The latent viral reservoir represents one of the major barriers to curing HIV-1. Focus on the "kick and kill" (also called "shock and kill") approach, in which virus expression is reactivated, and then cells producing virus are selectively depleted, has led to the discovery of many latency-reversing agents (LRAs) that have furthered our understanding of the mechanisms driving HIV-1 latency and latency reversal. Thus far, individual compounds have yet to be robust enough to work as a therapy, highlighting the importance of identifying new compounds that target novel pathways and synergize with known LRAs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe latent viral reservoir represents one of the major barriers of curing HIV-1. Focus on the "kick and kill" approach, in which virus expression is reactivated then cells producing virus are selectively depleted, has led to the discovery of many latency reversing agents (LRAs) that have furthered our understanding of the mechanisms driving HIV-1 latency and latency reversal. Thus far, individual compounds have yet to be robust enough to work as a therapy, highlighting the importance of identifying new compounds that target novel pathways and synergize with known LRAs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTranslocated lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activates monocytes via TLR4 and is hypothesized to increase cardiovascular disease risk in persons living with HIV. We tested whether mTOR activity supports LPS-stimulated monocyte production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and tissue factor (TF), as it propels the inflammatory response in several immune cell types besides monocytes. However, multi-omics analyses here demonstrate that mTOR activates a metabolic pathway that limits abundance of these gene products in monocytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of the pandemic human respiratory illness COVID-19, is a global health emergency. While severe acute disease has been linked to an expansion of antibody-secreting plasmablasts, we sought to identify B cell responses that correlated with positive clinical outcomes in convalescent patients. We characterized the peripheral blood B cell immunophenotype and plasma antibody responses in 40 recovered non-hospitalized COVID-19 subjects that were enrolled as donors in a convalescent plasma treatment study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of the pandemic human respiratory illness COVID-19, is a global health emergency. While severe acute disease has been linked to an expansion of antibody-secreting plasmablasts, we sought to identify B cell responses that correlated with positive clinical outcomes in convalescent patients. We characterized the peripheral blood B cell immunophenotype and plasma antibody responses in 40 recovered non-hospitalized COVID-19 subjects that were enrolled as donors in a convalescent plasma treatment study.
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