Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), once limited to immunocompromised patients, is now a severe complication in critically ill ICU patients without classic risk factors.

Objective A growing body of evidence points to a role for herpesviruses in the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and a reduced risk of AD among patients receiving antiherpetic medications. We in...

Introduction The yeast Candida vulturna is a member of the Candida haemulonii species complex, like its close relative Candida auris. Members of this species complex, including C. vulturna, often di...

Ancient genomes reveal that a bacterial fever jumped from human-borne ticks to lice around the time wool textiles became common.

Official website for the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine

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Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) significantly impact morbidity and mortality in kidney transplant recipients (KTR), but their effect on allograft fu…

Imagine you’re birdwatching in the Costa Rican rainforest, Merlin app in hand. A flash of iridescent blue catches your eye. You scan the canopy and whisper excitedly: Look, it’s the elusive Blujepa! A...

A drug candidate with a new mechanism of action shows promise against several drug-resistant infections in mice

A T-cell therapy developed by Orca Bio, a private biotech company, significantly reduced the risk of a debilitating immune reaction in patients with several types of blood cancer.

Valley fever (VF) is a common cause of community acquired pneumonia in the American Southwest. Diagnosis is challenging due to VF’s similarities to other pulmonary diseases. The VF T-cell response is important to control the disease and measuring this response holds promise as an improved diagnostic.ObjectiveIdentification of VF T-cell epitopes and development of disease diagnostics and efficacy monitoring for vaccine trials.MethodsWe identified VF specific T-cell epitopes by using their ability to bind the Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II (MHC II) molecules and T-cell stimulation. We performed MHC binding prediction on known and unknown Coccidioides antigens and then empirically tested the predictions on unknown antigens with an in vitro multiplex MHC binding analysis. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from clinical Coccidioides infections, and endemic or nonendemic healthy controls were stimulated with the identified peptides and evaluated for immunologic memory responses.ResultsA total of 108 Coccidioides peptides were identified by MHC class II binding. The 108 peptides (NAU108) were synthesized, pooled, and jointly evaluated for immunogenicity in VF positive individuals. The peptides re-activated memory CD4+ T-cells in VF confirmed and endemic VF specimens when compared to non-endemic control samples as determined by activation marker and cytokine secretion.ConclusionThis study identified peptides that when pooled had immunogenic properties in humans infected with Coccidioides that can be used to distinguish infected individuals from endemic area healthy controls or non-exposed individuals outside the endemic area. This approach holds relevance for the development of diagnostic assays for VF.

The interim results demonstrated a slightly better vaccine effectiveness in individuals who are immunocompetent vs immunocompromised individuals.