Cryptococcus neoformans can cause fatal meningoencephalitis in patients with AIDS or other immune-compromising conditions. Current antifungals are suboptimal to treat this disease, therefore, novel targets and new therapies are needed. Previously, we have shown that chitosan is a critical component of the cryptococcal cell wall, is required for sur...
Defining the most penetrating correlates of protective memory T cells is key for designing improved vaccines and T cell therapies. Here, we evaluate how interleukin (IL-2) production by memory CD4 T cells, a widely held indicator of their protective potential, impacts immune responses against murine influenza A virus (IAV). Unexpectedly, we show th...
BACKGROUND: Acceptability of mobile phone text messaging as a means of asynchronous communication between health care systems and patients is growing. The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has adopted an automated texting system (aTS) for national rollout. The aTS allows providers to develop clinical texting protocols to promote patient self-m...
Importance: Screening for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection during pregnancy identifies women whose infants are at risk of perinatal transmission. Data from a nationally representative sample showed a prevalence of maternal HBV infection of 85.8 cases per 100000 deliveries from 1998 to 2011 (0.09% of live-born singleton deliveries in the United Sta...
Importance: Approximately 1.1 million persons in the United States are currently living with HIV, and more than 700000 persons have died of AIDS since the first cases were reported in 1981. There were approximately 38300 new diagnoses of HIV infection in 2017. The estimated prevalence of HIV infection among persons 13 years and older in the United ...
Importance: An estimated 1.1 million individuals in the United States are currently living with HIV, and more than 700000 persons have died of AIDS since the first cases were reported in 1981. In 2017, there were 38281 new diagnoses of HIV infection reported in the United States; 81% of these new diagnoses were among males and 19% were among female...
Assessment of more than 400,000 people over the age of 40 demonstrates that homozygosity for a CCR5 variant that prevents HIV-1 infection comes at the cost of increased rates of mortality.
Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is an emerging pathogen and is the causative infectious agent of Kaposi sarcoma and two malignancies of B cell origin. To date, there is no licensed KSHV vaccine. Development of an effective vaccine against KSHV continues to be limited by a poor understanding of how the virus initiates acute primary infe...
The mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein (MAVS) orchestrates host antiviral innate immune response to RNA virus infection. However, how MAVS signaling is controlled to eradicate virus while preventing self-destructive inflammation remains obscure. Here, we show that protein geranylgeranylation, a posttranslational lipid modification of protein...
The host immune response and virus-encoded immune evasion proteins pose constant, mutual selective pressure on each other. Virally encoded immune evasion proteins also indicate which host pathways must be inhibited to allow for viral replication. Here, we show that IIV-6 is capable of inhibiting the two Drosophila NF-kappaB signaling pathways, Imd ...
