Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Yiwei Huang, Yuyun Song, Jichen Li, Changning Lv, Zhe-Sheng Chen, Zhijun Liu
Summary: Human herpes simplex viruses use cell surface receptors such as heparan sulfate, herpesvirus entry mediator, and nectin-1/-2, 3-O-sulfated heparan sulfate to enter host cells. No vaccine or curative treatment is currently available for HSV infections.
DRUG DISCOVERY TODAY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Bishajit Sarkar, Md. Asad Ullah, Yusha Araf, Sowmen Das, Md. Hasanur Rahman, Abu Tayab Moin
Summary: HSV is a highly infectious virus with two types, HSV-1 and HSV-2, infecting millions worldwide. This study designed three polyvalent subunit vaccines targeting multiple strains of HSV, which showed stability and potential effectiveness through molecular docking and simulation studies. Validation of these vaccines in wet lab-based studies is still needed.
JOURNAL OF BIOMOLECULAR STRUCTURE & DYNAMICS
(2021)
Review
Oncology
Hayle Scanlan, Zachary Coffman, Jeffrey Bettencourt, Timothy Shipley, Debra E. Bramblett
Summary: This review provides an overview of HSV-1 as an oncolytic virus candidate and the genomic organization of T-VEC. The advantages and limitations of T-VEC compared to other HSV-1 oncolytic virus variants currently in clinical trials are discussed. Additionally, future directions for the use of HSV-1 oncolytic viruses as cancer therapy are explored.
FRONTIERS IN ONCOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tatsuya Hasegawa, Tomonori Oka, Heehwa G. Son, Valeria S. Oliver-Garcia, Marjan Azin, Thomas M. Eisenhaure, David J. Lieb, Nir Hacohen, Shadmehr Demehri
Summary: Senescent fibroblast accumulation in aging human skin is controlled by a virus-immune axis. Senescent fibroblasts increase in old skin, but not in the elderly, which is associated with increased recruitment of CXCL9 and cytotoxic CD4+ T cells. Skin-resident CD4 CTLs eliminate senescent fibroblasts expressing HLA-II and HCMV-gB through an HLA-II-dependent mechanism.
Article
Immunology
Jin Sun, Zhihang Zheng, Min Li, Zhihua Liu, Xiao Su, Xia Jin
Summary: Researchers identified 27 new immunodominant epitopes of Zika virus and successfully designed T cell vaccines that induce T cell-mediated cytotoxicity and cytokine production, providing varying degrees of protection against Zika virus challenge and improving the protective efficacy of neutralizing antibody-inducing vaccines.
Article
Virology
Cory J. Knudson, Maria Ferez, Pedro Alves-Peixoto, Dan A. Erkes, Carolina R. Melo-Silva, Lingjuan Tang, Christopher M. Snyder, Luis J. Sigal
Summary: This study reveals the induction and differentiation mechanisms of CD4-CTL during viral infection, showing that CD4-CTL are derived from terminal differentiation of classical Th1 cells and require sustained antigen presentation. The research demonstrates that CD4-CTL upregulate protein levels of transcription factors posttranscriptionally, suggesting further posttranscriptional regulation is necessary for CD4-CTL differentiation.
JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Virology
Juan Zhao, Ling Wang, Madison Schank, Xindi Dang, Zeyuan Lu, Dechao Cao, Sushant Khanal, Lam N Nguyen, Lam N T Nguyen, Jinyu Zhang, Yi Zhang, James L. Adkins, Evan M. Baird, Xiao Y. Wu, Shunbin Ning, Mohamed El Gazzar, Jonathan P. Moorman, Zhi Q. Yao
Summary: Research shows that COVID-19-recovered individuals exhibit specific T cell responses, potentially offering protection against reinfection for some exposed individuals and inducing protective immunity in unexposed individuals upon vaccination. There is a need for a multi-epitope strategy in COVID-19 vaccine design due to the low immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 S and N peptides at inducing robust T cell responses.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Gayathri Anandhan, Yogesh B. Narkhede, Manikandan Mohan, Premasudha Paramasivam
Summary: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a contagious viral pathogen that causes serious respiratory infection in adults and neonates. The monoclonal antibodies palivizumab and motavizumab are the only approved treatments for RSV, but they are expensive and require hospital administration. In this study, in silico prediction methods were used to identify potential vaccine targets for RSV. By analyzing the entire proteome of RSV strain A, 70 potential immunogenic epitopes were identified, including 13 experimentally verified epitopes.
JOURNAL OF BIOMOLECULAR STRUCTURE & DYNAMICS
(2023)
Article
Virology
Puja Bagri, Ramtin Ghasemi, Joshua J. C. McGrath, Danya Thayaparan, Emma Yu, Andrew G. Brooks, Martin R. Staempfli, Charu Kaushic
Summary: This study reveals a new role for E2 in enhancing CD4(+) memory T cells postintranasal immunization with HSV-2. Under the influence of E2 treatment, there is an enhanced establishment of antiviral memory T cell responses in the upper respiratory tract and female reproductive tract, with greater T(h)17 memory cells preceding enhanced T(h)1 memory responses. The findings suggest potential strategies for generating optimal immunity during vaccination.
JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Virology
Qing Fan, Richard Longnecker, Sarah A. Connolly
Summary: The viral fusion protein glycoprotein B (gB) is essential for virus entry in all herpesviruses. By introducing structure-based mutations, researchers identified mutations that counteracted a slow-entry phenotype in the virus and found that these mutations were located in different regions of the gB protein.
JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Pathology
Melissa Krystel-Whittemore, May P. Chan, Sara C. Shalin, Kenan J. Sauder, Amy Hudson, Ruth K. Foreman, Mai P. Hoang, Jeoffry B. Brennick, Shaofeng Yan, Rosalynn M. Nazarian
Summary: This study presents the first known report of herpes virus infecting deep stromal cells of the dermis, highlighting the importance of considering cutaneous stromal herpes in patients with atypical clinical lesions, especially when immunocompromised. Establishing the correct diagnosis is crucial for initiating therapy.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SURGICAL PATHOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Dermatology
Deepthi Konda, Laxmisha Chandrashekar, Rahul Dhodapkar, Rajesh Nachiappa Ganesh, Devinder Mohan Thappa
Summary: This study characterized the clinical markers of herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection among patients with pemphigus vulgaris. It was found that male sex, presence of fissures, hemorrhagic crusts, erosions with angulated margins, linear erosions, and raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate were significantly associated with HSV infection. Hemorrhagic crusts and linear erosions were identified as independent predictors of HSV infection.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Medical Laboratory Technology
Sita Awasthi, Harvey M. Friedman
Summary: The rapid development of two nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccines has revolutionized the field of COVID-19 vaccines with their safety and high effectiveness. The mRNA technology offers advantages such as accelerated immunogen discovery, robust immune response induction, and rapid manufacturing scale-up. Developing a genital herpes vaccine has been a longstanding public health priority, and the advent of mRNA technology holds promise in changing the narrative. The development of nucleoside-modified mRNA-lipid nanoparticle vaccines for genital herpes shows great potential in inducing higher levels of neutralizing antibodies and more durable immune responses compared to protein-adjuvanted vaccines.
TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jianmei Xiao, Xing Wan, Haoliang Wang, Guohong Deng
Summary: CD4 T cells play important roles in chronic hepatitis B and can be classified into different functional subsets based on the cytokines they secrete. Analysis of HBV-specific CD4 T cells based on cytokine secretion provides information on their response magnitude and functional subsets.
JOVE-JOURNAL OF VISUALIZED EXPERIMENTS
(2021)
Review
Immunology
Mara Cenerenti, Margaux Saillard, Pedro Romero, Camilla Jandus
Summary: The article reviews the discovery and characterization of cytotoxic CD4 T cells, and describes their mechanisms of cytotoxicity. The importance of these cells in disease conditions, particularly in cancer, is emphasized, and insights on how to exploit these cells in immunotherapy are provided.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)