Cold Power Tests of the sc 325 MHz CH-Cavity

At the Institute for Applied Physics (IAP), Frankfurt University, a superconducting 325 MHz CH-Cavity has been designed, built and first tests have successfully been performed. The cavity is determined for a 11.4 AMeV, 10 mA ion beam at the GSI UNILAC. Consisting of 7 gaps this resonator is envisaged to deliver a gradient of 5 MV/m. Novel features of this structure are a compact design, low peak fields, improved surface processing and power coupling. Furthermore a tuner system based on bellow tuners driven by a stepping motor and a piezo actuator and attached inside the resonator will control the frequency. In this contribution measurements executed at 4 K and 2 K at the cryo lab in Frankfurt will be presented

Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I Allele-specific Cooperative and Competitive Interactions between Immune Evasion Proteins of Cytomegalovirus

Cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) deploy a set of genes for interference with antigen presentation in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I pathway. In murine CMV (MCMV), three genes were identified so far: m04/gp34, m06/gp48, and m152/gp40. While their function as immunoevasins was originally defined after their selective expression, this may not necessarily reflect their biological role during infection. The three immunoevasins might act synergistically, but they might also compete for their common substrate, the MHC class I complexes. To approach this question in a systematic manner, we have generated a complete set of mutant viruses with deletions of the three genes in all seven possible combinations. Surface expression of a set of MHC class I molecules specified by haplotypes H-2d (Kd, Dd, and Ld) and H-2b (Kb and Db) was the parameter for evaluation of the interference with class I trafficking. The data show the following: first, there exists no additional MCMV gene of major influence on MHC class I surface expression; second, the strength of the inhibitory effect of immunoevasins shows an allele-specific hierarchy; and third, the immunoevasins act not only synergistically but can, in certain combinations, interact antagonistically. In essence, this work highlights the importance of studying the immunosubversive mechanisms of cytomegaloviruses in the context of gene expression during the viral replicative cycle in infected cells