Currently there is no efficient vaccine developed to prevent transmission of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the agent responsible for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Classic vaccine strategies, such as the use of live attenuated viruses where the immune system is stimulated by exposure of the host organism to infectious viral particles, have led to safety issues in the case of HIV. The development of an effective vaccine that restricts viral replication at mucosal portals of entry remains our best hop for controlling the HIV pandemic.

The proposed project asks fundamental and applied questions concerning the role that Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp) and its newly discovered ADP-ribosylating, vacuolating toxin, designated Community Acquired Respiratory Distress Syndrome (CARDS) toxin, play in the pathogenesis of airway disorders. CARDS toxin remarkably recapitulates the pro-inflammatory cytokine/chemokine profiles and histopathology that accompany Mp infection. In addition, inactivation of CARDS toxin significantly reduced the release of mature form interleukin-1(IL-1?) during Mp infection.

Rapidly detecting viral signatures is important in diagnosing Marburg and Ebola viral disease to hasten quarantine, limit the spread of contagion, and contain an outbreak. We have discovered a group of llama derived antibodies that bind to highly conserved regions of a Filoviral polymer, thereby enabling sensitive detection of a broad range of these viruses. Our aim to is to develop these antibodies into streamlined tests designed to detect all Marburg and Ebola strains known and potentially those yet to emerge, helping to safeguard human health both now and into the future.

Multi-drug resistant bacterial infections continue to challenge physicians caring for those injured during combat due to the limited number of effective treatment regimens. Recent studies reveal that fifty-one percent of all bacterial isolates from the largest US combat support hospital in Afghanistan were multi-drug resistant, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) accounted for approximately half of the antibiotic resistant strains isolated at combat support hospitals in Iraq.

Infections with malaria parasites frequently contain both multiple Plasmodium species and multiple haplotypes from each species. Multiple species and haplotype infections impact disease severity, the spread of drug resistance and basic population genetic parameters, and complicate even basic genetic analysis. This study applies novel approaches developed in our laboratory which address this problem by generating whole genome sequence from single parasite-infected cells. We will apply these to human infections to refine our understanding of the complexity of malaria infections.

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Basic Research

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