Technical survey of end-to-end signal processing in BCIs using invasive MEAs.

Modern brain-computer interfaces and neural implants allow interaction between the tissue, the user and the environment, where people suffer from neurodegenerative diseases or injuries.This interaction can be achieved by using penetrating/invasive microelectrodes for extracellular recordings and stimulation, such as Utah or Michigan arrays. The application-specific signal processing of the extracellular recording enables the detection of interactions and enables user interaction.

Comparative Evaluation of the Vaccine Efficacies of Three Adenovirus-Based Vector Types in the Friend Retrovirus Infection Model.

Adenovirus (AdV)-based vectors are popular experimental vaccine vectors, but despite their ability to induce strong immune responses, their application is impeded by widespread preexisting immunity against many AdV types that can impair or even abrogate the induction of transgene-specific immune responses. Therefore, the development of vectors based on AdV types with a low seroprevalence is important for effective AdV-based immunization in humans. We investigated the immunization efficacy of vectors based on AdV type 48 (Ad48) and Ad50 in the ovalbumin (ova) model as well as the Friend retrovirus (FV) model, which allows testing of the protective effect of vaccine-induced immunity.

Infection of B Cell Follicle-Resident Cells by Friend Retrovirus Occurs during Acute Infection and Is Maintained during Viral Persistence.

B cell follicles of the spleen and lymph nodes are immune privileged sites and serve as sanctuaries for infected CD4 cells in HIV infection. It is assumed that CD8 T cell responses promote the establishment of the reservoir, as B cell follicles do not permit CD8 T cell entry. Here we analyzed the infected cell population in the Friend retrovirus (FV) infection and investigated whether FV can similarly infect follicular cells.

Immunodominance of Adenovirus-Derived CD8 T Cell Epitopes Interferes with the Induction of Transgene-Specific Immunity in Adenovirus-Based Immunization.

Adenovirus (Ad)-based immunization is a popular approach in vaccine development, and Ad-based vectors are renowned for their potential to induce strong CD8 T cell responses to the encoded transgene. Surprisingly, we previously found in the mouse Friend retrovirus (FV) model that Ad-based immunization did not induce CD8 T cell responses to the FV Leader-Gag-derived immunodominant epitope GagL We show now that induction of GagL-specific CD8 T cells was highly effective when leader-Gag was delivered by plasmid DNA immunization, implying a role for Ad-derived epitopes in mediating unresponsiveness. By immunizing with DNA constructs encoding strings of GagL and the two Ad-derived epitopes DNA-binding protein (DBP) and hexon, we confirmed that Ad epitopes prevent induction of GagL-specific CD8 T cells.

Induction of complex immune responses and strong protection against retrovirus challenge by adenovirus-based immunization depends on the order of vaccine delivery.

Background: In the Friend retrovirus mouse model we developed potent adenovirus-based vaccines that were designed to induce either strong Friend virus GagL-specific CD8 T cell or antibody responses, respectively. To optimize the immunization outcome we evaluated vaccination strategies using combinations of these vaccines.

Results: While the vaccines on their own confer strong protection from a subsequent Friend virus challenge, the simple combination of the vaccines for the establishment of an optimized immunization protocol did not result in a further improvement of vaccine effectivity.