Recent studies into the global causes of severe diarrhea in young children have identified the protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium as the second most important diarrheal pathogen after rotavirus1–3. Diarrheal disease is estimated to be responsible for 10.5% of overall child mortality4. Cryptosporidium is also an opportunistic pathogen in the context of HIV-AIDS and organ transplantation5,6. There is no vaccine and only a single approved drug that provides no benefit for those in gravest danger, malnourished children and immunocompromised patients7,8. Cryptosporidiosis drug and vaccine development is limited by the poor tractability of the parasite, which includes lack of continuous culture, facile animal models, and molecular genetic tools3,9. Here we describe an experimental framework to genetically modify this important human pathogen. We establish and optimize transfection of C. parvum sporozoites in tissue culture. To isolate stable transgenics we develop a mouse model that delivers sporozoites directly into the intestine, a Cryptosporidium CRISPR/Cas9 system, and in vivo selection for aminoglycoside resistance. We derive reporter parasites suitable for in vitro and in vivo drug screening, and we evaluate the basis of drug susceptibility by gene knock out. We anticipate the ability to genetically engineer the parasite will be transformative for Cryptosporidium research. Genetic reporters will provide quantitative correlates for disease, cure and protection and the role of parasite genes in these processes is now open to rigorous investigation.

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a leading cause of viral lower respiratory tract infection in children. The sole target of neutralizing antibodies targeting hMPV is the fusion (F) protein, a class I viral fusion protein mediating virus-cell membrane fusion. There have been several monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) isolated that neutralize hMPV; however, determining the antigenic sites on the hMPV F protein mediating such neutralizing antibody generation would assist efforts for effective vaccine design. In this report, the isolation and characterization of four new human mAbs, termed MPV196, MPV201, MPV314, and MPV364, are described. Among the four mAbs, MPV364 was found to be the most potent neutralizing mAb in vitro. Binding studies with monomeric and trimeric hMPV F revealed that MPV364 had the weakest binding affinity for monomeric hMPV F compared to the other three mAbs, yet binding experiments with trimeric hMPV F showed limited differences in binding affinity, suggesting that MPV364 targets an antigenic site incorporating two protomers. Epitope binning studies showed that MPV364 targets antigenic site III on the hMPV F protein and competes for binding with previously discovered mAbs MPE8 and 25P13, both of which cross-react with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) F protein. However, MPV364 does not cross-react with the RSV F protein, and the competition profile suggests that it binds to the hMPV F protein in a binding pose slightly shifted from mAbs MPE8 and 25P13. MPV364 was further assessed in vivo and was shown to substantially reduce viral replication in the lungs of BALB/c mice. Overall, these data reveal a new binding region near antigenic site III of the hMPV F protein that elicits potent neutralizing hMPV F-specific mAbs and provide a new panel of neutralizing mAbs that are candidates for therapeutic development. IMPORTANCE Recent progress in understanding the human immune response to respiratory syncytial virus has paved the way for new vaccine antigens and therapeutics to prevent and treat disease. Progress toward understanding the immune response to human metapneumovirus (hMPV) has lagged behind, although hMPV is a leading cause of lower respiratory tract infection in children. In this report, we advanced the field by isolating a panel of human mAbs to the hMPV F protein. One potent neutralizing mAb, MPV364, targets antigenic site III on the hMPV F protein and incorporates two protomers into its epitope yet is unique from previously discovered site III mAbs, as it does not cross-react with the RSV F protein. We further examined MPV364 in vivo and found that it limits viral replication in BALB/c mice. Altogether, these data provide new mAb candidates for therapeutic development and provide insights into hMPV vaccine development.

Polycomb Group (PcG) proteins are part of an epigenetic cell memory system that plays essential roles in multicellular development, stem cell biology, X chromosome inactivation, and cancer. In animals, plants, and many fungi, Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) catalyzes trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27me3) to assemble transcriptionally repressed facultative heterochromatin. PRC2 is structurally and functionally conserved in the model fungus Neurospora crassa, and recent work in this organism has generated insights into PRC2 control and function. To identify components of the facultative heterochromatin pathway, we performed a targeted screen of Neurospora deletion strains lacking individual ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling enzymes. We found the Neurospora homolog of IMITATION SWITCH (ISW) is critical for normal transcriptional repression, nucleosome organization, and establishment of typical histone methylation patterns in facultative heterochromatin domains. We also found that stable interaction between PRC2 and chromatin depends on ISW. A functional ISW ATPase domain is required for gene repression and normal H3K27 methylation. ISW homologs interact with accessory proteins to form multiple complexes with distinct functions. Using proteomics and molecular approaches, we identified three distinct Neurospora ISW-containing complexes. A triple mutant lacking three ISW accessory factors and disrupting multiple ISW complexes led to widespread up-regulation of PRC2 target genes and altered H3K27 methylation patterns, similar to an ISW-deficient strain. Taken together, our data show that ISW is a key component of the facultative heterochromatin pathway in Neurospora, and that distinct ISW complexes perform an apparently overlapping role to regulate chromatin structure and gene repression at PRC2 target domains.

Background: Activated sugars required to form rare oligosaccharide subunits of Bacillus cereus biofilm-polysaccharide are not known. Results: A new nucleotide sugar, UDP-fucosamine-4N-(2)-oxoglutarate (UDP-Yelosamine), is formed from UDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-D-GlcNAc by an aminotransferase and a carboxylate-amine ligase. Conclusion: Both enzymes are promiscuous and convert other UDP-4-keto amino-sugars to their UDP-4-amino-2-oxoglutarate derivatives. Significance: New insights into metabolic routes involved in the synthesis of bacterial biofilm polysaccharide have been uncovered.

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Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a leading cause of lower respiratory tract infection in infants and children, yet there is currently no vaccine available for prevention of hMPV disease. hMPV has three surface proteins: the small hydrophobic, the attachment, and the fusion (F) protein. The hMPV F protein is the sole target of neutralizing antibodies. To develop new therapeutics for disease intervention and to inform the development of an effective vaccine, we isolated several new human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to the hMPV F protein. A subset of these mAbs were determined to be neutralizing by a plaque reduction assay. The neutralizing mAbs bind to all four subgroups of the hMPV F protein, and neutralize viruses from both the A and B genotypes. We conducted epitope binning assays on the OctetRED384 system to determine the antigenic targets of each mAb. Three of the four mAbs (196, 314, 201) bind near the previously discovered mAb DS7. One mAb, MPV364, competes with the site III mAbs MPE8 and 25P13, yet unlike these mAbs, MPV364 does not cross-react with the respiratory syncytial virus F protein. MPV364 exhibits potent and broadly neutralizing activity below 20 ng/mL. We examined the therapeutic efficacy of MPV364 to prevent replication of hMPV in vivo and found a reduction in lung viral titers. These data suggest antigenic site III on the hMPV F protein elicits potently neutralizing mAbs, and should be incorporated into future vaccine candidates. Furthermore, MPV364 should be further examined for protection from hMPV disease in additional animal models of infection.

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