Project description:Host cells produce interferon (IFN) in response to viral infections. Secreted interferon results in the transcription and production of hundreds of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs). A genome-wide CRISPR screen using IFN alpha-treated Huh7.5 cells was performed to determine which ISGs were required in order for host cells to suppress yellow fever virus (YFV) infection.
Project description:Mechanisms of poor responses to vaccines remain unknown. Yellow fever-naïve adults were vaccinated with a yellow fever vaccine (YF-17D, Stamaril). Transcriptomic profilling of blood collected pre-vaccination and post-vaccination (day 3, 7, 14 and 84) was performed in order to identify candidate biomarkers of antibody response to the vaccine.
Project description:Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infect hundreds of millions of people each year with dangerous viral pathogens including dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and chikungunya. Progress in understanding the biology of this insect, and developing tools to fight it, depends on the availablity of a high-quality genome assembly. Here we use DNA proximity ligaton (Hi-C) and Pacific Biosciences long reads to create AaegL5 - a highly contiguous A. aegypti reference.
Project description:African swine fever virus (ASFV) causes an acute, hemorrhagic, and highly contagious disease in domestic swine, leading to significant economic losses to the global porcine industry. Restriction factors of innate immunity play a critical in host antiviral action. However, function of swine restriction factors of innate immunity on ASFV has been seldomly investigated. In this study, we determined five homologues of swine interferon-induced transmembrane proteins (SwIFITM [named SwIFITM1a, -1b, -2, -3, and -5]), and we found that they all exhibit potent antiviral activity against ASFV. Expression profile analysis indicated that these SwIFITMs are constitutively expressed in most porcine tissues. Whether infected with ASFV or treated with swine interferon, the expression levels of SwIFITMs were induced in vitro. The subcellular localization of SwIFITMs was similar to that of their human homologues. SwIFITM1a and -1b localized to the plasma membrane, SwIFITM2 and -3 focused on the cytoplasm and the perinuclear region, while SwIFITM5 accumulated in the cell surface and cytoplasm. The overexpression of SwIFITM1a, -1b, -2, -3, or -5 could significantly inhibit ASFV replication in Vero cells, whereas knockdown of these genes could enhance ASFV replication in PAMs. We blocked the constitutive expression of endogenous IFITMs in Vero cells using a CRISPR-Cas9 system and then infected them with ASFV. The results indicated that the knockout of endogenous IFITMs could enhance ASFV replication. Finally, we expressed five SwIFITMs in knockout Vero cell lines and then challenged them with ASFV. The results showed that all of the SwIFITMs had a strong antiviral effect on ASFV. This research will further expand the understanding of the anti-ASFV activity of porcine IFITMs.
Project description:To better understand how innate immunity to vaccination can lead to lasting protective immunity, we have used systemic bioinformatics approaches to define the signature of the yellow fever specific immune response in a cohort of 21 volunteers.
Project description:The immune response to vaccines is critically dependent on multiple host and environmental factors including acute and chronic infections as well as metabolic and/or pathophysiological states of the host. In this study, we used computational systems biology to analyze a cohort of Ugandan subjects following immunization with the Yellow Fever vaccine (YF-17D) to identify pre-vaccination molecular and cellular mechanisms that are associated with the response to the vaccine. By integrating gene expression profiling, cell subset phenotyping and cytokine measurements, we highlight the upregulated levels of interferon-regulated, and inflammasome genes and proteins at the time of vaccination as negative correlates of the antibody response to the YF-17D vaccine. We show that this innate immune response is associated with higher levels of genes that interact with bacterial components and with increased frequencies of Tr1 CD39+ IL-10 producing cells. Our results provide a framework to define the influence of environmental parameters present prior to vaccination on the response to vaccines in human populations
Project description:RNA-Seq was used for transcriptome sequencing of 11 samples covering various life stages and tissues from the yellow fever mosquito Ae. aegypti.