Publications by authors named "T Whalley"

In response to the escalating SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, in March 2020 the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium was established to enable national-scale genomic surveillance in the UK. By the end of 2020, 49% of all SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences globally had been generated as part of the COG-UK programme, and to date, this system has generated >3 million SARS-CoV-2 genomes. Rapidly and reliably analysing this unprecedented number of genomes was an enormous challenge.

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CD8+ T cells destroy insulin-producing pancreatic β cells in type 1 diabetes through HLA class I-restricted presentation of self-antigens. Combinatorial peptide library screening was used to produce a preferred peptide recognition landscape for a patient-derived T cell receptor (TCR) that recognized the preproinsulin-derived (PPI-derived) peptide sequence LWMRLLPLL in the context of disease risk allele HLA A*24:02. Data were used to generate a strong superagonist peptide, enabling production of an autoimmune HLA A*24:02-peptide-TCR structure by crystal seeding.

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Introduction: Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) are an important public health threat, with costly operational and economic consequences for NHS Integrated Care Systems and NHS Trusts. UK Health Security Agency guidelines recommend that Trusts use locally developed risk assessments to accurately identify high-risk individuals for screening, and implement the most appropriate method of testing, but this presents many challenges.

Methods: A convenience sample of cross-specialty experts from across England met to discuss the barriers and practical solutions to implementing UK Health Security Agency framework into operational and clinical workflows.

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Background: A better understanding of the pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) immune microenvironment is critical to developing new treatments and improving outcomes. Myeloid cells are of particular importance for PDAC progression; however, the presence of heterogenous subsets with different ontogeny and impact, along with some fluidity between them, (infiltrating monocytes vs. tissue-resident macrophages; M1 vs.

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Article Synopsis
  • Gut microbiota significantly influences the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy in melanoma patients, especially when combined with oncolytic viruses (OVs) that induce cell death and boost immune responses.
  • In experiments with a syngeneic mouse model, the use of vancomycin disrupted gut microbiota and weakened the antitumor effects of the oncolytic adenovirus Ad5D24-CpG (Ad-CpG).
  • Supplementing with Bifidobacterium enhanced Ad-CpG’s effectiveness by decreasing melanoma spread and altering tumor-infiltrating immune cell populations, with evidence supporting that certain bacterial components may activate beneficial T cells against melanoma.
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