University of Georgia
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

Category: publications

Use of the Slow-Delivery Platform, VacSIM, Shapes the Host Immune Response to Increase Protection Against Influenza Infection

Donna Huber on August 30, 2025

Influenza virus is a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality due to acute lower respiratory infection, even with the widespread use of multiple licensed influenza vaccines. However, antigenic drift during influenza replication can cause vaccine-induced antibodies to poorly neutralize influenza virus, thereby reducing vaccine effectiveness. To help overcome this problem, we leveraged a hydrogel …

Activity of Antibacterial/Antifungal Compounds against the Protozoan Parasite, Toxoplasma gondii

Donna Huber on August 28, 2025

We investigated the antiparasitic activity of several antimicrobial drug leads against Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites and, in one case, bradyzoites. Carbazole and phenylthiazole aminoguanidine anti-infectives, originally developed as antibacterial and antifungal agents, showed potent activity, with IC50 values as low as 2 μM. This potency was comparable to that observed with the tuberculosis drug candidate SQ109 and a series …

Benzo-ring modification on Malaria Box hit MMV008138: effects on antimalarial potency and microsomal stability

Donna Huber on August 15, 2025

Tetrahydro-β-carboline 1 (MMV008138) controls growth of asexual blood-stage Plasmodium falciparum by inhibiting IspD, an enzyme in the MEP pathway for synthesis of a critical metabolite, isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP). We have previously investigated the structure activity relationship (SAR) of three of its four rings (B, C, and D). In this report we investigate the SAR of …

Antimalarial spirooxindole alkaloids with a rare 6/5/5/6/6 polycyclic skeleton from the fungus Penicillium citrinum YSC-1 isolated from a medicinal plant

Donna Huber on August 5, 2025

OSMAC (one strain many compounds) provides a convenient strategy to produce chemically diverse and novel natural products. In the study, the application of an OSMAC approach on a fungus Penicillium citrinum YSC-1 isolated from a medicinal plant Chloranthus japonicus, using different culture media, led to the isolation and identification of seven new spirooxindole alkaloids penicitrimicins …

Gene regulation in Cryptosporidium: New insights and unanswered questions

Donna Huber on July 15, 2025

Parasites of the genus Cryptosporidium have evolved to have a highly compact genome of ∼9.1 Mb. The mechanisms that regulate gene expression in Cryptosporidium spp. remain incompletely understood at all levels, including chromatin accessibility, transcription factor activation and repression and RNA processing. This review discusses possible mechanisms of gene regulation in Cryptosporidium spp., including histone modifications, cis regulatory elements, transcription factors and non-coding …

New T2T assembly of Cryptosporidium parvum IOWA II annotated with Legacy-Compatible Gene identifiers

Donna Huber on June 19, 2025

Cryptosporidium parvum is a significant pathogen causing gastrointestinal infections in humans and animals. It is spread through ingesting contaminated food and water. Despite its global health significance, generating a C. parvum genome sequence has been challenging for many reasons including cloning and challenging subtelomeric regions. A new, gapless, hybrid, telomere-to-telomere genome assembly was created for …

Highly cross-reactive and competent effectors dominate the CD8+ T cell response in Trypanosoma cruzi infection

Donna Huber on June 16, 2025

CD8+ T cells are key effectors in immune control of Trypanosoma cruzi infection. Within C57BL/6 mice, the T. cruzi-specific CD8+ T cell response is largely comprised of T cells recognizing trans-sialidase (TS)- and mucin-encoded epitopes. Despite their immunodominance, these epitope-specific CD8+ T cells are entirely dispensable for immune control. In a screen for epitopes inducing …

From Target Product Profiles (TPPs) to Target Specimen Profiles (TSPs): A New Concept in Infectious Disease Biobanking for Diagnostic Applications

Donna Huber on June 13, 2025

A target specimen profile (TSP) corresponds to the required characteristics of the specimen panels needed to demonstrate that a diagnostic kit meets the target product profile (TPP). TSPs can guide biobanks in the prospective collection of sample panels to support the development and validation of diagnostics. Fay Betsou, Warren Fransman, Patrick Lammie. Diagnostics (Basel). 2025 …

Protocol for laboratory rearing and infection tracking of Rhodnius prolixus using 3D-printable designs

Donna Huber on June 13, 2025

Human infections by Trypanosoma cruzi propagate via its blood-feeding triatomine vector. Investigating parasite-vector interactions depends upon robust techniques to rear insects and analyze infections. Here, we present a protocol for laboratory rearing and infection tracking of Rhodnius prolixus. We describe steps for housing, feeding, and sorting strategies using 3D-printable designs. We also detail procedures for …

The importance of persistence and dormancy in Trypanosoma cruzi infection and Chagas disease

Donna Huber on June 5, 2025

Trypanosoma cruzi typically establishes a life-long infection in its mammalian hosts, causing the destruction of muscle tissues and ultimately resulting in potentially fatal Chagas disease. In this review, we consider the array of avoidance mechanisms that allow for T. cruzi persistence, many of which are unconventional among protozoan pathogens but which collectively are highly effective …