Cell host & microbe
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Cell host & microbe · Oct 2015
MERS, SARS, and Ebola: The Role of Super-Spreaders in Infectious Disease.
Super-spreading occurs when a single patient infects a disproportionate number of contacts. The 2015 MERS-CoV, 2003 SARS-CoV, and to a lesser extent 2014-15 Ebola virus outbreaks were driven by super-spreaders. We summarize documented super-spreading in these outbreaks, explore contributing factors, and suggest studies to better understand super-spreading.
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Cell host & microbe · Jun 2015
Cyclic GMP-AMP Synthase Is an Innate Immune DNA Sensor for Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Activation of the DNA-dependent cytosolic surveillance pathway in response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection stimulates ubiquitin-dependent autophagy and inflammatory cytokine production, and plays an important role in host defense against M. tuberculosis. However, the identity of the host sensor for M. tuberculosis DNA is unknown. ⋯ Mice deficient in cGAS were more susceptible to lethality caused by infection with M. tuberculosis. These results demonstrate that cGAS is a vital innate immune sensor of M. tuberculosis infection.
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Cell host & microbe · May 2015
ReviewMicrobiota in allergy and asthma and the emerging relationship with the gut microbiome.
Asthma and atopy, classically associated with hyper-activation of the T helper 2 (Th2) arm of adaptive immunity, are among the most common chronic illnesses worldwide. Emerging evidence relates atopy and asthma to the composition and function of the human microbiome, the collection of microbes that reside in and on and interact with the human body. ⋯ In this review we explore the roles of respiratory, gut, and environmental microbiomes in asthma and allergic disease development, manifestation, and attenuation. Though still a relatively nascent field of research, evidence to date suggests that the airway and/or gut microbiome may represent fertile targets for prevention or management of allergic asthma and other diseases in which adaptive immune dysfunction is a prominent feature.
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The unprecedented scale of the recent Ebola virus outbreak caused many to wonder whether this virus is different, and raised concerns about how to contain the outbreak. Two recent studies published in Science (Hoenen et al., 2015; Marzi et al., 2015) shed light on the subject and offer a new solution.
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Cell host & microbe · Nov 2014
Vibrio cholerae T3SS effector VopE modulates mitochondrial dynamics and innate immune signaling by targeting Miro GTPases.
The cellular surveillance-activated detoxification and defenses (cSADD) theory postulates the presence of host surveillance mechanisms that monitor the integrity of common cellular processes and components targeted by pathogen effectors. Being organelles essential for multiple cellular processes, including innate immune responses, mitochondria represent an attractive target for pathogens. ⋯ Our data indicate that interference with mitochondrial dynamics may be an unappreciated strategy that pathogens use to block host innate immune responses that would otherwise control these bacterial infections. VopE might represent a bacterial effector that targets the cSADD surveillance response.