Publications by authors named "Landon Westfall"

Background/objectives: Live influenza vaccines are considered to stimulate better overall immune responses but are associated with safety concerns regarding shedding and the potential for transmission or reassortment with wild-type influenza viruses. Intranasal M2SR and BM2SR (M2- and BM2-deficient single replication), intranasal influenza viruses, have shown promise as broadly cross-reactive next-generation influenza vaccines. The replication deficiency, shedding, and transmissibility of M2SR/BM2SR viruses were evaluated in a ferret model.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The global Monkeypox outbreak that began in 2022 highlights the need for safer live virus vaccines, particularly those based on the vaccinia virus (VACV), to protect populations against both Monkeypox and the persistent threat of smallpox.
  • - Due to safety concerns about VACV, there's a push for a single-dose vaccine alternative, with the horsepox virus (HPXV) being a promising candidate because of its historical use and genetic links to VACV.
  • - A study using a recombinant horsepox virus (TNX-801) showed it provoked strong immune responses and effectively protected macaques from monkeypox without causing severe side effects, paving the way for future vaccine development.
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Animal models are used in preclinical trials to test vaccines, antivirals, monoclonal antibodies, and immunomodulatory drug therapies against SARS-CoV-2. However, these drugs often do not produce equivalent results in human clinical trials. Here, we show how different animal models infected with some of the most clinically relevant SARS-CoV-2 variants, WA1/2020, B.

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Drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a serious global health concern. New drugs are needed that can overcome existing drug resistance and limit the development of new resistances. Here, we describe the small molecule tricyclic pyrimidoindole JSF-2414 [8-(6-fluoro-8-(methylamino)-2-((2-methylpyrimidin-5-yl)oxy)-9H-pyrimido[4,5-b]indol-4-yl)-2-oxa-8-azaspiro[4.

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Simian virus 40 (SV40) is a polyomavirus for which non-human primates are the permissive host. The baboon (Papio spp.) is an old world monkey that is used in a variety of research investigations; however, natural infection of SV40 among baboons has not been thoroughly examined or reported.

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Pseudomonas aeruginosa carries several multidrug efflux operons, including mexEF-oprN, that contribute to its resistance to multiple antibiotics. mvaT affects the expression of several P. aeruginosa genes.

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Exotoxin A production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is regulated positively or negatively by several genes. Two such regulatory genes, ptxR and ptxS, which are divergently transcribed from each other, have been described previously. While computer analysis suggested that the ptxR-ptxS intergenic region contains potential binding sites for several regulatory proteins, the mechanism that regulates the expression of either ptxR or ptxS in P.

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