Investigations of the molecular determinants of maize streak virus replication

Includes bibliographical references.Geminiviruses replicate via a rolling circle mechanism, which initiates at the origin of replication located within the long intergenic region (LIR). The viral replication associated-protein (Rep) in conjunction with the host's DNA replication machinery is responsible for the initiation and termination of the replication cycle from a stem-loop structure, located within the LIR and conserved throughout the three genera of Geminiviridae. The specific interaction between the Rep protein with sequences within the intergenic region has been well characterised for the begomoviruses and to some extent the curtoviruses; however, this interaction in the mastreviruses, and in particular maize streak virus (MSV), has yet to be fully explored. A theoretical model has been proposed based on sequence data and informed by the current understanding of replication specificity in begomoviruses. Due to the lack of conservation of the stem sequence of the stem-loop structure amongst mastreviruses, the model implicates a pair of nucleotide sequence repeats called iterons. These are located within the stem structure, and on the complementary sense side of the LIR. The former is the putative site of Rep interaction with the LIR. These iterons would therefore potentially act as the determinants of replication specificity amongst mastreviruses

C-type lectin-like receptors of the dectin-1 cluster : ligands and signaling pathways

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Experiences of Adult Education Instructors Adapting to the Online Teaching and Learning Environment

This case study tracks the narrative journey of four faculty women as they discovered ways to handle the transitional experience of moving from face-to-face classroom teaching into an online asynchronous adult learning environment. It is the intention of the study that, by documenting the experiences of these faculty, we will be able to provide recommendations that will assist and support other faculty beginning to teach in an online environment

C-type lectin receptors of the Dectin-1 cluster : Physiological roles and involvement in disease

Acknowledgements: We apologise to our many colleagues whose valuable work we could not cite due to space constraints. Funding was provided by the Wellcome Trust (102705, 097377), the Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology and the University of Aberdeen (MR/N006364/1). KT received a research fellowship from Jikei University School of Medicine.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

β-Glucan Grafted Microcapsule, a Tool for Studying the Immunomodulatory Effect of Microbial Cell Wall Polysaccharides

Acknowledgements This study was supported by the Centre Franco-Indien pour la Promotion de la Recherche avancée and Agence nationale de la recherche-Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft grants, the Institut Universitaire de France, La région Ile de France, BPI France and benefited from the facilities of MIMA2 MEB-GABI, INRA, Agroparistech, 78352 Jouy-en-Josas, France. Funding sources: CEFIPRA (Centre Franco-Indien pour la Promotion de la Recherche avancée; Grant No. 5403-1, Pathogenic Aspergillus) to JPL and VA, and Agence nationale de la recherche and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (ANR-DFG bilateral grant, AfuINTERACT) to JPL.Peer reviewedPostprin

Synthesis of the fungal metabolite YWA1 and related constructs as tools to study MelLec-mediated immune response to Aspergillus infections

Funding Sources Funding was provided by the Wellcome Trust (102705, 097377), the Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology and the University of Aberdeen (MR/N006364/1). ACKNOWLEDGMENT We thank Ian Fraser Flow Cytometry and Microscopy and Histology facilities, University of Aberdeen.Peer reviewedPostprin

Signalling through MyD88 drives surface expression of the mycobacterial receptors MCL (Clecsf8, Clec4d) and Mincle (Clec4e) following microbial stimulation

Acknowledgements We would like to thank the staff of the animal facility for their support and care for our animals. Funding was provided by the Wellcome Trust (102705) and Medical Research Council (UK) (MR/J004820/1) and a University of Aberdeen Studentship to BK.Peer reviewedPostprintPublisher PD

Characterization of antifungal C-type lectin receptor expression on murine epithelial and endothelial cells in mucosal tissues

Funding Information: We thank P. Asamaphan, A. Clark, and B. Kerscher for providing NIH overexpression cell lines, S. Yamasaki for the anti‐Mincle antibody, the staff of the University of Aberdeen animal facility for the care for our animals, and the Iain Fraser Cytometry Centre at the University of Aberdeen for their assistance. This work was supported by funding from the Wellcome Trust (102705, 217163), the Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology, and the University of Exeter (MR/N006364/2).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Aspergillus-induced superoxide production by cystic fibrosis phagocytes is associated with disease severity

We would like to thank the CF patients for their participation and a special thank you goes to CF nurses Karen Griffiths and Sandra Steele (Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Aberdeen, UK) for their invaluable contribution to this study. Support statement: A. Warris, G.D. Brown, S.F. Brunel and J.A. Willment were supported by the Wellcome Trust Strategic Award (grant 097377) and the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (grant MR/N006364/1) at the University of Aberdeen. A. Warris and S.F. Brunel were also supported by the Chloe Fund. Funding information for this article has been deposited with the Crossref Funder Registry.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Dectin-1 Is A Major β-Glucan Receptor On Macrophages

Zymosan is a β-glucan– and mannan-rich particle that is widely used as a cellular activator for examining the numerous responses effected by phagocytes. The macrophage mannose receptor (MR) and complement receptor 3 (CR3) have historically been considered the major macrophage lectins involved in the nonopsonic recognition of these yeast-derived particles. Using specific carbohydrate inhibitors, we show that a β-glucan receptor, but not the MR, is a predominant receptor involved in this process. Furthermore, nonopsonic zymosan binding was unaffected by genetic CD11b deficiency or a blocking monoclonal antibody (mAb) against CR3, demonstrating that CR3 was not the β-glucan receptor mediating this activity. To address the role of the recently described β-glucan receptor, Dectin-1, we generated a novel anti–Dectin-1 mAb, 2A11. Using this mAb, we show here that Dectin-1 was almost exclusively responsible for the β-glucan–dependent, nonopsonic recognition of zymosan by primary macro-phages. These findings define Dectin-1 as the leukocyte β-glucan receptor, first described over 50 years ago, and resolves the long-standing controversy regarding the identity of this important molecule. Furthermore, these results identify Dectin-1 as a new target for examining the immunomodulatory properties of β-glucans for therapeutic drug design