A peptide-loaded dendritic cell based cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) vaccination strategy using peptides that span SIV Tat, Rev, and Env overlapping reading frames

CTL based vaccine strategies in the macaque model of AIDS have shown promise in slowing the progression to disease. However, rapid CTL escape viruses can emerge rendering such vaccination useless. We hypothesized that such escape is made more difficult if the immunizing CTL epitope falls within a region of the virus that has a high density of overlapping reading frames which encode several viral proteins. To test this hypothesis, we immunized macaques using a peptide-loaded dendritic cell approach employing epitopes in the second coding exon of SIV Tat which spans reading frames for both Env and Rev. We report here that autologous dendritic cells, loaded with SIV peptides from Tat, Rev, and Env, induced a distinct cellular immune response measurable ex vivo. However, conclusive in vivo control of a challenge inoculation of SIVmac239 was not observed suggesting that CTL epitopes within densely overlapping reading frames are also subject to escape mutations

Screening and characterization of antimicrobial secondary metabolites from Halomonas salifodinae MPM-TC and its in vivo antiviral influence on Indian white shrimp Fenneropenaeus indicus against WSSV challenge

AbstractAntimicrobial secondary metabolites from extremophiles play a significant role in the pharmacological industry due to their stable and strong activity and it is used in the treatment of microbial infections. In the present work, Halomonas salifodinae MPM-TC (M. Peter Marian-T. Citarasu) was isolated from the solar salt works in India and identified by 16S rRNA sequencing. The secondary metabolites were extracted from H. salifodinae MPM-TC and tested for antibacterial activity against aquatic bacterial pathogens such as Vibrio harveyi, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Aeromonas hydrophila isolated from infected fish/shrimp, and it effectively controlled them with more than 10mm of zone of inhibition. The metabolites were purified through silica column chromatography and in vitro antiviral activity was performed against White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) using different fractions. Among the different tested fractions, fraction-III (F-III) was able to suppress WSSV replication. Shrimps challenged with a WSSV inoculum incubated with F-III and treated Fenneropenaeus indicus survived around twice as many as the controls. Gas chromatography–mass spectroscopic (GC–MS) analysis revealed that the antiviral active fraction contains around eight compounds including Perfluorotributylamine, Cyclopentane, 1-butyl-2-ethyl and 1,1′-Biphenyl]-3-amine. Further the active fraction F-III was incorporated in the artificial diets at the concentration of 200 (HS1), 400 (HS2) and 800 (HS3) μgkg−1 and fed to F. indicus for 30days. After 30days of culture, shrimps were challenged with virulent WSSV and studied for WSSV VP 28 gene expression, biochemical, haematological and immunological changes. Surprisingly, groups treated with lower concentrations of fraction F-III (HS1 or HS2) significantly (P<0.05) suppressed the viral replication. Different levels of protein and glucose, improved total haemocyte count (THC), coagulase activity and oxyhaemocyanin level all were comparable to controls. Also, immunological parameters such as prophenol oxidase and intracellular superoxide anion production were significantly increased (F=97.18; P⩽0.001 and F=5.70; P⩽0.05) in the groups treated with the three test concentrations. The presence of antiviral and immunostimulant active principles in the F-III fraction effectively suppressed the WSSV load and boosted F. indicus’s immune system. This research will help to develop novel antiviral drugs from plants against aquatic important pathogens

Prevalence of GB virus type C in urban Americans infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1

GBV-C virus infection has been linked to improved clinical outcome in HIV-1 co-infected individuals. The epidemiology of GBV-C has, thus far, been limited to the gay male, HIV(+ )population. Here we describe the prevalence of antibodies against GBV-C envelope glycoprotein E2 and GBV-C viremia in an HIV(+ )inner city population. This study group is predominantly African-American; 41% of the participants are women. The major risk factor for HIV infection is intravenous drug use. Overall, 56% of the study population had evidence of current or past infection with GBV-C. GBV-C exposure was not associated with hepatitis C virus infection. The group of participants, who had GBV-C viremia and anti-E2 antibodies, had high percentage of patients with an undetectable HIV-1 viral load. These data provide increased insight into the prevalence of GBV-C co-infection in the HIV epidemic in this understudied population

Customer Satisfaction And Loyalty In A Digital Environment: An Empirical Test

It has been argued that loyal customers constitute competitive asset of business organizations. Several authors noted that customers generally vary in terms of loyalty behaviours and attitudes and highlighted that differences about customers’ loyalty levels affect a firm’s profitability results. However, few studies are focused on these relationships within an interactive marketing strategy. Following these studies, this paper explores the links between customer loyalty attitude, customer loyalty behaviours (measured by customer purchase behaviours) and profitability in a firm that develops an interactive marketing strategy. The aim is to define a conceptual framework within which to analyse these relationships between attitudes, behaviour, and profitability of the customers. An empirical test of the framework is also provided