Apoptosis in infection
Publication date: Available online 4 November 2017Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): Georg HäckerAbstractApoptosis is one of the principal responses that human cells have at their disposal when faced with changes in their environment. Microbial infection is a massive challenge to a cell, and it is unsurprising that the apoptosis apparatus has been implicated in numerous infections. However, looking at the available data, the impression is one of bewildering complexity. Microbial proteins and other molecules that are often poorly understood interact, with uncertain specificity, with host cell components of varying fu...
Source: Microbes and Infection - July 10, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research
Chidamide, a histone deacetylase inhibitor-based anticancer drug, effectively reactivates latent HIV-1 provirus
Publication date: Available online 8 November 2017Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): Wenqian Yang, Zhiwu Sun, Chen Hua, Qian Wang, Wei Xu, Qiwen Deng, Yanbin Pan, Lu Lu, Shibo JiangAbstractAlthough combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) is highly effective in suppressing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication, it fails to eradicate the virus from HIV-1-infected individuals because HIV-1 integrates into the resting CD4+ T cells, establishing latently infected reservoirs. Histone deacetylation is a key element in regulating HIV-1 latent infection. Chidamide, a new anticancer drug, is a novel type of...
Source: Microbes and Infection - July 10, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research
Chlamydiales, Anaplasma and Bartonella: persistence and immune escape of intracellular bacteria
Publication date: Available online 21 November 2017Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): Aurélie Scherler, Nicolas Jacquier, Gilbert GreubAbstractIntracellular bacteria, such as Chlamydiales, Anaplasma or Bartonella, need to persist inside their host in order to complete their developmental cycle and to infect new hosts. In order to escape from the host immune system, intracellular bacteria have developed diverse mechanisms of persistence, which can directly impact the health of their host. (Source: Microbes and Infection)
Source: Microbes and Infection - July 10, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research
Vaccine development targeting lipopolysaccharide structure modification
Publication date: Available online 9 December 2017Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): Yun Zhao, Vilma Arce-Gorvel, Raquel Conde-Álvarez, Ignacio Moriyon, Jean-Pierre GorvelAbstractVaccines are one of the most important methods for preventing infectious disease. Structural modification of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) provides a strategy for the development of live attenuated vaccines, either by altering the immunogenicity or by attenuating virulence of the bacteria. This review summarizes various approaches that utilize LPS mutants as whole-cell vaccines. (Source: Microbes and Infection)
Source: Microbes and Infection - July 10, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research
Size matters – how the immune system deals with fungal hyphae
Publication date: Available online 14 December 2017Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): Jürgen Löffler, Frank EbelAbstractFungal hyphae constitute a special challenge for the immune system, since they are too large to be phagocytosed. This review summarizes our current knowledge on those immune cells that are able to attack and eliminate hyphae and we discuss the different means that are employed by these cells in order to kill hyphae. (Source: Microbes and Infection)
Source: Microbes and Infection - July 10, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research
New concepts in Chlamydia induced inflammasome responses
Publication date: Available online 14 December 2017Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): Steve J. Webster, Jane C. GoodallAbstractSince the concept of the inflammasome was introduced by Martinon, Burns and Tschopp in 2002, there has been an exponential increase in our understanding of how inflammasomes (caspase activating molecular platforms) regulate innate inflammatory responses to infectious microorganisms. Advances in understanding inflammasome biology have been developed using a range of bacterial pathogens. Recent studies investigating inflammasome responses during Chlamydia infection have provided interesting mec...
Source: Microbes and Infection - July 10, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research
Immunological bases of increased susceptibility to invasive nontyphoidal Salmonella infection in children with malaria and anaemia
Publication date: Available online 15 December 2017Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): Tonney S. Nyirenda, Wilson L. Mandala, Melita A. Gordon, Pietro MastroeniAbstractMalaria and anaemia are key underlying factors for iNTS disease in African children. Knowledge of clinical and epidemiological risk-factors for iNTS disease has not been paralleled by an in-depth knowledge of the immunobiology of the disease. Herein, we review human and animal studies on mechanisms of increased susceptibility to iNTS in children. (Source: Microbes and Infection)
Source: Microbes and Infection - July 10, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research
Insight in the biology of Chlamydia-related bacteria
Publication date: Available online 18 December 2017Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): Firuza Bayramova, Nicolas Jacquier, Gilbert GreubAbstractThe Chlamydiales order is composed of obligate intracellular bacteria and includes the Chlamydiaceae family and several family-level lineages called Chlamydia-related bacteria. In this review we will highlight the conserved and distinct biological features between these two groups. We will show how a better characterization of Chlamydia-related bacteria may increase our understanding on the Chlamydiales order evolution, and may help identifying new therapeutic targets to treat...
Source: Microbes and Infection - July 10, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research
Alternative strategies for vaccination to brucellosis
Publication date: Available online 26 December 2017Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): David W. Pascual, Xinghong Yang, Hongbin Wang, Zakia Goodwin, Carol Hoffman, Beata ClappAbstractBrucellosis remains burdensome for livestock and humans worldwide. Better vaccines for protection are needed to reduce disease incidence. Immunity to brucellosis and barriers to protection are discussed. The benefits and limitations of conventional and experimental brucellosis vaccines are outlined, and novel vaccination strategies needed to ultimately protect against brucellosis are introduced. (Source: Microbes and Infection)
Source: Microbes and Infection - July 10, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research
Immune responses to congenital cytomegalovirus infection
Publication date: Available online 26 December 2017Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): Ilija Brizić, Lea Hiršl, William J. Britt, Astrid Krmpotić, Stipan JonjićAbstractHuman cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the most common cause of viral infection acquired in utero. Even though the infection has been studied for several decades, immune determinants important for virus control and mechanisms of long-term sequelae caused by infection are still insufficiently characterized. Animal models of congenital HCMV infection provide unique opportunity to study various aspects of human disease. In this review, we summarize current kn...
Source: Microbes and Infection - July 10, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research
Cellular interactions of covR/S mutant group A Streptococci
Publication date: Available online 26 December 2017Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): Emma L. Langshaw, Manisha Pandey, Michael F. GoodAbstractGroup A Streptococci (GAS) are responsible for a wide array of non-invasive and invasive diseases and varying immune sequelae with high rates of mortality and morbidity. GAS strains with a mutation in their covR/S regulatory system are hypervirulent with an increased capacity for causing invasive disease. covR/S mutants augment their virulence through the up-regulation of important virulence factors and target host immune surveillance primarily by inhibiting neutrophils. An in...
Source: Microbes and Infection - July 10, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research
Exploiting the apicoplast: apicoplast-targeting drugs and malaria vaccine development
Publication date: Available online 26 December 2017Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): Leanne M. Low, Danielle I. Stanisic, Michael F. GoodAbstractThe apicoplast, a relic plastid found in most Apicomplexan parasites, is a notable drug target. Certain antibiotics elicit a delayed death phenotype by targeting this organelle. Here, we review apicoplast-targeting drugs and their targets, particularly those that cause delayed death, and highlight its potential uses in malaria vaccine development. (Source: Microbes and Infection)
Source: Microbes and Infection - July 10, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research
Are miRNAs critical determinants in herpes simplex virus pathogenesis?
Publication date: Available online 26 December 2017Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): Siddheshvar Bhela, Barry T. RouseAbstractmiRNAs are small noncoding RNA that play a crucial role in gene regulation by inhibiting translation or promoting mRNA degradation. Viruses themselves express miRNAs that can target either the host or viral mRNA transcriptome. Moreover, viral infection of cells causes a drastic change in host miRNAs. This complex interaction between the host and viruses often favors the virus to evade immune elimination and favors the establishment and maintenance of latency. In this review we discuss the fun...
Source: Microbes and Infection - July 10, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research
Airway microbial metagenomics
Publication date: Available online 26 December 2017Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): Katarzyna Pienkowska, Lutz Wiehlmann, Burkhard TümmlerAbstractHigh-throughput untargeted metagenome sequencing provides information about the composition of the microbial communities of viruses, bacteria, archaea and unicellular eukaryotes in the habitat of interest. This review outlines the sampling, processing, sequencing and bioinformatic analysis of secretions of the respiratory tract and summarizes our current knowledge of the upper and lower human airways metagenome in health and disease. (Source: Microbes and Infection)
Source: Microbes and Infection - July 10, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research
Observations on bradyzoite biology
Publication date: Available online 26 December 2017Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): Vincent Tu, Rama Yakubu, Louis M. WeissAbstractTachyzoites of the Apicomplexan Toxoplasma gondii cause acute infection, disseminate widely in their host, and eventually differentiate into a latent encysted form called bradyzoites that are found within tissue cysts. During latent infection, whenever transformation to tachyzoites occurs, any tachyzoites that develop are removed by the immune system. In contrast, cysts containing bradyzoites are sequestered from the immune system. In the absence of an effective immune response released...
Source: Microbes and Infection - July 10, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research
