Carbohydrate microarray analyses showed that

222G variants bind a broader range of alpha 2-3-linked sialyl receptor sequences of a type expressed on ciliated bronchial epithelial cells and on epithelia within the lung. These features of 222G mutants may contribute to exacerbation of disease.”
“Replication-competent influenza viruses carrying reporter genes are of great use for basic research, screening of antiviral drugs, and neutralizing of antibodies. In this study, two recombinant influenza Selleckchem AZD9291 A viruses with a neuraminidase (NA) segment harboring enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in the background of A/PR/8/34 (PR8) were generated. The viral RNA (vRNA)-specific packaging signals for NA were largely retained for efficient packaging. An “”autocleave”" 2A peptide sequence, which was inserted at the N terminus or the COOH terminus of NA to link with EGFP, enabled NA and EGFP to be expressed monocistronically. Further

analysis demonstrated that both viruses, named rPR8-EGFP + NA and rPR8-NA + EGPF, although with some characteristic differences in growth and EGFP expression, could replicate in noncomplementary cells and propagate to large quantities while GW4869 nmr maintaining genome stability after multiple passages in embryonated eggs. These replication-competent influenza viruses carrying reporter genes are a great addition to the tool set for developing antiviral therapeutics and vaccines and for in vivo studies of viral dissemination and pathogenicity.”
“Increased levels of activated T cells are

a hallmark of the chronic stage Axenfeld syndrome of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and are highly correlated with HIV disease progression. We evaluated chloroquine (CQ) as a potential therapy to reduce immune activation during HIV infection. We found that the frequency of CD38(+) HLA-DR(+) CD8 T cells, as well as Ki-67 expression in CD8 and CD4 T cells, was significantly reduced during CQ treatment. Our data indicate that treatment with CQ reduces systemic T-cell immune activation and, thus, that its use may be beneficial for certain groups of HIV-infected individuals.”
“Rapid evolution and high intrahost sequence diversity are hallmarks of human and simian immunodeficiency virus (HIV/SIV) infection. Minor viral variants have important implications for drug resistance, receptor tropism, and immune evasion. Here, we used ultradeep pyrosequencing to sequence complete HIV/SIV genomes, detecting variants present at a frequency as low as 1%. This approach provides a more complete characterization of the viral population than is possible with conventional methods, revealing low-level drug resistance and detecting previously hidden changes in the viral population. While this work applies pyrosequencing to immunodeficiency viruses, this approach could be applied to virtually any viral pathogen.