12 documents found, page 1 of 2
PTX3 Polymorphisms Influence Cytomegalovirus Reactivation After Stem-Cell Trans...
Campos, Cláudia F.; Leite, Luís; Pereira, Paulo; Vaz, Carlos Pinho; Branca, Rosa; Campilho, Fernando; Freitas, Fátima; Ligeiro, Dário; Marques, AntónioBackground: Reactivation of latent human cytomegalovirus (CMV) in patients undergoing allogeneic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) predisposes to several clinical complications and is therefore a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Although pentraxin-3 (PTX3) has been previously described to bind both human and murine CMV and mediate several host antiviral mechanisms, whether genetic variation in the PTX3 lo...
Calcium sequestration by fungal melanin inhibits calcium-calmodulin signalling ...
Kyrmizi, Irene; Ferreira, Helena; Carvalho, Agostinho; Figueroa, Julio Alberto Landero; Zarmpas, Pavlos; Cunha, Cristina; Akoumianaki, ToniaLC3-associated phagocytosis (LAP) is a non-canonical autophagy pathway regulated by Rubicon, with an emerging role in immune homeostasis and antifungal host defence. Aspergillus cell wall melanin protects conidia (spores) from killing by phagocytes and promotes pathogenicity through blocking nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase-dependent activation of LAP. However, the signalling regulati...
Genetic deficiency of NOD2 confers resistance to invasive aspergillosis
Gresnigt, Mark S.; Cunha, Cristina; Jaeger, Martin; Gonçalves, Samuel Martins; Malireddi, R. K. Subbarao; Ammerdorffer, Anne; Lubbers, RosalieInvasive aspergillosis (IA) is a severe infection that can occur in severely immunocompromised patients. Efficient immune recognition of Aspergillus is crucial to protect against infection, and previous studies suggested a role for NOD2 in this process. However, thorough investigation of the impact of NOD2 on susceptibility to aspergillosis is lacking. Common genetic variations in NOD2 has been associated with ...
Recognition of DHN-melanin by a C-type lectin receptor is required for immunity...
Stappers, Mark H.T.; Clark, Alexandra E.; Aimanianda, Vishukumar; Bidula, Stefan; Reid, Delyth M.; Asamaphan, Patawee; Hardison, Sarah E.Resistance to infection is critically dependent on the ability of pattern recognition receptors to recognize microbial invasion and induce protective immune responses. One such family of receptors are the C-type lectins, which are central to antifungal immunity. These receptors activate key effector mechanisms upon recognition of conserved fungal cell-wall carbohydrates. However, several other immunologically a...
Widening the spectrum of deletions and molecular mechanisms underlying alpha-th...
Ferrão, José; Silva, Marisa; Gonçalves, Lúcia; Gomes, Susana; Loureiro, Pedro; Coelho, Andreia; Miranda, Armandina; Seuanes, Filomena; Reis, Ana BatalhaInherited deletions of α-globin genes and/or their upstream regulatory elements (MCSs) give rise to α-thalassemia, an autosomal recessive microcytic hypochromic anemia. In this study, Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification performed with commercial and synthetic engineered probes, Gap-PCR, and DNA sequencing were used to characterize lesions in the subtelomeric region of the short arm of chromosome 16...
Fungal vaccines and immunotherapeutics: current concepts and future challenges
Carvalho, Agostinho Albérico Rodrigues; Oliveira, Cláudio Duarte; Gonçalves, Samuel M.; Campos Jr., António; Lacerda, João F.; Cunha, CristinaPurpose of review The remarkable advances in modern medicine have paradoxically resulted in a rapidly expanding population of immunocompromised patients displaying extreme susceptibility to life-threatening fungal infections. There are currently no licensed vaccines, and the prophylaxis and therapy of fungal infections in at-risk individuals remains challenging, contributing to undesirable mortality and morbidi...
Widening the spectrum of deletions and molecular mechanisms underlying alpha-th...
Ferrão, José; Silva, Marisa; Gonçalves, Lúcia; Gomes, Susana; Loureiro, Pedro; Coelho, Andreia; Miranda, Armandina; Seuanes, Filomena; Reis, Ana BatalhaInherited deletions of α-globin genes and/or their upstream regulatory elements (MCSs) give rise to α-thalassemia, an autosomal recessive microcytic hypochromic anemia. In this study, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification performed with commercial and synthetic engineered probes, Gap-PCR, and DNA sequencing were used to characterize lesions in the sub-telomeric region of the short arm of chromosome 1...
Paving the way for predictive diagnostics and personalized treatment of invasiv...
Coelho, Ana Oliveira; Rodrigues, Fernando José dos Santos; Campos Junior, António; Lacerda, João F.; Carvalho, Agostinho; Cunha, CristinaInvasive aspergillosis (IA) is a life-threatening fungal disease commonly diagnosed among individuals with immunological deficits, namely hematological patients undergoing chemotherapy or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Vaccines are not available, and despite the improved diagnosis and antifungal therapy, the treatment of IA is associated with a poor outcome. Importantly, the risk of infecti...
Genetic PTX3 deficiency and aspergillosis in stem-cell transplantation
Rodrigues, Fernando José dos Santos; Cunha, Cristina; Aversa, Franco; Lacerda, João F.; Busca, Alessandro; Kunzai, Oliver; Grube, MatthiasBACKGROUND: The soluble pattern-recognition receptor known as long pentraxin 3 (PTX3) has a nonredundant role in antifungal immunity. The contribution of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in PTX3 to the development of invasive aspergillosis is unknown. METHODS: We screened an initial cohort of 268 patients undergoing hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) and their donors for PTX3 SNPs modifying th...
The rs5743836 polymorphism in TLR9 confers a population-based increased risk of...
Carvalho, Agostinho; Cunha, Cristina; Almeida, A. J.; Osório, Nuno S.; Saraiva, Margarida; Coelho, Maria Teixeira; Pedreiro, Susana; Torrado, EgídioNon-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) has been associated with immunological defects, chronic inflammatory and autoimmune conditions. Given the link between immune dysfunction and NHL, genetic variants in toll-like receptors (TLRs) have been regarded as potential predictive factors of susceptibility to NHL. Adequate anti-tumoral responses are known to depend on TLR9 function, such that the use of its synthetic ligand is b...