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- Duru, Adil Doganay, et al.
(författare)
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Tuning antiviral CD8 T-cell response via proline-altered peptide ligand vaccination
- 2020
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Ingår i: PLoS Pathogens. - : PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE. - 1553-7366 .- 1553-7374. ; 16:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Viral escape from CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses correlates with disease progression and represents a significant challenge for vaccination. Here, we demonstrate that CD8(+) T cell recognition of the naturally occurring MHC-I-restricted LCMV-associated immune escape variant Y4F is restored following vaccination with a proline-altered peptide ligand (APL). The APL increases MHC/peptide (pMHC) complex stability, rigidifies the peptide and facilitates T cell receptor (TCR) recognition through reduced entropy costs. Structural analyses of pMHC complexes before and after TCR binding, combined with biophysical analyses, revealed that although the TCR binds similarly to all complexes, the p3P modification alters the conformations of a very limited amount of specific MHC and peptide residues, facilitating efficient TCR recognition. This approach can be easily introduced in peptides restricted to other MHC alleles, and can be combined with currently available and future vaccination protocols in order to prevent viral immune escape. Author summary Viral escape mutagenesis correlates often with disease progression and represents a major hurdle for vaccination-based therapies. Here, we have designed and developed a novel generation of altered epitopes that re-establish and enhance significantly CD8(+) T cell recognition of a naturally occurring viral immune escape variant. Biophysical and structural analyses provide a clear understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying this reestablished recognition. We believe that this approach can be implemented to currently available or novel vaccination approaches to efficiently restore T cell recognition of virus escape variants to control disease progression.
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| 2. |
- Gerkin, Richard C., et al.
(författare)
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Recent Smell Loss Is the Best Predictor of COVID-19 Among Individuals With Recent Respiratory Symptoms
- 2021
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Ingår i: Chemical Senses. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 46
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In a preregistered, cross-sectional study, we investigated whether olfactory loss is a reliable predictor of COVID-19 using a crowdsourced questionnaire in 23 languages to assess symptoms in individuals self-reporting recent respiratory illness. We quantified changes in chemosensory abilities during the course of the respiratory illness using 0–100 visual analog scales (VAS) for participants reporting a positive (C19+; n = 4148) or negative (C19−; n = 546) COVID-19 laboratory test outcome. Logistic regression models identified univariate and multivariate predictors of COVID-19 status and post-COVID-19 olfactory recovery. Both C19+ and C19− groups exhibited smell loss, but it was significantly larger in C19+ participants (mean ± SD, C19+: −82.5 ± 27.2 points; C19−: −59.8 ± 37.7). Smell loss during illness was the best predictor of COVID-19 in both univariate and multivariate models (ROC AUC = 0.72). Additional variables provide negligible model improvement. VAS ratings of smell loss were more predictive than binary chemosensory yes/no-questions or other cardinal symptoms (e.g., fever). Olfactory recovery within 40 days of respiratory symptom onset was reported for ~50% of participants and was best predicted by time since respiratory symptom onset. We find that quantified smell loss is the best predictor of COVID-19 amongst those with symptoms of respiratory illness. To aid clinicians and contact tracers in identifying individuals with a high likelihood of having COVID-19, we propose a novel 0–10 scale to screen for recent olfactory loss, the ODoR-19. We find that numeric ratings ≤2 indicate high odds of symptomatic COVID-19 (4 < OR < 10). Once independently validated, this tool could be deployed when viral lab tests are impractical or unavailable.
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