Author: Donna Huber

AIM2 sensors mediate immunity to Plasmodium infection in hepatocytes

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]Malaria, caused by Plasmodium parasites is a severe disease affecting millions of people around the world. Plasmodium undergoes obligatory development and replication in the hepatocytes, before initiating the life-threatening blood-stage of malaria. Although the natural immune responses impeding Plasmodium infection and development in...

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B cell responses in chronic Chagas disease: Waning of Trypanosoma cruzi-specific antibody-secreting cells following successful etiological treatment

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]Background: A drawback in the treatment of chronic Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis) is the long time required to achieve complete loss of serological reactivity, the standard for determining treatment efficacy. Methods: Antibody-secreting and memory B cells specific for Trypanosoma cruzi...

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In Vitro Diagnostic Assay to Detect SARS-CoV-2-Neutralizing Antibody in Patient Sera Using Engineered ACE-2 Mini-Protein

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]The recent development and mass administration of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines allowed for disease control, reducing hospitalizations and mortality. Most of these vaccines target the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein antigens, culminating with the...

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The CTEGD Cytometry Shared Resource Lab is growing!

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]CTEGD's Cytometry Shared Resource Laboratory recently added a Malvern Panalytical NanoSight NS300 to their suite of cytometry instruments. This was a donation from the laboratory of Dr. Stephen Hajduk. The NanoSight allows rapid analysis of the size distribution...

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Cryopreservation of Plasmodium Sporozoites

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] [caption id="attachment_7639" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Cryopreservation protocol for Plasmodium sporozoites.[/caption] Malaria is a deadly disease caused by the parasite, Plasmodium, and impacts the lives of millions of people around the world. Following inoculation into mammalian hosts by infected mosquitoes, the...

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Integrative genetic manipulation of Plasmodium cynomolgi reveals MultiDrug Resistance-1 Y976F associated with increased in vitro susceptibility to mefloquine

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]The lack of a long-term in vitro culture method has severely restricted the study of Plasmodium vivax, in part because it limits genetic manipulation and reverse genetics. We used the recently optimized P. cynomolgi Berok in vitro...

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Michael Strand

An aphid symbiont confers protection against a specialized RNA virus, another increases vulnerability to the same pathogen

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]Insects often harbor heritable symbionts that provide defense against specialized natural enemies, yet little is known about symbiont protection when hosts face simultaneous threats. In pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum), the facultative endosymbiont Hamiltonella defensa confers protection against...

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Jessica Kissinger is special guest on podcast

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]Jessica Kissinger was recently the guest researcher on the podcast Talking Biotech with Dr. Kevin Folta. Show notes: Parasites are known contributors to human disease and suffering, spanning a wide range of organisms. Dr. Jessie Kissinger from the University...

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MaHPIC malaria systems biology data from Plasmodium cynomolgi sporozoite longitudinal infections in macaques

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]Plasmodium cynomolgi causes zoonotic malarial infections in Southeast Asia and this parasite species is important as a model for Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium ovale. Each of these species produces hypnozoites in the liver, which can cause relapsing...

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New Confocal Microscope at the Biomedical Microscopy Core

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]The University of Georgia’s Biomedical Microscopy Core has recently acquired a Zeiss LSM 980 confocal microscope with Airyscan2 and Multiplex Mode for confocal and super-resolution imaging. This new state-of-art microscope is capable of fast, gentle, and simultaneous imaging...

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