Descriptive Analysis of Patients Living with HIV Affected By COVID-19

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 disease has spread globally and was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020 by the World Health Organization. On March 10, the State of Michigan confirmed its first two cases of COVID-19 and since then the number of confirmed cases has reached 47,182 as of May 11, 2020 with 4,555 deaths. SETTING: Currently, little is known if patients living with HIV (PLWH) are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 or if their antiretrovirals are protective. This study presents epidemiologic and clinical features of COVID-19 infected PLWH in Detroit, Michigan. METHODS: This is a case series that included 14 PLWH with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection who were evaluated at Henry Ford Hospital (HFH) in Detroit, Michigan between March 20 and April 30, 2020. RESULTS: 14 PLWH were diagnosed with COVID-19. Twelve patients were male and two were female; 13 of the 14 patients were virally suppressed. Eight patients were hospitalized, and six patients were told to self-quarantine at home following their diagnoses. Three patients who were admitted expired during their hospital stay. No patient required bilevel positive airway pressure or nebulizer use in the emergency department and none developed acute respiratory distress syndrome, pulmonary embolism, deep venous thrombosis, or a cytokine storm while on therapy for COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Although the clinical spectrum of COVID-19 among PLWH cannot be fully ascertained by this report, it adds to the data that suggests that HIV-positive patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection are not at a greater risk of severe disease or death as compared to HIV-negative patients

Hvad skal gymnasielærere inden for sciencefagene kunne i morgen og på længere sigt?

Artiklen diskuterer spørgsmålet: Hvad skal gymnasielærere inden for sciencefagene kunne i morgen og på længere sigt? Fokus er på didaktiske rammer og præmisser for gennemførelse af undervisningen nu og om ti år. I diskussionen inddrages viden fra forsknings- og udviklingsarbejde inden for de gymnasiale uddannelser samt konkrete erfaringer fra undervisningsaktiviteter i en gymnasiepraksis. Svarene på det stillede spørgsmål er mangefacetterede og inddrager flere konkrete tiltag. Artiklen afsluttes med otte bud på tiltag der kan understøtte sciencelærerens kompetenceudvikling i morgen og på lidt længere sigt

Upregulation of Mrps18a in breast cancer identified by selecting phage antibody libraries on breast tissue sections

Abstract Background One of the hallmarks of cancer is an altered energy metabolism, and here, mitochondria play a central role. Previous studies have indicated that some mitochondrial ribosomal proteins change their expression patterns upon transformation. Method In this study, we have used the selection of recombinant antibody libraries displayed on the surface of filamentous bacteriophage as a proteomics discovery tool for the identification of breast cancer biomarkers. A small subpopulation of breast cells expressing both cytokeratin 19 and cytokeratin 14 was targeted using a novel selection procedure. Results We identified the mitochondrial ribosomal protein s18a (Mrps18a) as a protein which is upregulated in breast cancer. However, Mrps18a was not homogeneously upregulated in all cancer cells, suggesting the existence of sub-populations within the tumor. The upregulation was not confined to cytokeratin 19 and cytokeratin 14 double positive cells. Conclusion This study illustrates how phage display can be applied towards the discovery of proteins which exhibit changes in their expression patterns. We identified the mitochondrial protein Mrps18a as being upregulated in human breast cancer cells compared to normal breast cells

Induction of humoral and cellular immune responses against the HIV-1 envelope protein using γ-retroviral virus-like particles

This study evaluates the immunogenicity of the HIV envelope protein (env) in mice presented either attached to γ-retroviral virus-like-particles (VLPs), associated with cell-derived microsomes or as solubilized recombinant protein (gp160). The magnitude and polyfunctionality of the cellular immune response was enhanced when delivering HIV env in the VLP or microsome form compared to recombinant gp160. Humoral responses measured by antibody titres were comparable across the groups and low levels of antibody neutralization were observed. Lastly, we identified stronger IgG2a class switching in the two particle-delivered antigen vaccinations modalities compared to recombinant gp160

Novel ageing-biomarker discovery using data-intensive technologies

Ageing is accompanied by many visible characteristics. Other biological and physiological markers are also well-described e.g. loss of circulating sex hormones and increased inflammatory cytokines. Biomarkers for healthy ageing studies are presently predicated on existing knowledge of ageing traits. The increasing availability of data-intensive methods enables deep-analysis of biological samples for novel biomarkers. We have adopted two discrete approaches in MARK-AGE Work Package 7 for biomarker discovery; (1) microarray analyses and/or proteomics in cell systems e.g. endothelial progenitor cells or T cell ageing including a stress model; and (2) investigation of cellular material and plasma directly from tightly-defined proband subsets of different ages using proteomic, transcriptomic and miR array. The first approach provided longitudinal insight into endothelial progenitor and T cell ageing.This review describes the strategy and use of hypothesis-free, data-intensive approaches to explore cellular proteins, miR, mRNA and plasma proteins as healthy ageing biomarkers, using ageing models and directly within samples from adults of different ages. It considers the challenges associated with integrating multiple models and pilot studies as rational biomarkers for a large cohort study. From this approach, a number of high-throughput methods were developed to evaluate novel, putative biomarkers of ageing in the MARK-AGE cohort

Activation and Evasion of Innate Antiviral Immunity by Herpes Simplex Virus

Herpes simplex virus (HSV), a human pathogenic virus, has evolved several strategies to evade the production and function of interferons (IFNs) and cytokines generated by the innate immune system to restrict the virus. Equilibrium exists between the virus and the immune response, and a shift in this delicate balance either restricts the virus or enhances virus spread and tissue damage. Therefore, understanding of the cytokine response generated after HSV infection and the underlying virus-cell interactions is essential to improve our understanding of viral pathogenesis. This review summarizes the current knowledge on induction and evasion of the innate immune response by HSV

Genomic HIV RNA Induces Innate Immune Responses through RIG-I-Dependent Sensing of Secondary-Structured RNA

Contains fulltext : 108031.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Innate immune responses have recently been appreciated to play an important role in the pathogenesis of HIV infection. Whereas inadequate innate immune sensing of HIV during acute infection may contribute to failure to control and eradicate infection, persistent inflammatory responses later during infection contribute in driving chronic immune activation and development of immunodeficiency. However, knowledge on specific HIV PAMPs and cellular PRRs responsible for inducing innate immune responses remains sparse. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we demonstrate a major role for RIG-I and the adaptor protein MAVS in induction of innate immune responses to HIV genomic RNA. We found that secondary structured HIV-derived RNAs induced a response similar to genomic RNA. In primary human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and primary human macrophages, HIV RNA induced expression of IFN-stimulated genes, whereas only low levels of type I IFN and tumor necrosis factor alpha were produced. Furthermore, secondary structured HIV-derived RNA activated pathways to NF-kappaB, MAP kinases, and IRF3 and co-localized with peroxisomes, suggesting a role for this organelle in RIG-I-mediated innate immune sensing of HIV RNA. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results establish RIG-I as an innate immune sensor of cytosolic HIV genomic RNA with secondary structure, thereby expanding current knowledge on HIV molecules capable of stimulating the innate immune system

Klimabedingte Zwangsmigration: Ein Blick aus der Praxis

IHC controls. a–c, Example of control staining with secondary antibody Anti-C-Myc-Cy3 (red) alone, on cancer tissue (P757). From left to right the pictures show immunofluorescence in the blue, green and red range respectively. d–e, Example of control staining with the scFv antibody epsilon, which also was used as a negative control during screening and validation of selected antibodies. From left to right the pictures show immunofluorescence in the blue, green and red range respectively. (TIF 4987 kb