Publications by authors named "Phillip J Norris"
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen that caused an epidemic in 2015-2016. ZIKV-specific T cell responses are functional in animal infection models, and helper CD4 T cells promote avid Abs in the vaccine context. The small volumes of blood available from field research limit the determination of T cell epitopes for complex microbes such as ZIKV.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZika virus (ZIKV) constitutes an increasing public health problem. Previous studies have shown that CD8 T cells play an important role in ZIKV-specific protective immunity. We have previously defined antigenic targets of the ZIKV-specific CD8 T cell response in humans.
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- Progress in understanding how T cells respond to Zika virus (ZIKV) is limited, especially compared to humoral immunity, prompting this investigation into T cell kinetics and viral targets.
- Previous infection or vaccination with dengue virus (DENV) enhances the T cell response to ZIKV due to similarities in virus peptide sequences, leading to more robust and early responses in DENV-immune individuals.
- The study reveals that ZIKV targets specific structural proteins for T cell responses, highlighting the importance of DENV exposure on the quality and timing of immune responses, especially in regions where both viruses circulate.
Article Synopsis
- Transfusion-related respiratory complications like TRALI and TACO are significant causes of harm and death, with no current effective prevention measures in place during red blood cell transfusions.
- The study is a multicenter randomized clinical trial comparing washed versus standard allogeneic RBC transfusions in cardiac surgery patients, involving 170 participants to evaluate the feasibility and safety of point-of-care RBC washing.
- A comprehensive ethics review was conducted, and the study's findings aim to enhance understanding of post-transfusion respiratory complications and potentially improve patient outcomes.
During HIV type-1 (HIV-1), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections, altered iron balance correlates with morbidity. The liver-produced hormone hepcidin dictates systemic iron homeostasis. We measured hepcidin, iron parameters, cytokines, and inflammatory markers in three cohorts: plasma donors who developed acute HIV-1, HBV, or HCV viremia during the course of donations; HIV-1-positive individuals progressing from early to chronic infection; and chronically HIV-1-infected individuals (receiving antiretroviral therapy or untreated).
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- During human CMV (cytomegalovirus) infection, there's a notable increase in a specific type of natural killer (NK) cells that express the activating receptor complex CD94-NKG2C, suggesting its role in identifying CMV-infected cells.
- The study reveals a unique subset of NK cells, marked as CD57(+)NKG2C(hi), which are highly activated and degranulate (release cytotoxic substances) when stimulated through their NKG2C receptor, while lacking certain inhibitory receptors.
- In solid-organ transplant recipients with active CMV infection, the presence of these CD57(+)NKG2C(hi) NK cells increased, supporting the idea that CD