In Systemic Sclerosis, Jaclyn N. Taroni, Casey S. Greene, Viktor Martyanov, Tammara A. Wood

Dartmouth Scholarship

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multi-organ autoimmune disease characterized by skin fibrosis. Internal organ involvement is heterogeneous. It is unknown whether disease mechanisms are common across all involved affected tissues or if each manifestation has a distinct underlying pathology.We used consensus clustering to compare gene expression profiles of biopsies from four SSc-affected tissues (skin, lung, esophagus, and peripheral blood) from patients with SSc, and the related conditions pulmonary fibrosis (PF) and pulmonary arterial hypertension, and derived a consensus disease-associate signature across all tissues. We used this signature to query tissue-specific functional genomic networks. We performed novel network analyses to contrast …


A New Class Of Inhibitors Of The Arac Family Virulence Regulator Vibrio Cholerae Toxt, Anne K. Woodbrey, Evans O. Onyango, Maria Pellegrini, Gabriela Kovacikova, Ronald Taylor, Gordon Gribble, F. Jon Kull Mar 2017

A New Class Of Inhibitors Of The Arac Family Virulence Regulator Vibrio Cholerae Toxt, Anne K. Woodbrey, Evans O. Onyango, Maria Pellegrini, Gabriela Kovacikova, Ronald Taylor, Gordon Gribble, F. Jon Kull

Dartmouth Scholarship

Vibrio cholerae is responsible for the diarrheal disease cholera that infects millions of people worldwide. While vaccines protecting against cholera exist, and oral rehydration therapy is an effective treatment method, the disease will remain a global health threat until long-term solutions such as improved sanitation and access to clean water become widely available. Because of this, there is a pressing need for potent therapeutics that can either mitigate cholera symptoms, or act prophylactically to prevent the virulent effects of a cholera infection. Here we report the design, synthesis, and characterization of a set of compounds that bind and inhibit ToxT, …


Potent Single-Domain Antibodies That Arrest Respiratory Syncytial Virus Fusion Protein In Its Prefusion State, Iebe Rossey, Morgan Gilman, Stephanie Kabeche, Koen Sedeyn, Daniel Wrapp Feb 2017

Potent Single-Domain Antibodies That Arrest Respiratory Syncytial Virus Fusion Protein In Its Prefusion State, Iebe Rossey, Morgan Gilman, Stephanie Kabeche, Koen Sedeyn, Daniel Wrapp

Dartmouth Scholarship

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the main cause of lower respiratory tract infections in young children. The RSV fusion protein (F) is highly conserved and is the only viral membrane protein that is essential for infection. The prefusion conformation of RSV F is considered the most relevant target for antiviral strategies because it is the fusion-competent form of the protein and the primary target of neutralizing activity present in human serum. Here, we describe two llama-derived single-domain antibodies (VHHs) that have potent RSV-neutralizing activity and bind selectively to prefusion RSV F with picomolar affinity. Crystal structures of these VHHs …


Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Sabotages The Generation Of Host Proresolving Lipid Mediators, Becca A. Flitter, Kelli L. Hvorecny, Emiko Ono, Taylor Eddens Jan 2017

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Sabotages The Generation Of Host Proresolving Lipid Mediators, Becca A. Flitter, Kelli L. Hvorecny, Emiko Ono, Taylor Eddens

Dartmouth Scholarship

Recurrent Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections coupled with robust, damaging neutrophilic inflammation characterize the chronic lung disease cystic fibrosis (CF). The proresolving lipid mediator, 15-epi lipoxin A4 (15-epi LXA4), plays a critical role in limiting neutrophil activation and tissue inflammation, thus promoting the return to tissue homeostasis. Here, we show that a secreted P. aeruginosa epoxide hydrolase, cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator inhibitory factor (Cif), can disrupt 15-epi LXA4 transcellular biosynthesis and function. In the airway, 15-epi LXA4 production is stimulated by the epithelial-derived eicosanoid 14,15-epoxyeicosatrienoic acid (14,15-EET). Cif sabotages the production of 15-epi LXA4 by rapidly hydrolyzing 14,15-EET into its cognate …