2,726 research outputs found
A mechanism for the inhibition of DNA-PK-mediated DNA sensing by a virus
The innate immune system is critical in the response to infection by pathogens and it is activated by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) binding to pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). During viral infection, the direct recognition of the viral nucleic acids, such as the genomes of DNA viruses, is very important for activation of innate immunity. Recently, DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), a heterotrimeric complex consisting of the Ku70/Ku80 heterodimer and the catalytic subunit DNA-PKcs was identified as a cytoplasmic PRR for DNA that is important for the innate immune response to intracellular DNA and DNA virus infection. Here we show that vaccinia virus (VACV) has evolved to inhibit this function of DNA-PK by expression of a highly conserved protein called C16, which was known to contribute to virulence but by an unknown mechanism. Data presented show that C16 binds directly to the Ku heterodimer and thereby inhibits the innate immune response to DNA in fibroblasts, characterised by the decreased production of cytokines and chemokines. Mechanistically, C16 acts by blocking DNA-PK binding to DNA, which correlates with reduced DNA-PK-dependent DNA sensing. The C-terminal region of C16 is sufficient for binding Ku and this activity is conserved in the variola virus (VARV) orthologue of C16. In contrast, deletion of 5 amino acids in this domain is enough to knockout this function from the attenuated vaccine strain modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA). In vivo a VACV mutant lacking C16 induced higher levels of cytokines and chemokines early after infection compared to control viruses, confirming the role of this virulence factor in attenuating the innate immune response. Overall this study describes the inhibition of DNA-PK-dependent DNA sensing by a poxvirus protein, adding to the evidence that DNA-PK is a critical component of innate immunity to DNA viruses
Association of a rare variant of the TNFSF13B gene with susceptibility to Rheumatoid Arthritis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Abstract: A rare variant (BAFF-var) of the tumor necrosis factor superfamily 13b (TNFSF13B) gene has been recently associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between TNFSF13B BAFF-var and susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and replicate that association in SLE. 6,218 RA patients, 2,575 SLE patients and 4,403 healthy controls from three different countries were included in the study. TNFSF13B BAFF-var was genotyped using TaqMan allelic discrimination assay. PLINK software was used for statistical analyses. TNFSF13B BAFF-var was significantly associated with RA (p = 0.015, OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.03–1.41) in the Spanish cohort. A trend of association was observed in the Dutch (p = 0.115) and German (p = 0.228) RA cohorts. A meta-analysis of the three RA cohorts included in this study revealed a statistically significant association (p = 0.002, OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.10–1.38). In addition, TNFSF13B BAFF-var was significantly associated with SLE in the Spanish (p = 0.001, OR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.14–1.74) and the German cohorts (p = 0.030, OR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.05–3.28), with a statistically significant p-value obtained in the meta-analysis (p = 0.0002, OR = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.09–2.32). The results obtained confirm the known association of TNFSF13B BAFF-var with SLE and, for the first time, demonstrate that this variant contributes to susceptibility to RA.This work was supported by the following grants: P12-BIO-1395 from Consejería de Innovación, Ciencia y Tecnología, Junta de Andalucía (Spain), and the Cooperative Research Thematic Network (RETICS) program, RD16/0012/0004 (RIER), from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII, Health Ministry, Madrid, Spain). DGS was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the program FPI (SAF2015-66761-P)
Observation of the Baryonic Flavor-Changing Neutral Current Decay Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu-
We report the first observation of the baryonic flavor-changing neutral
current decay Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu- with 24 signal events and a
statistical significance of 5.8 Gaussian standard deviations. This measurement
uses ppbar collisions data sample corresponding to 6.8fb-1 at sqrt{s}=1.96TeV
collected by the CDF II detector at the Tevatron collider. The total and
differential branching ratios for Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu- are measured. We
find B(Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu-) = [1.73+-0.42(stat)+-0.55(syst)] x 10^{-6}.
We also report the first measurement of the differential branching ratio of B_s
-> phi mu+ mu- using 49 signal events. In addition, we report branching ratios
for B+ -> K+ mu+ mu-, B0 -> K0 mu+ mu-, and B -> K*(892) mu+ mu- decays.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Measurement of B(t->Wb)/B(t->Wq) at the Collider Detector at Fermilab
We present a measurement of the ratio of top-quark branching fractions R= B(t
-> Wb)/B(t -> Wq), where q can be a b, s or a d quark, using lepton-plus-jets
and dilepton data sets with integrated luminosity of ~162 pb^{-1} collected
with the Collider Detector at Fermilab during Run II of the Tevatron. The
measurement is derived from the relative numbers of t-tbar events with
different multiplicity of identified secondary vertices. We set a lower limit
of R > 0.61 at 95% confidence level.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, published in Physical Review Letters; changes
made to be consistent with published versio
Studying the Underlying Event in Drell-Yan and High Transverse Momentum Jet Production at the Tevatron
We study the underlying event in proton-antiproton collisions by examining
the behavior of charged particles (transverse momentum pT > 0.5 GeV/c,
pseudorapidity |\eta| < 1) produced in association with large transverse
momentum jets (~2.2 fb-1) or with Drell-Yan lepton-pairs (~2.7 fb-1) in the
Z-boson mass region (70 < M(pair) < 110 GeV/c2) as measured by CDF at 1.96 TeV
center-of-mass energy. We use the direction of the lepton-pair (in Drell-Yan
production) or the leading jet (in high-pT jet production) in each event to
define three regions of \eta-\phi space; toward, away, and transverse, where
\phi is the azimuthal scattering angle. For Drell-Yan production (excluding the
leptons) both the toward and transverse regions are very sensitive to the
underlying event. In high-pT jet production the transverse region is very
sensitive to the underlying event and is separated into a MAX and MIN
transverse region, which helps separate the hard component (initial and
final-state radiation) from the beam-beam remnant and multiple parton
interaction components of the scattering. The data are corrected to the
particle level to remove detector effects and are then compared with several
QCD Monte-Carlo models. The goal of this analysis is to provide data that can
be used to test and improve the QCD Monte-Carlo models of the underlying event
that are used to simulate hadron-hadron collisions.Comment: Submitted to Phys.Rev.
Measurement of Lifetime and Decay-Width Difference in B0s -> J/psi phi Decays
We measure the mean lifetime, tau=2/(Gamma_L+Gamma_H), and the width
difference, DeltaGamma=Gamma_L-Gamma_H, of the light and heavy mass eigenstates
of the B0s meson, B0sL and B0sH, in B0s -> J/psi phi decays using 1.7 fb^-1 of
data collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron ppbar
collider. Assuming CP conservation, a good approximation for the B0s system in
the Standard Model, we obtain DeltaGamma = 0.076^+0.059_-0.063 (stat.) +- 0.006
(syst.) ps^-1 and tau = 1.52 +- 0.04 (stat.) +- 0.02 (syst.) ps, the most
precise measurements to date. Our constraints on the weak phase and DeltaGamma
are consistent with CP conservation.
Dedicated to the memory of our dear friend and colleague, Michael P. Schmid
Measurement of the Production Cross Section and Search for Anomalous and Couplings in Collisions at TeV
This Letter describes the current most precise measurement of the boson
pair production cross section and most sensitive test of anomalous
and couplings in collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96
TeV. The candidates are reconstructed from decays containing two charged
leptons and two neutrinos, where the charged leptons are either electrons or
muons. Using data collected by the CDF II detector from 3.6 fb of
integrated luminosity, a total of 654 candidate events are observed with an
expected background contribution of events. The measured total
cross section is pb, which is in good agreement
with the standard model prediction. The same data sample is used to place
constraints on anomalous and couplings.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Search for ZZ and ZW Production in ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV
We present a search for ZZ and ZW vector boson pair production in ppbar
collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV using the leptonic decay channels ZZ --> ll nu
nu, ZZ --> l l l' l' and ZW --> l l l' nu. In a data sample corresponding to an
integrated luminosity of 194 pb-1 collected with the Collider Detector at
Fermilab, 3 candidate events are found with an expected background of 1.0 +/-
0.2 events. We set a 95% confidence level upper limit of 15.2 pb on the cross
section for ZZ plus ZW production, compared to the standard model prediction of
5.0 +/- 0.4 pb.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. This version is accepted for publication by Phys.
Rev. D Rapid Communication
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