West Nile Virus and Pattern Recognition Receptors

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice, Aug 2016

West Nile Virus (WNV), RNA virus is a member of the flaviviridae family that causes flu like symptoms in infected individuals, however in 1-2% cases, it causes severe neurological diseases such as encephalitis. There is no antiviral or vaccine approved so far to prevent WNV disease, therefore research to understand immune pathology is very important. Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRR) are proteins that are expressed by cells to detect virus infection and play an important role in the innate immune system. When a PRR such as Toll-Like Receptors (TLR) and Nod-Like Receptors (NLR) detects a replicating virus, signals are sent out to warn the body and other neighboring cells that there is a foreign presence within the body. These signals include production of antiviral cytokines and interferons (IFN) that recruit the leukocytes to help fight off the infection. However, it has been discovered that different viruses produce unique cell signals that may act as either a positive and/or negative regulator of the cytokine production and the effectiveness of the immune system. My lab works on understanding the function of two novel innate immune molecules, NLRC5 (a member of NLR family) and TREM-1 (amplifier of inflammation). Therefore, this project will involve WNV infection of mouse immune cells from wild-type mouse and mouse deficient with NLRC5 and TREM-1 and compare specific innate immune markers using real-time RT-PCRs. At the end of my training, I will gain understanding of the research conducted in infectious disease area and will also learn several important techniques.

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West Nile Virus and Pattern Recognition Receptors

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice Volume 9 West Nile Virus and Pattern Recognition Receptors West Nile 0 1 2 Virus 0 1 2 Pattern 0 1 2 0 Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice Volume 9, Special Edition 1, Summer 2016, pp. 47 © 2011 Center for Health Disparities Research School of Community Health Sciences University of Nevada , Las Vegas , USA 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The STEP-UP HS program is supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health , Grant number: R25DK078386 2 Jordan Boswell Verma Saguna , PhD , University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine Chih-yun Lai, University of Hawaii Coordinating Center: University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine , USA West Nile Virus (WNV), RNA virus is a member of the flaviviridae family that causes flu like symptoms in infected individuals, however in 1-2% cases, it causes severe neurological diseases such as encephalitis. There is no antiviral or vaccine approved so far to prevent WNV disease, therefore research to understand immune pathology is very important. Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRR) are proteins that are expressed by cells to detect virus infection and play an important role in the innate immune system. When a PRR such as Toll-Like Receptors (TLR) and Nod-Like Receptors (NLR) detects a replicating virus, signals are sent out to warn the body and other neighboring cells that there is a foreign presence within the body. These signals include production of antiviral cytokines and interferons (IFN) that recruit the leukocytes to help fight off the infection. However, it has been discovered that different viruses produce unique cell signals that may act as either a positive and/or negative regulator of the cytokine production and the effectiveness of the immune system. My lab works on understanding the function of two novel innate immune molecules, NLRC5 (a member of NLR family) and TREM-1 (amplifier of inflammation). Therefore, this project will involve WNV infection of mouse immune cells from wild-type mouse and mouse deficient with NLRC5 and TREM-1 and compare specific innate immune markers using real-time RT-PCRs. At the end of my training, I will gain understanding of the research conducted in infectious disease area and will also learn several important techniques. Inflammation; Recognition (...truncated)


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Jordan Boswell, Verma PhD Saguna, Chih-yun Lai. West Nile Virus and Pattern Recognition Receptors, Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice, 2016, Volume 9, Issue 5,