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1.  2-(4-Methyl­phen­yl)-2-oxoethyl 3-bromo­benzoate 
The mol­ecule of the title compound, C16H13BrO3, is built of two approximately planar fragments, viz. 3-bromo­benzoate [maximum deviation = 0.055 (2) Å and 2-oxo-2-p-tolyl­ethyl [maximum deviation = 0.042 (2) Å], inclined by 46.51 (7)°. In the crystal, weak C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and Br⋯Br contacts [3.6491 (7) Å] connect the mol­ecules into infinite layers parallel to (-221).
doi:10.1107/S1600536812046995
PMCID: PMC3589039  PMID: 23476275
2.  Immune correlates of aging in outdoor-housed captive rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) 
Background
Questions remain about whether inflammation is a cause, consequence, or coincidence of aging. The purpose of this study was to define baseline immunological characteristics from blood to develop a model in rhesus macaques that could be used to address the relationship between inflammation and aging. Hematology, flow cytometry, clinical chemistry, and multiplex cytokine/chemokine analyses were performed on a group of 101 outdoor-housed captive rhesus macaques ranging from 2 to 24 years of age, approximately equivalent to 8 to 77 years of age in humans.
Results
These results extend earlier reports correlating changes in lymphocyte subpopulations and cytokines/chemokines with increasing age. There were significant declines in numbers of white blood cells (WBC) overall, as well as lymphocytes, monocytes, and polymorphonuclear cells with increasing age. Among lymphocytes, there were no significant declines in NK cells and T cells, whereas B cell numbers exhibited significant declines with age. Within the T cell populations, there were significant declines in numbers of CD4+ naïve T cells and CD8+ naïve T cells. Conversely, numbers of CD4+CD8+ effector memory and CD8+effector memory T cells increased with age. New multiplex analyses revealed that concentrations of a panel of ten circulating cytokines/chemokines, IFNγ, IL1b, IL6, IL12, IL15, TNFα, MCP1, MIP1α, IL1ra, and IL4, each significantly correlated with age and also exhibited concordant pairwise correlations with every other factor within this group. To also control for outlier values, mean rank values of each of these cytokine concentrations in relation to age of each animal and these also correlated with age.
Conclusions
A panel of ten cytokines/chemokines were identified that correlated with aging and also with each other. This will permit selection of animals exhibiting relatively higher and lower inflammation status as a model to test mechanisms of inflammation status in aging with susceptibility to infections and vaccine efficacy.
doi:10.1186/1742-4933-9-25
PMCID: PMC3541156  PMID: 23151307
Inflammation; Inflamm-aging; Cytokine; Chemokine; Multiplex; Rhesus macaque; Aging; Animal model; Immune senescence; Blood
3.  CD40-CD40L pathway plays a critical CD8 intrinsic and extrinsic role during rescue of exhausted CD8 T cells 
CD8 exhaustion mediated by inhibitory PD-1-PD-L1 pathway occurs in several chronic infections including toxoplasmosis. While blockade of PD-1-PD-L1 pathway revives this response, the role of co-stimulatory receptors involved in this rescue has not been ascertained in any model of CD8 exhaustion. This is the first report which demonstrates that one such co-stimulatory pathway, CD40-CD40L, plays a critical role during rescue of exhausted CD8 T cells. Blockade of this pathway abrogates the ameliorative effects of αPD-L1 treatment on CD8 T cells. Additionally, this is the first report which demonstrates, in an infectious disease model, that CD8 intrinsic CD40 signaling is important for optimal CD8 polyfunctionality, proliferation, T-bet upregulation and IL-21 signaling, albeit in the context of CD8 rescue. The critical role of CD40 during the rescue of exhausted CD8 T cells may provide a rational basis for designing novel therapeutic vaccination approaches.
doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1102319
PMCID: PMC3197960  PMID: 21949017
4.  Redefining Chronic Toxoplasmosis—A T Cell Exhaustion Perspective 
PLoS Pathogens  2012;8(10):e1002903.
doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1002903
PMCID: PMC3469626  PMID: 23071434
5.  Gastrointestinal Cell Mediated Immunity and the Microsporidia 
PLoS Pathogens  2012;8(7):e1002775.
doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1002775
PMCID: PMC3395611  PMID: 22807673
6.  Reactive nitrogen and oxygen species, and iron sequestration contribute to macrophage-mediated control of Encephalitozoon cuniculi (Phylum Microsporidia) infection in vitro and in vivo 
Microbes and infection / Institut Pasteur  2010;12(14-15):1244-1251.
Encephalitozoon cuniculi (Phylum Microsporidia) infects a wide range of mammals, and replicates within resting macrophages. Activated macrophages, conversely, inhibit replication and destroy intracellular organisms. These studies were performed to assess mechanisms of innate immune responses expressed by macrophages to control E. cuniculi infection. Addition of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species inhibitors to activated murine peritoneal macrophages statistically significantly, rescued E. cuniculi infection ex vivo. Mice deficient in reactive oxygen species, reactive nitrogen species, or both survived ip inoculation of E. cuniculi, but carried significantly higher peritoneal parasite burdens than wild-type mice at 1 and 2 weeks post inoculation. Infected peritoneal macrophages could still be identified 4 weeks post inoculation in mice deficient in reactive nitrogen species. L-tryptophan supplementation of activated murine peritoneal macrophage cultures ex vivo failed to rescue microsporidia infection. Addition of ferric citrate to supplement iron, however, did significantly rescue E. cuniculi infection in activated macrophages and further increased parasite replication in non-activated macrophages over non-treated resting control macrophages. These results demonstrate the contribution of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, as well as iron sequestration, to innate immune responses expressed by macrophages to control E. cuniculi infection.
doi:10.1016/j.micinf.2010.09.010
PMCID: PMC2998546  PMID: 20888426
Microsporidia; parasites; parasite–host interactions; innate immunity; reactive nitrogen species; reactive oxygen species; peritoneal macrophages
7.  Statistical Analysis of the Different Factors Affecting the Diarrhea 
Acta Informatica Medica  2011;19(3):158-160.
Diarrhea is a worldwide problem facing both developing countries and developed countries, especially in pediatric population. Because of shortage of health facilities and lack of good food in developing countries, it is known fact that developing countries are facing this death taking problem more. The main purpose of this study was to examine the various factors which affect the recovery time of diarrhea. A multiple linear regression was applied to analyze the data and to select a model. The response variable for the study was the recovery time of diarrhea. The results of the analysis show that the Zinc is the main factor which affect the recovery time in Peshawar.
doi:10.5455/aim.2011.19.158-160
PMCID: PMC3564179  PMID: 23408274
Diarrhea; Zinc; Multiple Regression; Sex.
8.  Purified PTP1 protein induce antigen specific protective immunity against E. cuniculi 
Microsporidiosis poses a problem for immunocompromised individuals including patients with HIV infection as well as those with organ transplantation. Recent reports from Africa have suggested that microsporidiosis with diarrhea is an independent risk factor for malnutrition in children. Previous studies from our laboratory have demonstrated that CD8+ T cells are an essential component of protective immunity against the microsporidium Encephalitozoon cuniculi. Mutant mice lacking this T cell subset or cytotoxic function are unable to clear the infection and ultimately succumb to the disease. However, information regarding the antigens involved in the elicitation of CD8+ T cell response is not available. In this study, we report that immunization of animals with Encephalitozoon hellem polar tube protein 1 (rEhPTP1) induces a strong T cell response in vaccinated animals. Splenic dendritic cells pulsed with rEhPTP1 are able to induce E. cuniculi specific CD8+ T cell response with no effect on the CD4+ T cell subset. This is the first report identifying a protein capable of inducing CD8+ T cell immunity, which is conserved in other microsporidial species of human importance.
doi:10.1016/j.micinf.2010.03.008
PMCID: PMC2894705  PMID: 20348007
Microsporidia; T cells; Immunization
9.  Active hepatitis C infection and HCV genotypes prevalent among the IDUs of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 
Virology Journal  2011;8:327.
Injection drug users (IDUs) are considered as a high risk group to develop hepatitis C due to needle sharing. In this study we have examined 200 injection drug users from various regions of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province for the prevalence of active HCV infection and HCV genotypes by Immunochromatographic assays, RT-PCR and Type-specific PCR. Our results indicated that 24% of the IDUs were actively infected with HCV while anti HCV was detected among 31.5% cases. Prevalent HCV genotypes were HCV 2a, 3a, 4 and 1a. Majority of the IDUs were married and had attained primary or middle school education. 95% of the IDUs had a previous history of needle sharing. Our study indicates that the rate of active HCV infection among the IDUs is higher with comparatively more prevalence of the rarely found HCV types in KPK. The predominant mode of HCV transmission turned out to be needle sharing among the IDUs.
doi:10.1186/1743-422X-8-327
PMCID: PMC3148566  PMID: 21711541
IDUs; HCV; Genotype; RT-PCR; KPK
10.  Plasmacytoid DC from Aged Mice Down-Regulate CD8 T Cell Responses by Inhibiting cDC Maturation after Encephalitozoon cuniculi Infection 
PLoS ONE  2011;6(6):e20838.
Age associated impairment of immune function results in inefficient vaccination, tumor surveillance and increased severity of infections. Several alterations in adaptive immunity have been observed and recent studies report age related declines in innate immune responses to opportunistic pathogens including Encephalitozoon cuniculi. We previously demonstrated that conventional dendritic cells (cDC) from 9-month-old animals exhibit sub-optimal response to E. cuniculi infection, suggesting that age associated immune senescence begins earlier than expected. We focused this study on how age affects plasmacytoid DC (pDC) function. More specifically how aged pDC affect cDC function as we observed that the latter are the predominant activators of CD8 T cells during this infection. Our present study demonstrates that pDC from middle-aged mice (12 months) suppress young (8 week old) cDC driven CD8 T cell priming against E. cuniculi infection. The suppressive effect of pDC from older mice decreased maturation of young cDC via cell contact. Aged mouse pDC exhibited higher expression of PD-L1 and blockade of their interaction with cDC via this molecule restored cDC maturation and T cell priming. Furthermore, the PD-L1 dependent suppression of cDC T cell priming was restricted to effector function of antigen-specific CD8 T cells not their expansion. To the best of our knowledge, the data presented here is the first report highlighting a cell contact dependent, PD-L1 regulated, age associated defect in a DC subpopulation that results in a sub-optimal immune response against E. cuniculi infection. These results have broad implications for design of immunotherapeutic approaches to enhance immunity for aging populations.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020838
PMCID: PMC3112225  PMID: 21695169
11.  IFN-γ-Producing Dendritic Cells Are Important for Priming of Gut Intraepithelial Lymphocyte Response Against Intracellular Parasitic Infection1 
The importance of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) in immunoprotection against orally acquired pathogens is being increasingly recognized. Recent studies have demonstrated that Ag-specific IEL can be generated and can provide an important first line of defense against pathogens acquired via oral route. However, the mechanism involved in priming of IEL remains elusive. Our current study, using a microsporidial model of infection, demonstrates that priming of IEL is dependent on IFN-γ-producing dendritic cells (DC) from mucosal sites. DC from mice lacking the IFN-γ gene are unable to prime IEL, resulting in failure of these cells to proliferate and lyse pathogen-infected targets. Also, treatment of wild-type DC from Peyer’s patches with Ab to IFN-γ abrogates their ability to prime an IEL response against Encephalitozoon cuniculi in vitro. Moreover, when incubated with activated DC from IFN-γ knockout mice, splenic CD8+ T cells are not primed efficiently and exhibit reduced ability to home to the gut compartment. These data strongly suggest that IFN-γ-producing DC from mucosal sites play an important role in the generation of an Ag-specific IEL response in the small intestine. To our knowledge, this report is the first demonstrating a role for IFN-γ-producing DC from Peyer’s patches in the development of Ag-specific IEL population and their trafficking to the gut epithelium.
PMCID: PMC3109618  PMID: 17675510
12.  Immune response to Encephalitozoon cuniculi infection 
Microsporidia are obligate intracellular parasites, which can cause complications in immunocompromised individuals. Very little is known about the host immune response generated against these infectious agents. Encephalitozoon cuniculi is the best studied microsporidian and the protective immune response against this parasite is mediated by cytotoxic CD8+ T cells.
PMCID: PMC3109655  PMID: 11369277
13.  CD8 T Cells and Toxoplasma gondii: A New Paradigm 
CD8 T cells are essential for control of Toxoplasma gondii infection. Once activated they undergo differentiation into short-lived effector and memory precursor effector cells. As effector cells, CD8 T cells exert immune pressure on the parasite via production of inflammatory cytokines and through their cytolytic activity. Once immune control has been established, the parasite encysts and develops into chronic infection regulated by the memory CD8 T-cell population. Several signals are needed for this process to be initiated and for development of fully differentiated memory CD8 T cells. With newly developed tools including CD8 T-cell tetramers and TCR transgenic mice, dissecting the biology behind T. gondii-specific CD8 T-cell responses can now be more effectively addressed. In this paper, we discuss what is known about the signals required for effective T. gondii-specific CD8 T-cell development, their differentiation, and effector function.
doi:10.1155/2011/243796
PMCID: PMC3112509  PMID: 21687650
14.  Induction of a Rapid and Strong Antigen-Specific Intraepithelial Lymphocyte Response during Oral Encephalitozoon cuniculi Infection1 
Encephalitozoon cuniculi continues to pose a problem for immunocompromised patients. Previous studies from our laboratory have elucidated the importance of the CD8+ T cell subset in the protection against systemic parasite infection. There have been no studies related to the mucosal immunity induced against this orally acquired pathogen. In the present study, the immune response generated in the gut after oral E. cuniculi infection was evaluated. An early and rapid increase of the intraepithelial lymphocyte (IEL) population of orally infected animals was observed. This increase in the IEL population started as early as day 3 and peaked at day 7 postinfection with persistent elevation thereafter. At day 7 postinfection, IELs expressed strong cytokine messages (IFN-γ and IL-10) and were highly cytotoxic for parasite-infected syngeneic macrophages. At an E:T ratio of 80:1, these cells were able to cause >60% Ag-specific target cell lysis. A significant increase in the CD8αα subset of IEL in response to an oral E. cuniculi infection was observed. To the best of our knowledge, such an early expansion of an IEL population exhibiting strong ex vivo cytotoxicity has not been reported with infectious models. These data suggest that IELs act as important barriers for multiplication of this organism leading to the successful resolution of infection. The protective role of IELs may be due both to their inflammatory (IFN-γ production and cytotoxic response) as well as immunoregulatory (IL-10 production) properties.
PMCID: PMC3086354  PMID: 15034055
15.  Optimal CD8 T-Cell Response against Encephalitozoon cuniculi Is Mediated by Toll-Like Receptor 4 Upregulation by Dendritic Cells ▿  
Infection and Immunity  2010;78(7):3097-3102.
CD8+ T-cell immunity has been shown to play an important role in the protective immune response against Encephalitozoon cuniculi. Although earlier studies suggest that dendritic cells (DC) are important for the induction of this response, the factors responsible for initiation of the dendritic cell response against this pathogen have not been evaluated. In the current study, we demonstrate that E. cuniculi infection causes strong Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-dependent dendritic cell activation and a blockade of this molecule reduces the ability of DC to prime an antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell response. Pretreatment of DC with anti-TLR4 antibody causes a defect in both in vitro and in vivo CD8+ T-cell priming. These findings, for the first time, emphasize the contribution of TLR4 in the induction of CD8+ T-cell immunity against E. cuniculi infection.
doi:10.1128/IAI.00181-10
PMCID: PMC2897398  PMID: 20421379
16.  Lack of Interleukin-12 in p40-Deficient Mice Leads to Poor CD8+ T-Cell Immunity against Encephalitozoon cuniculi Infection▿  
Infection and Immunity  2010;78(6):2505-2511.
A CD8+ T-cell response is critical for protection against Encephalitozoon cuniculi infection. However, the factors responsible for the generation of CD8+ T-cell immunity during E. cuniculi infection and the cytokines involved in this process have not been identified. In the present study, we demonstrated that p40-deficient animals, which are unable to produce interleukin-12 (IL-12), have a serious defect in expansion of the CD8+ T-cell response which compromises the survival of an infected host. Adoptive transfer of CD8+ T cells from immunocompetent donors protected SCID mice infected with E. cuniculi, whereas administration of CD8+ T cells from p40−/− mice failed to protect infected SCID mice. In vitro dendritic cell (DC) cultures from knockout mice pulsed with E. cuniculi spores were unable to develop a robust CD8+ T-cell immune response. Addition of exogenous IL-12 or transfer of CD8+ T cells that were initially primed with DC from p40−/− animals to DC cultures from immunocompetent mice (directly or via transwells) led to optimal expansion of these cells. This IL-12-mediated reinstatement of CD8+ T-effector immunity was independent of gamma interferon (IFN-γ) as addition of antibody to the cultures failed to have an effect. These studies demonstrated that IL-12 plays a predominant role in the expansion of effector CD8+ T-cell immunity against E. cuniculi, which is critical for host survival. These findings are very important for understanding the protective immune mechanisms needed to protect an immunocompromised host against an opportunistic infection and can be extended to other microsporidial pathogens.
doi:10.1128/IAI.00753-09
PMCID: PMC2876566  PMID: 20308292
17.  Absence of Both IL-7 and IL-15 Severely Impairs the Development of CD8+ T Cell Response against Toxoplasma gondii 
PLoS ONE  2010;5(5):e10842.
CD8+ T cells play an essential role in the protection against both acute as well as chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection. Although the role of IL-15 has been reported to be important for the development of long-term CD8+ T cell immunity against the pathogen, the simultaneous roles played by both IL-15 and related γ-chain family cytokine IL-7 in the generation of this response during acute phase of infection has not been described. We demonstrate that while lack of IL-7 or IL-15 alone has minimal impact on splenic CD8+ T cell maturation or effector function development during acute Toxoplasmosis, absence of both IL-7 and IL-15 only in the context of infection severely down-regulates the development of a potent CD8+ T cell response. This impairment is characterized by reduction in CD44 expression, IFN-γ production, proliferation and cytotoxicity. However, attenuated maturation and decreased effector functions in these mice are essentially downstream consequences of reduced number of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells. Interestingly, the absence of both cytokines did not impair initial CD8+ T cell generation but affected their survival and differentiation into memory phenotype IL-7Rαhi cells. Significantly lack of both cytokines severely affected expression of Bcl-2, an anti-apoptotic protein, but minimally affected proliferation. The overarching role played by these cytokines in eliciting a potent CD8+ T cell immunity against T. gondii infection is further evidenced by poor survival and high parasite burden in anti IL-7 treated IL-15−/− mice. These studies demonstrate that the two cytokines, IL-7 and IL-15, are exclusively important for the development of protective CD8+ T cell immune response against T. gondii. To the best of our knowledge this synergism between IL-7 and IL-15 in generating an optimal CD8+ T cell immunity against intracellular parasite or any other infectious disease model has not been previously reported.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010842
PMCID: PMC2877110  PMID: 20520779
18.  A saturated SSR/DArT linkage map of Musa acuminata addressing genome rearrangements among bananas 
BMC Plant Biology  2010;10:65.
Background
The genus Musa is a large species complex which includes cultivars at diploid and triploid levels. These sterile and vegetatively propagated cultivars are based on the A genome from Musa acuminata, exclusively for sweet bananas such as Cavendish, or associated with the B genome (Musa balbisiana) in cooking bananas such as Plantain varieties. In M. acuminata cultivars, structural heterozygosity is thought to be one of the main causes of sterility, which is essential for obtaining seedless fruits but hampers breeding. Only partial genetic maps are presently available due to chromosomal rearrangements within the parents of the mapping populations. This causes large segregation distortions inducing pseudo-linkages and difficulties in ordering markers in the linkage groups. The present study aims at producing a saturated linkage map of M. acuminata, taking into account hypotheses on the structural heterozygosity of the parents.
Results
An F1 progeny of 180 individuals was obtained from a cross between two genetically distant accessions of M. acuminata, 'Borneo' and 'Pisang Lilin' (P. Lilin). Based on the gametic recombination of each parent, two parental maps composed of SSR and DArT markers were established. A significant proportion of the markers (21.7%) deviated (p < 0.05) from the expected Mendelian ratios. These skewed markers were distributed in different linkage groups for each parent. To solve some complex ordering of the markers on linkage groups, we associated tools such as tree-like graphic representations, recombination frequency statistics and cytogenetical studies to identify structural rearrangements and build parsimonious linkage group order. An illustration of such an approach is given for the P. Lilin parent.
Conclusions
We propose a synthetic map with 11 linkage groups containing 489 markers (167 SSRs and 322 DArTs) covering 1197 cM. This first saturated map is proposed as a "reference Musa map" for further analyses. We also propose two complete parental maps with interpretations of structural rearrangements localized on the linkage groups. The structural heterozygosity in P. Lilin is hypothesized to result from a duplication likely accompanied by an inversion on another chromosome. This paper also illustrates a methodological approach, transferable to other species, to investigate the mapping of structural rearrangements and determine their consequences on marker segregation.
doi:10.1186/1471-2229-10-65
PMCID: PMC2923539  PMID: 20388207
19.  Aging Mice Exhibit A Functional Defect In Mucosal Dendritic Cell Response Against An Intracellular Pathogen 
Down-regulation of immune response in aging individuals puts this population at a potential risk against infectious agents. In-depth studies conducted in humans and mouse models have demonstrated that with increasing age, T cell immune response against pathogens is compromised and response to vaccinations is subdued. In the present study, using a mouse model, we demonstrate that older animals exhibit greater susceptibility to Encephalitozoon cuniculi infection, and their ability to evoke an antigen-specific T cell response at the gut mucosal site is reduced. The dampening of T cell immunity was due to the defective priming by the dendritic cells (DC) isolated from the mucosal tissues of aging animals. When primed with DC from younger mice, T cells from older animals were able to exhibit optimal antigen-specific response. The functional defect in DC from older mice can be attributed to large extent to reduced IL-15 message in these cells, which can be reversed by addition of exogenous IL-15 to the cultures. IL-15 treatment led to optimal expression of co-stimulatory molecules (CD80 and CD86) on the surface of older DC and restored their ability to prime a T cell response against the pathogen. To our knowledge, this is the first report, which demonstrates the inability of DC population from aging animals to prime a robust T cell response against an infectious agent. Moreover, the observation that IL-15 treatment can reverse this defect has far reaching implications in developing strategies to increase vaccination protocols for aging population.
PMCID: PMC2676144  PMID: 19017989
Dendritic cells; mucosa; microsporidia; IL-15; CTL
21.  Coinfection with Heligmosomoides polygyrus Fails To Establish CD8+ T-Cell Immunity against Toxoplasma gondii▿  
Infection and Immunity  2008;76(3):1305-1313.
CD8+ T-cell immunity is important for long-term protection against Toxoplasma gondii infection. However, a Th1 cytokine environment, especially the presence of gamma interferon (IFN-γ), is essential for the development of primary CD8+ T-cell immunity against this obligate intracellular pathogen. Earlier studies from our laboratory have demonstrated that mice lacking optimal IFN-γ levels fail to develop robust CD8+ T-cell immunity against T. gondii. In the present study, induction of primary CD8+ T-cell immune response against T. gondii infection was evaluated in mice infected earlier with Heligmosomoides polygyrus, a gastrointestinal worm known to evoke a polarized Th2 response in the host. In the early stage of T. gondii infection, both CD4 and CD8+ T-cell responses against the parasite were suppressed in the dually infected mice. At the later stages, however, T. gondii-specific CD4+ T-cell immunity recovered, while CD8+ T-cell responses remained low. Unlike in mice infected with T. gondii alone, depletion of CD4+ T cells in the dually infected mice led to reactivation of chronic infection, leading to Toxoplasma-related encephalitis. Our observations strongly suggest that prior infection with a Th2 cytokine-polarizing pathogen can inhibit the development of CD8+ T-cell immune response against T. gondii, thus compromising long-term protection against a protozoan parasite. This is the first study to examine the generation of CD8+ T-cell immune response in a parasitic nematode and protozoan coinfection model that has important implications for infections where a CD8+ T-cell response is critical for host protection and reduced infection pathology.
doi:10.1128/IAI.01236-07
PMCID: PMC2258819  PMID: 18195022
22.  Drugs Designed To Inhibit Human p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Activation Treat Toxoplasma gondii and Encephalitozoon cuniculi Infection▿  
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy  2007;51(12):4324-4328.
We recently showed that the pyridinylimidazoles SB203580 and SB202190, drugs designed to block human p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation, also inhibited replication of the medically important intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii in cultured human fibroblasts through a direct effect on the parasite. We now show that additional pyridinylimidazole and imidazopyrimidine p38 MAPK inhibitors inhibit intracellular T. gondii replication in vitro and protect mice against fatal T. gondii infection. Mice surviving infection following treatment with p38 MAPK inhibitors were resistant to subsequent T. gondii challenge, demonstrating induction of protective immunity. Thus, drugs originally developed to block human p38 MAPK activation are useful for treating T. gondii infection without inducing significant immunosuppression. MAPK inhibitors combined with either of the approved anti-Toxoplasma drugs sulfadiazine and pyrimethamine resulted in improved survival among mice challenged with a fatal T. gondii inoculum. A MAPK inhibitor also treated mice infected with the Microsporidium parasite Encephalitozoon cuniculi, suggesting that MAPK inhibitors represent a novel class of agents that may have a broad spectrum of antiparasitic activity. Preliminary studies implicate a T. gondii MAPK homologue as the target of drug action, suggesting possibilities for more-selective agents.
doi:10.1128/AAC.00680-07
PMCID: PMC2168015  PMID: 17923491
23.  CCR5 Is Essential for NK Cell Trafficking and Host Survival following Toxoplasma gondii Infection 
PLoS Pathogens  2006;2(6):e49.
The host response to intracellular pathogens requires the coordinated action of both the innate and acquired immune systems. Chemokines play a critical role in the trafficking of immune cells and transitioning an innate immune response into an acquired response. We analyzed the host response of mice deficient in the chemokine receptor CCR5 following infection with the intracellular protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. We found that CCR5 controls recruitment of natural killer (NK) cells into infected tissues. Without this influx of NK cells, tissues from CCR5-deficient (CCR5−/−) mice were less able to generate an inflammatory response, had decreased chemokine and interferon γ production, and had higher parasite burden. As a result, CCR5−/− mice were more susceptible to infection with T. gondii but were less susceptible to the immune-mediated tissue injury seen in certain inbred strains. Adoptive transfer of CCR5+/+ NK cells into CCR5−/− mice restored their ability to survive lethal T. gondii infection and demonstrated that CCR5 is required for NK cell homing into infected liver and spleen. This study establishes CCR5 as a critical receptor guiding NK cell trafficking in host defense.
Synopsis
Toxoplasma gondii, an obligate intracellular parasite, evokes a strong cellular immune response, which is critical for host protection. Chemokines and their receptors control the trafficking of immune cells to sites of infection. In this study, the authors examined the immune response to T. gondii in mice deficient in the chemokine receptor CCR5. CCR5-deficient mice exhibited a decreased inflammatory response, which led to a higher parasite burden and ultimate mortality. The deficiency in the immune response in CCR5-deficient mice was the result of decreased migration of natural killer (NK) cells into infected tissues. Transfer of normal NK cells into CCR5-deficient mice restored NK cell homing into infected tissue and the normal immune response capable of controlling T. gondii infection. These findings demonstrate an important role for CCR5 in trafficking the NK cells during acute T. gondii infection. Furthermore, since CCR5 is the main co-receptor for HIV-1 entry into cells, the results of this study raise a concern about the potential complication of impaired NK cell function in the clinical use of CCR5 antagonists, currently being developed as therapeutics for HIV-1 and inflammatory diseases. This may be of particular concern for HIV-1-infected patients coinfected with T. gondii or for those who acquire an acute T. gondii infection while taking a CCR5 antagonist.
doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.0020049
PMCID: PMC1475660  PMID: 16789839
24.  GAIA: An easy-to-use web-based application for interaction analysis of case-control data 
BMC Medical Genetics  2006;7:34.
Background
The advent of cheap, large scale genotyping has led to widespread adoption of genetic association mapping as the tool of choice in the search for loci underlying susceptibility to common complex disease. Whilst simple single locus analysis is relatively trivial to conduct, this is not true of more complex analysis such as those involving interactions between loci. The importance of testing for interactions between loci in association analysis has been highlighted in a number of recent high profile publications.
Results
Genetic Association Interaction Analysis (GAIA) is a web-based application for testing for statistical interactions between loci. It is based upon the widely used case-control study design for genetic association analysis and is designed so that non-specialists may routinely apply tests for interaction. GAIA allows simple testing of both additive and additive plus dominance interaction models and includes permutation testing to appropriately correct for multiple testing. The application will find use both in candidate gene based studies and in genome-wide association studies. For large scale studies GAIA includes a screening approach which prioritizes loci (based on the significance of main effects at one or both loci) for further interaction analysis.
Conclusion
GAIA is available at
doi:10.1186/1471-2350-7-34
PMCID: PMC1481545  PMID: 16595019
25.  NK Cells Help To Induce CD8+-T-Cell Immunity against Toxoplasma gondii in the Absence of CD4+ T Cells  
Infection and Immunity  2005;73(8):4913-4921.
CD8+ T-cell immunity plays an important role in protection against intracellular infections. Earlier studies have shown that CD4+ T-cell help was needed for launching in vivo CD8+ T-cell activity against these pathogens and tumors. However, recently CD4+ T-cell-independent CD8 responses during several microbial infections including those with Toxoplasma gondii have been described, although the mechanism is not understood. We now demonstrate that, in the absence of CD4+ T cells, T. gondii-infected mice exhibit an extended NK cell response, which is mediated by continued interleukin-12 (IL-12) secretion. This prolonged NK cell response is critical for priming parasite-specific CD8+ T-cell immunity. Depletion of NK cells inhibited the generation of CD8+ T-cell immunity in CD4−/− mice. Similarly neutralization of IL-12 reduces NK cell numbers in infected animals and leads to the down-regulation of CD8+ T-cell immunity against T. gondii. Adoptive transfer of NK cells into the IL-12-depleted animals restored their CD8+ T-cell immune response, and animals exhibited reduced mortality. NK cell gamma interferon was essential for cytotoxic T-lymphocyte priming. Our studies for the first time demonstrate that, in the absence of CD4+ T cells, NK cells can play an important role in induction of primary CD8+ T-cell immunity against an intracellular infection. These observations have therapeutic implications for immunocompromised individuals, including those with human immunodeficiency virus infection.
doi:10.1128/IAI.73.8.4913-4921.2005
PMCID: PMC1201207  PMID: 16041005

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