Publications by authors named "T Heidmann"
Article Synopsis
- - Syncytins are genes derived from retroviruses that are crucial for the development of a syncytial structure in the placenta, influencing both placentogenesis and embryonic growth.
- - In mice, there are two syncytiotrophoblast layers in the placenta, ST-I and ST-II, each expressing different syncytins: SynA and SynB, which interact with distinct cellular receptors for fusion.
- - The study identified PiT1 as the receptor for SynB, and its absence leads to defects in the development of the ST-II layer, highlighting the importance of PiT1 in proper placental function.
Intercellular protein-protein interactions (PPIs) have pivotal roles in biological functions and diseases. Membrane proteins are therefore a major class of drug targets. However, studying such intercellular PPIs is challenging because of the properties of membrane proteins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFReplicative vectors derived from live-attenuated measles virus (MV) carrying additional non-measles vaccine antigens have long demonstrated safety and immunogenicity in humans despite pre-existing immunity to measles. Here, we report the vaccination of cynomolgus macaques with MV replicative vectors expressing simian-human immunodeficiency virus Gag, Env, and Nef antigens (MV-SHIV Wt) either wild type or mutated in the immunosuppressive (IS) domains of Nef and Env antigens (MV-SHIV Mt). We found that the inactivation of Nef and Env IS domains by targeted mutations led to the induction of significantly enhanced post-prime cellular immune responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHuman endogenous retroviruses represent approximately 8% of our genome. Most of these sequences are defective except for a few genes such as the ancestral retroviral HEMO envelope gene (Human Endogenous MER34 ORF), recently characterized by our group. In this study, we characterized transcriptional activation of HEMO in primary tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and in metastatic tumors from a Gustave Roussy cohort.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The text discusses envelope genes of retroviral origin that are important for placentation and cell fusion, specifically in forming a layer of the placenta in mice.
- Researchers used mice lacking a particular gene (SynB mice) to explore its role in the fusion of certain immune cells into larger multinucleated cells, like osteoclasts in bones and giant cells in soft tissues.
- Results showed that the absence of this gene reduced the number of multinucleated cells early in formation, but did not affect their function, indicating its key role during initial stages of cell fusion rather than ongoing cell activity.