We report findings of an Australian COVID-19 Case study of a 47 year womanThevarajan et al., aimed to determine the “kinetics and breadth of immune responses associated with clinical resolution of COVID-19.” Specifically, the conducted immune-profiling of blood samples at day 7-9 post symptoms, and day 20 (recovered).
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Immuno-Ethiopia: Fungal epidemiology and immunology
This article we shall focus on Fungal immunology talks presented by Dr J. Claire Hoving (University of Cape Town). Dr Hoving’s first talk focused on “The Epidemiology of fungal infections”, she highlighted that although fungal infections cause more than 1.5 million deaths annually, the impact on human health is not....
Immuno-Ethiopia: Malaria Highlight 2
Our second highlight is on talks that focused on understanding malaria parasite transmission, motility and emergence of anti-malarial resistance, as well as the neutrophil activity in malaria friend or foe. Prof. Frischknech (Ruprecht-Karis University, Heidelberg) gave a lecture on ‘’Transmission of malaria – from microscopy to experimental vaccine studies’’.
Immuno-Ethiopia: Malaria Highlight 1
Our first Immuno-Ethiopia highlight is on talks by Dr Yaw Bediako (PhD), WACCBIP, University of Ghana, about “Immunity to malaria’’ and “Exploring naturally acquired immunity to malaria: Systems Immunology and Human Cohort Studies”. He highlighted the global malaria burden emphasizing that Africa contributes to 75% of this burden.
Single-cell RNA-Seq of BAL samples from COVID-19 patients
A recent study by Liao et al., “comprehensively characterised the lung immune microenvironment of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from 3 severe and 3 mild COVID-19 patients and 8 previously reported healthy lung controls through single-cell RNA sequence combined with TCR-sequencing.”
Type I interferon co-stimulation of MAIT cell function
Recent evidence suggest that Type I-interferons (T1-IFNs) IFN-α and IFN-β can activate of MAITs. However, this mechanism is not fully understood. Researchers from New Zealand aimed to investigate this and specifically focused on the role of T1-IFN-mediated activation of MAITs in the context of MR1-TCR activation.
The (Un)usual Suspect-Novel Coronavirus Identified
The 2019 novel coronavirus (CoV) causes fatal pneumonia that has claimed over 1300 lives, with more than 52000 confirmed cases of infection by February 13, 2020, all in the span of just over a month. But, what is this virus? Is it a new virus altogether? Where did it come from?
Murine model of coeliac disease
Abadie et al., developed transgenic DQ8-Dd-villin-IL-15tg mice, which express the HLA-DQ8 [HLA associated with genetic predisposition to coeliac disease), as well as over-express IL-15 by both the lamina propria and IECs. These transgenic mice developed immunopathologies associated with coeliac disease, including villous atrophy after a gluten-rich diet.
miRNA carried by NETs modulate macrophage function
Researchers from Brazil aimed to determine if small non-coding RNA molecules known as microRNAs (miRNA) are associated with NETs. miRNAs regulate cellular processes and can be detected both intra- and extra-cellularly, bound to protein or packaged in lipid-based carriers. They detected miRNA...
Does mumps immunity induced by 2 doses of MMR wane in adulthood?
Researchers from Emory University and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the US aimed to determine if individuals vaccinated with 2 doses of (97% of the cohort) MMR in childhood have waned mumps-specific antibody (Ab) and memory B cell (MBCs) responses. Rasheed et al., showed that Abs to mumps...