Publications by authors named "J J B Hans van den Heuvel"
The Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) as the only lipid-associated envelope protein of the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) acts as cellular attachment and entry mediator of HBV making it the main target of neutralizing antibodies to provide HBV immunity after infection or vaccination. Despite its central role in inducing protective immunity, there is however a surprising lack of comparative studies examining different HBsAgs and their ability to detect anti-HBs antibodies. On the contrary, various time-consuming complex HBsAg production protocols have been established, which result in structurally and functionally insufficiently characterized HBsAg.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNatural History of High-Risk Human Papillomavirus in Kenyan and South African Women: Implications for Vaccination Campaigns and Cervical Cancer Screening Programs.
Open Forum Infect Dis
December 2024
Objective: Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines and DNA testing roll out in resource-constrained settings. We evaluated the natural history of HPV infections in African women to contribute to normative guidance.
Methods: Women aged 16 to 35 years were enrolled from 3 sites in South Africa and Kenya and followed quarterly for 18 months.
Gene drive technology has the potential to address major biological challenges. Well-studied homing suppression drives have been shown to be highly efficient in Anopheles mosquitoes, but for other organisms, lower rates of drive conversion prevent elimination of the target population. To tackle this issue, we propose a gene drive design that has two targets: a drive homing site where drive conversion takes place, and a distant site where cleavage induces population suppression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study focuses on the role of the placenta in drug transport and nutrient transfer, identifying key transporters in human placenta and various cell lines.
- Researchers found significant expression levels of transporters like P-gp, BCRP, MRP2, MRP4, and MRP6, with some notable differences between tissue and cell line models.
- The findings suggest that proteomic analysis combined with a physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model can accurately predict fetal drug exposure and offers a standardized approach for future studies on maternal and fetal drug interactions.
Objective: To explore the use of tele-ultrasound and handheld or self-operated ultrasound in pregnancy.
Methods: A systematic search provided 31 studies. The risk of bias for each study was assessed.