Search results for "Virology"
showing 10 items of 2354 documents
Enumeration of NKG2C+natural killer cells early following allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients does not allow prediction of the occurrence of c…
2015
The role of Natural killer (NK) cells in the control of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients has not been precisely characterized. The current study is aimed at investigating the potential role of NK cells expressing the activating receptor NKG2C in affording protection against the development of CMV DNAemia in patients exhibiting detectable CMV-specific CD8+ T-cell responses early following transplantation. A total of 61 nonconsecutive patients were included in the study. Peripheral levels of CD56brightCD16−/low and CD56dimCD16+ NKG2C+ NK cells and CMV pp65/IE-1-specific IFN-γ-producing CD8+ T-cells were enumerated by flow cytometry at days +30 and …
Heterogeneity in the Response of Different Subtypes of Drosophila melanogaster Midgut Cells to Viral Infections
2021
This article belongs to the Section Viral Immunology, Vaccines, and Antivirals.
Protection of Azidothymidine-Induced Cardiopathology in Mice by Mildronate, a Mitochondria-Targeted Drug
2006
Azidothymidine, a nucleoside-analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI), is a commonly used antiretroviral drug in AIDS treatment, however its use is limited by severe toxic side effects due to its influence on mitochondria that result in myopathy, particularly affecting the cardiac muscle. We suggest that effective protection of azidothymidine- induced cardiopathology can be expected from drugs that are capable of targeting mitochondria. Therefore the present study in mice was carried out with mildronate, a cardioprotective drug of the aza-butyrobetaine class, which previously has been shown to act as a highly potent protector of mitochondrial processes. In our study, saline (control)…
The broad-spectrum antiinfective drug artesunate interferes with the canonical nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway by targeting RelA/p65.
2015
Infection with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a serious medical problem, particularly in immunocompromised individuals and neonates. The success of standard antiviral therapy is hampered by low drug compatibility and induction of viral resistance. A novel strategy is based on the exploitation of cell-directed signaling inhibitors. The broad antiinfective drug artesunate (ART) offers additional therapeutic options such as oral bioavailability and low levels of toxic side-effects. Here, novel ART-derived compounds including dimers and trimers were synthesized showing further improvements over the parental drug. Antiviral activity and mechanistic aspects were determined leading to the followi…
Microscopic interactions between ivermectin and key human and viral proteins involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection
2021
The identification of chemical compounds able to bind specific sites of the human/viral proteins involved in the SARS-CoV-2 infection cycle is a prerequisite to design effective antiviral drugs. Here we conduct a molecular dynamics study with the aim to assess the interactions of ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug with broad-spectrum antiviral activity, with the human Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), the viral 3CLpro and PLpro proteases, and the viral SARS Unique Domain (SUD). The drug/target interactions have been characterized in silico by describing the nature of the non-covalent interactions found and by measuring the extent of their time duration along the MD simulation. Results …
Monoclonal antibodies with subnanomolar affinity to tenofovir for monitoring adherence to antiretroviral therapies: from hapten synthesis to prototyp…
2020
Approximately 32 million people have died of HIV infection since the beginning of the outbreak, and 38 million are currently infected. Among strategies adopted by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS to end the AIDS global epidemic, the treatment, diagnosis, and viral suppression of the infected subjects are considered crucial for HIV prevention and transmission. Although several antiretroviral (ARV) drugs are successfully used to manage HIV infection, their efficacy strictly relies on perfect adherence to the therapy, which is seldom achieved. Patient supervision, especially in HIV-endemic, low-resource settings, requires rapid, easy-to-use, and affordable analytical tools, such …
Echovirus 1 Entry into Polarized Caco-2 Cells Depends on Dynamin, Cholesterol, and Cellular Factors Associated with Macropinocytosis
2013
ABSTRACT Enteroviruses invade their hosts by crossing the intestinal epithelium. We have examined the mechanism by which echovirus 1 (EV1) enters polarized intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2). Virus binds to VLA-2 on the apical cell surface and moves rapidly to early endosomes. Using inhibitory drugs, dominant negative mutants, and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to block specific endocytic pathways, we found that virus entry requires dynamin GTPase and membrane cholesterol but is independent of both clathrin- and caveolin-mediated endocytosis. Instead, infection requires factors commonly associated with macropinocytosis, including amiloride-sensitive Na + /H + exchange, protein kinase C, …
The 2-5A System and HIV Infection
1994
The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is the etiologic agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The progression of this retro viral disease is associated with various clinical manifestations, including the acquisition of an immunodeficient state, the frequent presence of neurological disorders, and some malignancies (reviewed in Barre-Sinoussi et al. 1983; Wong-Staal and Gallo 1985; Fauci 1988). Immunologic dysfunctions caused by HIV-1 infection include disorders in the production of cytokines (Murray et al. 1984; Abb et al. 1986). For example, a significant decrease in the production of interferon-α (IFN-α) by cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from pat…
Evolution of viral quasispecies in four dominant HlA-A2 restricted T cell epitopes is not a major reason for viral persistence in interferon-treated …
2002
In most patients, chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection persists despite antiviral treatment with interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) and ribavirin. The aim of the study was to determine whether HCV could evade cellular immune responses through mutations within T cell epitopes. Viral sequences flanking four major CTL epitopes within the HCV core and envelope regions were analyzed by PCR amplification, cloning and sequencing in seven HLA-A2 positive HCV patients before, during and after antiviral therapy. In addition, cytotoxic T lymphocyte precursor (CTLp) frequencies specific to these epitopes were quantitated by ELISPOT. A total of 13 coding mutations were observed among 650 cloned and seque…
European Sero-Epidemiology Network 2: standardisation of immunoassay results for pertussis requires homogeneity in the antigenic preparations.
2008
A standardisation process, already developed during the earlier European Sero-Epidemiology Network (ESEN) project, was employed with a more robust algorithm to harmonise results of pertussis serological assays performed in 12 European and non-European countries. Initially, results from each country's own assay were compared with those obtained at the reference laboratory by means of an in-house pertussis toxin (PT)-based ELISA: seven countries used in-house or commercial PT-ELISAs; the other countries used assays based on Bordetella pertussis whole cell extracts (WCE) (three countries) or on combined PT-FHA (filamentous haemagglutinin) antigenic preparations (two countries). The WCE assays,…