Immunotherapy Weekly

HIV/AIDS Research - U.S. NIH awards $32 million contract for ongoing HIV vaccine research

HIV/AIDS Screening - Targeting chronically ill populations for HIV treatment has short-term benefits in cost savings

HIV/AIDS Therapy - Antiretroviral therapy marginally affects early childhood growth

HIV/AIDS Therapy - Bayesian model predicts CD4 cell count trajectory variation among long-term HAART patients

HIV/AIDS Therapy - HAART interruption is a viable option when nadir CD4 cell counts are >250 cells/mm³

HIV/AIDS Therapy - Interruptions of shorter periods are unlikely to allow restoration of mitochondrial DNA

HIV/AIDS Therapy - Topical microbicide prevents and/or treats oculo-genital adenovirus/HIV infections

HIV/AIDS Transmission - HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cell responses are factors in viral evolution in mothers/infants

HIV/AIDS Vaccine - Costimulation with CD80 and CD137L enhances HIV-specific CD8 T cell responses

HIV/AIDS Vaccine - Negative binomial regression was used to confirm IL-12 adjuvant activity

HIV/AIDS Vaccine - Probes can help development of Fab-based anti-HIV-1 therapeutics

HIV/AIDS-Associated Pulmonary Hypertension - Pulmonary hypertension incidence 1,000 times higher in HIV patients compared to general population

HIV/AIDS-Related Cancer - HIV-1 disease length and not immune status is a risk factor for anal carcinoma development

HIV/AIDS-Related Infection -  Cryptococcus gattii is highly prevalent among AIDS patients in southern California

HIV/AIDS-Related Lipodystrophy - Lipodystrophy in HIV/AIDS resembles the metabolic syndrome in uninfected persons

Hepatitis B Vaccine - Hepatitis B vaccine non-responsiveness analyzed among health care workers from an endemic area

Hepatitis B Virus - Changes of the major hydrophilic loop of the hepatitis B antigen are not rare

Hepatitis B Virus - Hepatitis B genotype C prevails among chronic carriers of the virus in Korea

Hepatitis B Virus - Hepatitis B immune globulin and lamivudine prevent hepatitis infection in liver transplantation

Hepatitis C Virus - Hepatitis C-associated autoimmunity rarely involves clinical manifestations in HIV coinfection

Hepatitis C Virus - Indirect mechanisms operate in hepatitis C liver infection and liver steatosis

Hepatitis C Virus - Leukocyte antigen alleles are linked with chronic hepatitis C virus infection

Hepatitis C Virus - Total core antigen assay is useful in diagnosing hepatitis C virus infection

Hepatitis Vaccine - Virus coinfection model reveals reciprocal immunomodulation

Herpes Simplex Virus - HSV-1 genital infections are increasing in Spain

Herpes Simplex Virus - Herpes transcript gene promotes assembly of heterochromatin

Herpes Simplex Virus - Valacyclovir reduces risk of HSV-2 transmission between HSV-2 discordant couples

Hodgkin Lymphoma - Bleomycin pulmonary toxicity negatively impacted outcome of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma

Human Herpesvirus - HHV 8 may play a role in the onset of cutaneous lymphoproliferative diseases

Human Papillomavirus Vaccine - Papillomavirus E6 and E7 long peptides control virus-induced lesions

Huntington Disease - Small interfering RNAs show promise as treatment for Huntington disease

Immunotherapy - Researchers' observations could lead to potential new treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus

Infectious Diseases - TGF-beta 1 plays multiple roles in the control of persistent fungal pneumonia

Inflammatory Bowel Disease - Carbon monoxide shuts down intestinal inflammation that causes ulcerative colitis

Influenza Vaccine - Influenza vaccination protects patients after bone marrow transplant

Influenza Vaccine - Split influenza vaccine effectively limited viral shedding upon challenge

Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine - WHO report on endpoints to evaluate Japanese encephalitis vaccines is released

Kaposi Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus - KSHV K8 beta blocks K8 alpha-CDK2 interaction

Kaposi Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus - KSHV latency established and maintained in B cells

Kidney Transplantation - Hepatitis C characteristics differ in renal transplant and immunocompetent patients

Lassa Fever Vaccine - Vaccine for Lassa fever is made by reassortment of Lassa and Mopeia viruses

Leishmaniasis Vaccine - Asymptomatic L. major provides natural immunization

Leukemia - sBLA filed for first-line use of Oncasparin ALL; U.S. FDA accepts application for review

Leukemia Vaccine - Vectors encoding for costimulatory molecules enhance immunogenicity of leukemia cells

Listeria Monocytogenes - Urocortin 2 suppresses host resistance to L. monocytogenes via IL-10 up-regulation

Lymphoma - Frequency of various types of lymphomas in Jordan analyzed

Lymphoma - Primary lymphoma arising in the nasal cavity derived from natural killer cells

Malaria Control - Reducing child mortality from malaria in Africa is the focus of review

Measles Vaccine - Long untranslated regions of measles virus M and F genes control virus replication

Measles Vaccine - Long-term immunity to measles virus is promoted by both Th1 and Th2 cells

Melanoma - Incidence of melanoma increased in renal transplantation recipients

Melanoma - RT-PCR deemed more sensitive than PATH in detecting sentinel lymph node metastases

Melanoma Vaccine - Dendritic cell vaccine induces specific immune responses in melanoma patients

Melanoma Vaccine - Th1 conditions are needed for lasting tumor-specific CTL activity

Melioidosis Vaccine - Model of immunity to Burkholderia pseudomallei is developed

Meningitis Vaccine - Peptide mimetic of meningococcal lipo-oligosaccharide does not protect against meningococcus

Mental Health - Rat model may provide selective screening technique for antidepressant therapy

Mergers & Acquisitions - Drugmaker acquires influenza vaccine manufacturer ID Biomedical Corp.

Mycobacterium Tuberculosis - MTB PPE55 may differentiate between latent and subclinical tuberculosis infection

Myocarditis Vaccine - Naked plasmid DNA-encoding CTLA4-Ig gene prevents autoimmune myocarditis

Neuroscience - Endothelial cells, astrocytes, and microglia may play role in trafficking of different PBMC subsets

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma - Use of cellular or cordless telephones related to risk of T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Nosocomial Infection - Identified factors predict death from S. pneumoniae-related nosocomial bacteremia

Orthopedics - Possible target for preventing, treating age-associated bone fractures identified

Osteoporosis - Immunization with TRANCE/RANKL displayed on virus-like particles prevents osteoporosis

Ovarian Cancer Vaccine - Fusion cells from ovarian cancer cells and dendritic cells show promise as vaccine

Patents - FluMist maker acquires rights to reverse genetics patent

Patents - Patents filed for personalized, therapeutic monoclonal antibodies to treat non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Personnel - Biopharmaceutical company names Adrian Adams to board of directors

Personnel - Charles A. Dinarello, MD, accepts seat on board of biological products company

Personnel - David Guy named chief commercial officer

Personnel - Nancy Chang, PhD, named board chair of monoclonal antibody-focused biotech company

Personnel - Pharma company announces senior management hires and promotions

Pertussis - Whooping cough persistence may have been traced to a key toxin

Pertussis Vaccine - Seroprevalance of B. pertussis antibodies is high in girls in Edirne

Pharmaceutical Research - Manufacture, supply agreement for monoclonal antibody TRX4 signed with Abbott

Pneumococcal Vaccine - Adjuvant effect of C3d conjugated to PPS14 requires C3d-CR2 interactions

Product Licensing - MedImmune licenses technology for researching and developing antibodies

Protein Production - Model is developed for improved process monitoring in E. coli batch cultivations

Protein Production - Parvovirus B19 VP2-proteins have been produced in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Proteomics - Identified mannoproteins are important targets of antibody response during cryptococcosis

Pulmonary Medicine - Endothelin induces VEGF and edema in virally infected rodent lungs

Pulmonary Medicine - Lymphangiogenesis follows angiogenesis in pulmonary fibrosis

Pulmonary Medicine - Persistent microbial infection garners immune activation and airway remodeling

Respiratory Syncytial Virus - Overexpression of RSV M2-2 protein inhibits viral replication

Rheumatology - Vascular endothelial growth factor functional variants have a limited role in rheumatoid arthritis

Rhinovirus - New mechanism has been defined for virus neutralization by soluble receptors

Rotavirus Epidemiology - G3 and G9 rotavirus is emerging in southern region of Ireland

Rotavirus Epidemiology - New VP7-VP4 gene combinations may affect rotavirus circulation in infants

SARS Vaccine - Inactivated virus immunization modulates immune response to SARS spike glycoprotein

Schistosomiasis - Paramyosin T cell epitopes are linked to Schistosoma reinfection resistance

Smallpox Vaccine - Vaccinia virus disrupts MHC class II-restricted antigen presentation

Smallpox Vaccine - Vaccinia virus virions move to cell periphery on microtubules without A36R protein

Smooth Muscle - Constrictor-induced NFAT3 translocation occurs in pulmonary artery smooth muscle

Streptococcal Infection - Cephalosporins may be more effective for the treatment of strep throat

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus - Autologous HSCT can be performed safely in APS patients

Thrombocytopenia - Treatment promising for immune thrombocytopenia, hemolytic anemia and myeloid leukemia

Thyroid Cancer - Diagnosis of primary parathyroid tumors of the mediastinum discussed

Transplant Medicine - Anemia and its treatment may have an impact on outcomes for renal transplant recipients

Transplantation Medicine - CD86 gene polymorphism could be involved in liver transplant acceptance

Trypanosoma Cruzi -  T. cruzi Tc52 sequence polymorphism gene could affect the parasite phenotype

Tuberculosis Diagnosis - ELISPOT is as good as tuberculin skin testing to detect latent TB infection

Tumor Cells - Tumor cell coexpression of CD40L and CD70 induces anti-tumor immunity

Tumor Necrosis Factor - PAI-1 expression is mediated by tumor necrosis factor in endothelial cells

Vaccine Adjuvant - CpG ODNs are better than Resiquimod as vaccine adjuvants

Vaccine Delivery - Mitochondrial leader sequence-plasmid DNA conjugates co-localize with mitochondria

Vaccine Development - Delivery of 500,000 doses of MVA3000 smallpox vaccine to U.S. government completed

Vaccine Efficacy - Older adults may need immunization against diphtheria and tetanus in Australia

Vaccine Vector - Lentiviral vector in Pluronic F127 gel facilitates delivery to CNS

Vaccine Vector - Plasmid-based vectors for B. subtilis with structural stability have been developed

Vaccine Vector - Recombinant poxviruses were used as mucosal vaccine vectors

Vascular Cell Adhesion - Prostaglandin synthesis decreases vascular cell adhesion molecule expression

Vector Development - Calcium phosphate nanoparticles have been developed as nonviral vectors in gene therapy

Vector Development - Lentiviral vector production is upscaled by tangential flow filtration

Viral Hepatitis Therapy - Plasma exchange is promising in the treatment of severe viral hepatitis

Virology - Measles virus infection triggers IL-8 release from pulmonary epithelial cells

Virology - OX40 ligand costimulates human antiviral memory CD8 T cell responses

Virology - Viruses circumventing and/or inhibit key cellular events required for survival

Virus-Like Particles - Semliki Forest virus-derived virus-like particles have been characterized