Publications by authors named "Dawn Gourlay"

Background And Objectives: Recent outbreaks of Zika virus (ZIKV) in South and Central America have highlighted significant neurologic side effects. Concurrence with the inflammatory neuropathy Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is observed in 1:4,000 ZIKV cases. Whether the neurologic symptoms of ZIKV infection are immune mediated is unclear.

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Glycolipids cluster in plasma membranes to form heterogenous patches. Whereas lectins and antibodies have been conventionally viewed as binding a single oligosaccharide head group, and assayed accordingly, it is increasingly evident that cis-interactions between glycan headgroups may form unique molecular shapes that either enhance or attenuate binding of antibodies and other proteins. Herein we describe a method for assaying antibody binding to heteromeric glycolipid complexes that allows rapid, simple, inexpensive and high-throughput assessment of binding events, focusing on autoantibodies present in human serum.

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Objective: To identify the clinical phenotypes and infectious triggers in the 2019 Peruvian Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) outbreak.

Methods: We prospectively collected clinical and neurophysiologic data of patients with GBS admitted to a tertiary hospital in Lima, Peru, between May and August 2019. Molecular, immunologic, and microbiological methods were used to identify causative infectious agents.

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Objective: To determine the clinical phenotype of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) after Zika virus (ZIKV) infection, the anti-glycolipid antibody signature, and the role of other circulating arthropod-borne viruses, we describe a cohort of GBS patients identified during ZIKV and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) outbreaks in Northeast Brazil.

Methods: We prospectively recruited GBS patients from a regional neurology center in Northeast Brazil between December 2014 and February 2017. Serum and CSF were tested for ZIKV, CHIKV, and dengue virus (DENV), by RT-PCR and antibodies, and serum was tested for GBS-associated antibodies to glycolipids.

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Sulfatide is a major glycosphingolipid in myelin and a target for autoantibodies in autoimmune neuropathies. However neuropathy disease models have not been widely established, in part because currently available monoclonal antibodies to sulfatide may not represent the diversity of anti-sulfatide antibody binding patterns found in neuropathy patients. We sought to address this issue by generating and characterising a panel of new anti-sulfatide monoclonal antibodies.

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