Donna Huber, Author at Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases

Lacto-N-fucopentaose-III ameliorates acute and persisting hippocampal synaptic plasticity and transmission deficits in a Gulf War Illness mouse model

Donna Huber on June 5, 2021

Aims: The present study investigated if treatment with the immunotherapeutic, lacto-N-fucopentaose-III (LNFPIII), resulted in amelioration of acute and persisting deficits in synaptic plasticity and transmission as well as trophic factor expression along the hippocampal dorsoventral axis in a mouse model of Gulf War Illness (GWI). Main methods: Mice received either coadministered or delayed LNFPIII treatment throughout or …

Lack of detectable short-term effects of a single dose of ivermectin on the human immune system

Donna Huber on June 5, 2021

Background: Ivermectin is widely used in human and animal medicine to treat and prevent parasite nematode infections. It has been suggested that its mode of action requires the host immune system, as it is difficult to reproduce its clinical efficacy in vitro. We therefore studied the effects of a single dose of ivermectin (Stromectol®-0.15 mg/kg) on …

Immune exhaustion in chronic Chagas disease: Pro-inflammatory and immunomodulatory action of IL-27 in vitro

Donna Huber on June 1, 2021

In chronic Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi-specific T-cell function decreases over time, and alterations in the homeostatic IL-7/IL-7R axis are evident, consistent with a process of immune exhaustion. IL-27 is an important immunoregulatory cytokine that shares T-cell signaling with IL-7 and other cytokines of the IL-12 family and might be involved in the transcriptional regulation of …

TbVps41 regulates trafficking of endocytic but not biosynthetic cargo to lysosomes of bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei

Donna Huber on May 27, 2021

The bloodstream stage of Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of African trypanosomiasis, is characterized by its high rate of endocytosis, which is involved in remodeling of its surface coat. Here we present evidence that RNAi-mediated expression down-regulation of vacuolar protein sorting 41 (Vps41), a component of the homotypic fusion and vacuole protein sorting (HOPS) complex, …

Belen Cassera Featured on People, Parasites and Plagues Podcast

Donna Huber on May 25, 2021

Dr. Belen Cassera is the featured guest on Episode 4 of the People, Parasites & Plagues Podcast. She discusses the development of new drugs to treat and prevent malaria, one of the deadliest diseases afflicting humankind. The podcast is also available at Amazon, iTunes, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, Audible, and TuneIn People, Parasites & Plagues is …

A Comparison of Two Structurally Related Human Milk Oligosaccharide Conjugates in a Model of Diet-Induced Obesity

Donna Huber on May 20, 2021

Obesity is the largest risk factor for the development of chronic diseases in industrialized countries. Excessive fat accumulation triggers a state of chronic low-grade inflammation to the detriment of numerous organs. To address this problem, our lab has been examining the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of two human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), lacto-N-fucopentaose III (LNFPIII) and lacto-N-neotetraose (LNnT). …

Aminoalkoxycarbonyloxymethyl Ether Prodrugs with a pH-Triggered Release Mechanism: A Case Study Improving the Solubility, Bioavailability, and Efficacy of Antimalarial 4(1 H)-Quinolones with Single Dose Cures

Donna Huber on May 12, 2021

Preclinical and clinical development of numerous small molecules is prevented by their poor aqueous solubility, limited absorption, and oral bioavailability. Herein, we disclose a general prodrug approach that converts promising lead compounds into aminoalkoxycarbonyloxymethyl (amino AOCOM) ether-substituted analogues that display significantly improved aqueous solubility and enhanced oral bioavailability, restoring key requirements typical for drug candidate …

Toll9 from Bombyx mori functions as a pattern recognition receptor that shares features with Toll-like receptor 4 from mammals

Donna Huber on May 10, 2021

Toll/Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are key regulators of the innate immune system in both invertebrates and vertebrates. However, while mammalian TLRs directly recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns, the insect Toll pathway is thought to be primarily activated by binding Spätzle cytokines that are processed from inactive precursors in response to microbial infection. Phylogenetic and structural data generated …

Lacto-N-fucopentaose-III (LNFPIII) ameliorates acute aberrations in hippocampal synaptic transmission in a Gulf War Illness animal model

Donna Huber on May 4, 2021

Approximately one-third of Persian Gulf War veterans are afflicted by Gulf War Illness (GWI), a chronic multisymptom condition that fundamentally presents with cognitive deficits (i.e., learning and memory impairments) and neuroimmune dysfunction (i.e., inflammation). Factors associated with GWI include overexposures to neurotoxic pesticides and nerve agent prophylactics such as permethrin (PM) and pyridostigmine bromide (PB), …

A novel fragmented mitochondrial genome in the protist pathogen Toxoplasma gondii and related tissue coccidia

Donna Huber on April 27, 2021

Mitochondrial genome content and structure vary widely across the eukaryotic tree of life, with protists displaying extreme examples. Apicomplexan and dinoflagellate protists have evolved highly reduced mitochondrial genome sequences, mtDNA, consisting of only three cytochrome genes and fragmented rRNA genes. Here, we report the independent evolution of fragmented cytochrome genes in Toxoplasma and related tissue coccidia and …

Author: Donna Huber