No herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2G enital herpes is a common sexually transmitted disease caused by herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2). Worldwide, more than 500 million individuals are chronically infected by HSV-2, and the prevalence of HSV-2 infection is twice as high in women as in men (1). In the United States, the seroprevalence of HSV-2 in 14-to 49-year-olds during the 2005-2010 period was 15.7% (2). During primary infection, HSV-2 infects and replicates in epithelial cells of the genital mucosa and spreads to the regional ganglia, where it establishes a lifelong latent infection. HSV-2 can undergo reactivation and shedding from the genital mucosa, where it can cause recurrent genital lesions, which are associated with an increased risk of HIV-1 acquisition (3, 4). Shedding of HSV-2 may also be subclinical, and HSV-2 transmission can occur in the absence of lesions (5, 6). Immunosuppression is associated with an increased risk of severe disseminated disease. In addition, transmission of HSV-2 from the genital mucosae of acutely infected pregnant women to neonates can cause severe infection.Several therapeutic and preventive interventions based on antiviral drugs, the use of condoms, abstinence, or circumcision can reduce the burden of HSV-2 infection at the individual level.However, these interventions have not controlled the HSV-2 epidemic (7). Therefore, a vaccine that could prevent primary acquisition of HSV-2 or reduce HSV-2 shedding and/or recurrent lesions in chronically infected individuals might have a substantial impact at both the individual and public health levels.
The RV144 HIV vaccine trial included a recombinant HIV glycoprotein 120 (gp120) construct fused to a small portion of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) glycoprotein D (gD) so that the first 40 amino acids of gp120 were replaced by the signal sequence and the first 27 amino acids of the mature form of gD. This region of gD contains most of the binding site for HVEM, an HSV receptor important for virus infection of epithelial cells and lymphocytes. RV144 induced antibodies to HIV that were partially protective against infection, as well as antibodies to HSV. We derived monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) from peripheral blood B cells of recipients of the RV144 HIV vaccine and showed that these antibodies neutralized HSV-1 infection in cells expressing HVEM, but not the other major virus receptor, nectin-1. The MAbs mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), and mice that received the MAbs and were then challenged by corneal inoculation with HSV-1 had reduced eye disease, shedding, and latent infection. To our knowledge, this is the first description of MAbs derived from human recipients of a vaccine that specifically target the HVEM binding site of gD. In summary, we found that monoclonal antibodies derived from humans vaccinated with the HVEM binding domain of HSV-1 gD (i) neutralized HSV-1 infection in a cell receptor-specific manner, (ii) mediated ADCC, and (iii) reduced ocular disease in virus-infected mice. IMPORTANCE Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) causes cold sores and neonatal herpes and is a leading cause of blindness. Despite many trials, no HSV vaccine has been approved. Nectin-1 and HVEM are the two major cellular receptors for HSV. These receptors are expressed at different levels in various tissues, and the role of each re-
Campylobacter jejunimonitors intestinal metabolites produced by the host and microbiota to initiate intestinal colonization of avian and animal hosts for commensalism and infection of humans for diarrheal disease. We previously discovered thatC. jejunihas the capacity to spatially discern different intestinal regions by sensing lactate and the short-chain fatty acids acetate and butyrate and then alter transcription of colonization factors appropriately for in vivo growth. In this study, we identified theC. jejunibutyrate-modulated regulon and discovered that the BumSR two-component signal transduction system (TCS) directs a response to butyrate by identifying mutants in a genetic screen defective for butyrate-modulated transcription. The BumSR TCS, which is important for infection of humans and optimal colonization of avian hosts, senses butyrate likely by indirect means to alter transcription of genes encoding important colonization determinants. Unlike many canonical TCSs, the predicted cytoplasmic sensor kinase BumS lacked in vitro autokinase activity, which would normally lead to phosphorylation of the cognate BumR response regulator. Instead, BumS has likely evolved mutations to naturally function as a phosphatase whose activity is influenced by exogenous butyrate to control the level of endogenous phosphorylation of BumR and its ability to alter transcription of target genes. To our knowledge, the BumSR TCS is the only bacterial signal transduction system identified so far that mediates responses to the microbiota-generated intestinal metabolite butyrate, an important factor for host intestinal health and homeostasis. Our findings suggest that butyrate sensing by this system is vital forC. jejunicolonization of multiple hosts.
G enital herpes simplex is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases. In 2012, more than 417 million persons worldwide were reported to be infected with herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2), with more than 19.2 million new persons infected in that year alone (1). While HSV-2 disease is mild in most cases, infection can be severe and life threatening in immunocompromised patients and neonates. In addition, genital herpes increases the risk of acquisition of HIV infection 3-fold (2). While HSV-2 traditionally has been the principal cause of genital herpes, more recent studies have shown that HSV-1 may be replacing HSV-2 as the most frequent cause of genital herpes in the United States (3, 4). While both HSV-1 and HSV-2 cause primary and recurrent genital herpes, genital recurrences are much more frequent with HSV-2 than with HSV-1 (5).HSV-2 infects epithelial cells in the vaginal mucosa, replicates in the cells, and enters the nerve endings innervating the mucosa. Viral capsids travel retrograde in axons to the cell body in sensory ganglia, where HSV establishes a latent infection in the nuclei of neurons. Latent HSV can be reactivated by multiple stimuli, such as stress, fever, and exposure to UV light. Viral capsids travel anterograde from the ganglion down the axons to the mucosa, where the virus replicates and is shed in the presence or absence of symptomatic genital lesions. This allows the virus to spread to unin- Citation Wang K, Goodman KN, Li DY, Raffeld M, Chavez M, Cohen JI. 2016. A herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) gD mutant impaired for neural tropism is superior to an HSV-2 gD subunit vaccine to protect animals from challenge with HSV-2.
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