March 2014
Vol. 11 | No. 2

Spotlight
Mosquitos fear him
Chet Moore award

Dr. Chet Moore was recognized for his exemplary contributions to mosquito control by the American Mosquito Control Association on February 3rd in Seattle, Washington. He received the Medal of Honor, which is the Association's highest honor. Congratulations Chet!


CVMBS Research Day Awards

Congratulations to the following MIP students who receieved awards for their presentations:

Alan Elder Trophy

Alan M. Elder
1st Place Oral Presentation
"Determining the presence of blood-borne prions at various time points throughout infection."

Nate Grubaugh Trophy

Nathan Grubaugh
2nd Place Oral Presentation
"West Nile virus population dynamics in wild-caught birds."

Kara Mosovsky Trophy

Kara Mosovsky
1st Place Poster Presentation
"Interferon-gamma enhancement of antibiotic activity against Burkholderia is mediated by induction of reactive oxygen species."

Aimee Ortega Trophy

Aimee Ortega
3rd Place Poster Presentation
"Prions in plants: potential assay for detection of PrPres in grasses from Rocky Mountain National Park."

There were a total of 100 posters, 44 oral presentations and more than 300 people attending!

Check out the rest of the 2014 CVMBS Research Day Photos


Animal Care Extraordinaire

Crystal Shanley award

Crystal Shanley, a Research Associate in Dr. Ian Orme's lab received the Animal Care Program Technician of the Year award. This award is given to individuals who demonstrate excellence in the care of research and teaching animals. Way to go Crystal!


Jordan Steel

Jordan Steel, a Graduate Student in Dr. Brian Geiss' lab, recently submitted a video for the ASM Global Video Challenge - People's Choice Award. Jordan's video has been selected as one of nine finalists! Contestants were asked to explore the question, "How is your microbiology impoving the world?" The video with the most votes will win a prize and will be shown at the 2014 ASM meeting. View the videos and remember to vote by midnight on March 20th! Good luck Jordon!


In the News...

Scared Cat

Research performed in Dr. Sue VandeWoude's lab on the discovery of three new feline viruses was recently featured in the Pets and Animals section of the Coloradoan. Dr. Ryan Troyer, a research scientist in the lab and Dr. VandeWoude are both quoted in the article. Check it out!


CMB/MCIN/BMB/MIP Poster Symposium
MIP Student Awards

The annual CMB/MCIN/BMB/MIP Poster Symposium was held on Feb 28th in the Lory Student Center. Congratulations to all the students and postdocs who assembled and presented posters! Listed below are the MIP Students who received special recognition for their work:

MIP Post Doc Winners

Lisa Wolfe

"Glycoprotein Specific Cell Mediated Immune Reponse to Mycobacterium Tuberculosis"
Laboratory: Dr. Karen Dobos

Stephan Coleman

"MRNA Decay is Altered in Myotonic Dystrophy Patient Cell"
Laboratory: Dr. Carol Wilusz

MIP Graduate Student Winners

Jordan Steel

"Induction of Oxidative Stress During Flavivirus Infection Enhances RNA Replication"
Laboratory: Dr. Brian Geiss

Stephanie Moon

"Inhibition of the host MRNA Decay Machinery may be a Conserved Mechanism by which Flaviviruses cause Disease"
Laboratory: Dr. Jeff Wilusz


pub highlight

Spectinamides: a new class of semisynthetic antituberculosis agents that overcome native drug efflux

Richard Lee, Julian Hurdle, Jiuyu Liu, David Bruhn, Tanja Matt, Michael Scherman, Pavan K Vaddady, Zhong Zheng, Jianjun Qi, Rashid Akbergenov, Sourav Das, Dora Madhura, Chetan Rathi, Ashit Trivedi, Cristina Villellas, Robin B Lee, Rakesh, Samanthi L Waidyarachchi, Dianqing Sun, Michael McNeil, Jose Ainsa, Helena Boshoff, Mercedes Gonzalez-Juarrero, Bernd Meibohm, Erik C Böttger & Anne J Lenaerts

Nature Medicine 20: 152- 158; February 2014

Despite the fact that the Egyptian Army allegedly has the cure for AIDS, Hepatitis C – (http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/27/world/africa/egypt-aids-cure-claim/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2) and probably tuberculosis, we here at MIPnews bet that its likely to be prudent for medical researchers not to hang up their pipetmen just yet….. While the rate of TB cases reported has been falling ~2% worldwide for about a decade, 8.6 million people still developed TB in 2012. For comparison sake, that’s approximately the same number of people who watched the Fall ’13 premier of Duck Dynasty (BTW - we think this is just a coincidence – or is it……). Extensively drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strains have now been reported in 92 countries. Despite the fact that its sure to generate puzzled looks from your officemates, isn’t it time to push the chair back from your computer desk, stand up and repeatedly chant, “What do we want – new drugs! When do we want them – Now!”

Thank you for chanting. Now - will you settle for an old drug that’s been re-purposed? Spectinomycin is an aminoglycoside-esque drug that can be used to treat gonorrhea. It inhibits bacterial protein synthesis by binding to the 16S ribosomal RNA (and we all know that anything/anyone with an affinity/love for RNA has to be interesting, right?). However spectinomycin was never any good for treating Mtb infections since mycobacteria simply pump the drug out of their cells (i.e. efflux) too quickly. Richard Lee from St Jude Children’s Research Hospital and our own Anne Lenaerts, along Mike Scherman, Mike McNeil, Mercedes Gonzalez-Juarrero and an international cohort of scientists have now used a very clever approach to fix this problem with spectinomycin. Using structure-guided chemical modification, computer animated drug docking on the ribosomal RNA and the amazing animal model and TB resources in the CSU Mycobacterial Research Labs, they have created a semi-synthetic ‘spectinamide’ analog of this antibiotic that is a very attractive anti-TB drug. Spectinamide is active against Mtb – even non-replicating mycobacteria - as the chemical modifications that were made both increase its ability to bind to Mtb 16S rRNA as well as prevent the bacteria from effluxing the drug out of its cells. Furthermore, spectinamides show impressive pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics profiles in a mouse model. Who says that you can’t teach an old antibiotic new tricks?

So why did we choose this story as our coveted MIPublication of the Month®? Three reasons, my good friend. First, the paper not only describes a very attractive new TB drug candidate, it also documents a strategy to perhaps alter the properties of other available antibiotics to improve their ability to fight TB. This strategy could even open up a whole new era in TB drug development. Second, this study is a great example of the terrific, synergistic work that is coming out of the MRL these days. Finally, with 26 authors, we think this paper is likely a cinch to win the ‘Et Al Award’ for ‘special achievement in populating the author line of a major scientific manuscript’ at our fictitious MIP Department’s Year End Awards Ceremony.


MIP Publications February 2014

Avery PR, Burton J, Bromberek JL, Seelig DM, Elmslie R, Correa S, Ehrhart EJ, Morley PS, Avery AC. Flow Cytometric Characterization and Clinical Outcome of CD4+ T-Cell Lymphoma in Dogs: 67 Cases. J Vet Intern Med. 2014 Feb 3. doi: 10.1111/jvim.12304.

Ryseff JK, Duncan C, Sfiligoi G, Avery PR. Gamna-Gandy bodies: a case of mistaken identity in the spleen of a cat. Vet Clin Pathol. 2014 Jan 21. doi: 10.1111/vcp.12114

Podell BK, Ackart DF, Obregon-Henao A, Eck SP, Henao-Tamayo M, Richardson M, Orme IM, Ordway DJ, Basaraba RJ. Increased Severity of Tuberculosis in Guinea Pigs with Type 2 Diabetes: A Model of Diabetes-Tuberculosis Comorbidity. Am J Pathol. 2014 Jan 31. pii: S0002-9440(14)00020-0. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2013.12.015. [Epub ahead of print]

Ackart DF, Hascall-Dove L, Caceres SM, Kirk NM, Podell BK, Melander C, Orme IM, Leid JG, Nick JA, Basaraba RJ. Expression of Antimicrobial Drug Tolerance by Attached Communities of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Pathog Dis. 2014 Jan 29. doi: 10.1111/2049-632X.12144.

Ackart DF, Lindsey EA, Podell BK, Melander RJ, Basaraba RJ, Melander C. Reversal of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Phenotypic Drug Resistance by 2-Aminoimidazole Based Small Molecules. Pathog Dis. 2014 Jan 29. doi: 10.1111/2049-632X.12143.

Kerns PW, Ackhart DF, Basaraba RJ, Leid J, Shirtliff ME. Mycobacterium tuberculosis pellicles express unique proteins recognized by the host humoral response. Pathog Dis. 2014 Jan 23. doi: 10.1111/2049-632X.12142.

Molins CR, Delorey MJ, Yockey BM, Young JW, Belisle JT, Schriefer ME, Petersen JM. Virulence difference between the prototypic Schu S4 strain (A1a) and Francisella tularensis A1a, A1b, A2 and type B strains in a murine model of infection. BMC Infect Dis. 2014 Feb 6;14:67. doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-14-67.

Mahapatra S, Hess AM, Johnson JL, Eisenach KD, DeGroote MA, Gitta P, Joloba ML, Kaplan G, Walzl G, Boom WH, Belisle JT. A metabolic biosignature of early response to anti-tuberculosis treatment. BMC Infect Dis. 2014 Jan 31;14:53. doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-14-53.

Ndao M, Beaulieu C, Black WC, Isabel E, Vasquez-Camargo F, Nath-Chowdhury M, Massé F, Mellon C, Methot N, Nicoll-Griffith DA. Reversible cysteine protease inhibitors show promise for a chagas disease cure. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2014 Feb;58(2):1167-78. doi: 10.1128/AAC.01855-13.

Calisher CH, Tesh RB. Two misleading words in reports of virus discovery: little things mean a lot. Arch Virol. 2014 Feb 18. [Epub ahead of print]

Chan HC, Feng X, Ko TP, Huang CH, Hu Y, Zheng Y, Bogue S, Nakano C, Hoshino T, Zhang L, Lv P, Liu W, Crick DC, Liang PH, Wang AH, Oldfield E, Guo RT. Structure and Inhibition of Tuberculosinol Synthase and Decaprenyl Diphosphate Synthase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Am Chem Soc. 2014 Feb 19;136(7):2892-6. doi: 10.1021/ja413127v.

Walton KD, Lord A, Kendall LV, Dow SW. Comparison of 3 real-time, quantitative murine models of staphylococcal biofilm infection by using in vivo bioluminescent imaging. Comp Med. 2014;64(1):25-33.

Kennedy KC, Perry JA, Duncan CG, Duerr FM. Long Digital Extensor Tendon Mineralization and Cranial Cruciate Ligament Rupture in a Dog. Vet Surg. 2014 Jan 30. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-950X.2014.12153.x.

Lee RE, Hurdle JG, Liu J, Bruhn DF, Matt T, Scherman MS, Vaddady PK, Zheng Z, Qi J, Akbergenov R, Das S, Madhura DB, Rathi C, Trivedi A, Villellas C, Lee RB, Rakesh, Waidyarachchi SL, Sun D, McNeil MR, Ainsa JA, Boshoff HI, Gonzalez-Juarrero M, Meibohm B, Böttger EC, Lenaerts AJ. Spectinamides: a new class of semisynthetic antituberculosis agents that overcome native drug efflux. Nat Med. 2014 Feb;20(2):152-8. doi: 10.1038/nm.3458. Epub 2014 Jan 26.

Burgess BA, Noyes NR, Bolte DS, Hyatt DR, Van Metre DC, Morley PS. Rapid Salmonella detection in experimentally-inoculated equine faecal and veterinary hospital environmental samples using commercially available lateral flow immunoassays. Equine Vet J. 2014 Feb 9. doi: 10.1111/evj.12234.

Esparza-Gonzalez SC, Troy AR, Izzo AA. Comparative analysis of Bacillus subtilis spores and monophosphoryl lipid A as adjuvants of protein based Mycobacterium tuberculosis based vaccines: the partial requirement for IL-17A for induction of protective immunity. Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2014 Jan 29.

Forrellad MA, McNeil M, Santangelo Mde L, Blanco FC, García E, Klepp LI, Huff J, Niederweis M, Jackson M, Bigi F. Role of the Mce1 transporter in the lipid homeostasis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis (Edinb). 2014 Mar;94(2):170-7. doi: 10.1016/j.tube.2013.12.005.

Rakesh, Bruhn DF, Scherman MS, Woolhiser LK, Madhura DB, Maddox MM, Singh AP, Lee RB, Hurdle JG, McNeil MR, Lenaerts AJ, Meibohm B, Lee RE. Pentacyclic Nitrofurans with In Vivo Efficacy and Activity against Nonreplicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis. PLoS One. 2014 Feb 5;9(2):e87909. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087909

Pepin KM, Spackman E, Brown JD, Pabilonia KL, Garber LP, Weaver JT, Kennedy DA, Patyk KA, Huyvaert KP, Miller RS, Franklin AB, Pedersen K, Bogich TL, Rohani P, Shriner SA, Webb CT, Riley S. Using quantitative disease dynamics as a tool for guiding response to avian influenza in poultry in the United States of America. Prev Vet Med. 2014 Mar 1;113(4):376-397. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2013.11.011.

Junjhon J, Pennington JG, Edwards TJ, Perera R, Lanman J, Kuhn RJ. Ultrastructural characterization and three-dimensional architecture of replication sites in dengue virus-infected mosquito cells. J Virol. 2014 Feb 12.

Plevka P, Lim PY, Perera R, Cardosa J, Suksatu A, Kuhn RJ, Rossmann MG. Neutralizing antibodies can initiate genome release from human enterovirus 71. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Feb 11;111(6):2134-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1320624111.

Troyer RM, Beatty JA, Stutzman-Rodriguez KR, Carver S, Lozano CC, Lee JS, Lappin MR, Riley SP, Serieys LE, Logan KA, Sweanor LL, Boyce WM, Vickers TW, McBride R, Crooks KR, Lewis JS, Cunningham MW, Rovnak J, Quackenbush SL, Vandewoude S. Novel gammaherpesviruses in North American domestic cats, bobcats and pumas: identification, prevalence and risk factors. J Virol. 2014 Jan 22.

Pieczarka EM, Russell DS, Santangelo KS, Aeffner F, Burkhard MJ. Osseous metaplasia within a canine insulinoma. Vet Clin Pathol. 2014 Jan 21. doi: 10.1111/vcp.12117.

Root JJ, Shriner SA, Bentler KT, Gidlewski T, Mooers NL, Ellis JW, Spraker TR, Vandalen KK, Sullivan HJ, Franklin AB. Extended Viral Shedding of a Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus by Striped Skunks (Mephitis mephitis). PLoS One. 2014 Jan 29;9(1):e70639. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070639.

Barreto JG, Bisanzio D, Guimarães Lde S, Spencer JS, Vazquez-Prokopec GM, Kitron U, Salgado CG. Spatial analysis spotlighting early childhood leprosy transmission in a hyperendemic municipality of the brazilian Amazon region. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2014 Feb 6;8(2):e2665. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002665.

Smirnova NP, Webb BT, McGill JL, Schaut RG, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, Van Campen H, Sacco RE, Hansen TR. Induction of interferon-gamma and downstream pathway during establishment of fetal persistent infection with bovine viral diarrhea virus. Virus Res. 2014 Feb 12. pii: S0168-1702(14)00055-0. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2014.02.002

Roby JA, Pijlman GP, Wilusz J, Khromykh AA. Noncoding Subgenomic Flavivirus RNA: Multiple Functions in West Nile Virus Pathogenesis and Modulation of Host Responses. Viruses. 2014 Jan 27;6(2):404-27. doi: 10.3390/v6020404.>/

Happenings

Barry Beaty Pat Brennan
Save the Date

A Celebration to honor
Barry J. Beaty, PhD, UDP
Patrick J. Brennan, PhD, UDP

Wednesday, April 2, 2014, 3:00 to 6:00 pm
Remarks at 4:00 pm
Research Innovation Center,
CSU Foothills Campus, Room D100
Hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served.


New Faculty Ebel StairsKen Olson

Stepping Down

Dr. Ken Olson, recently announced, after ten years, he is stepping down as the Director of the Arthropod-borne and Infectious Diseases Laboratory (AIDL). Located on the Foothills campus, AIDL is a research center within the MIP department that focuses on understading the transmission, persistence, emergence and control of vector-borne pathogens. Dr. Greg Ebel has been named the new director of AIDL. Thanks for ten great years of leadership Ken!


CRC Call for Proposals

Deadline: March 24 at 5PM

Review the FY14 CRC Call for Proposals and find more information on the CVMBS Employee Resource webpage.


45 Years
Rose Lopez

40 Years
Deryl Keney

30 Years
Gerald Callahan
Marvin Weiser

25 Years
Susan Knudson

20 Years
Jenny Harding
Jeanette Hayes-Klug
Jolynn Troudt

15 Years
Mercedes Gonzalez-Juarrero
Hee Jin Kim
Megan Lucas

10 Years
Anita Amin
Kelly Anderson
Marcela Henao Tamayo
Andres Obregon
Brendan Podell
Sheridan Potter
Sandra Quakenbush
Joel Rovnak
Libin Shi
Atisay Vimuktanon
Sherry WeMott-Colton
Carol Wilusz
Jeff Wilusz
Lisa Woolhiser


How to summarize 40 years of work in 96 words

Deryl Keney

It’s hard to believe that 40 years have passed since I started working at CSU! I worked first as a research technician in virology for Dr. Storz on the 4th floor. I then became the laboratory coordinator and Virology culture person, and have maintained this position ever since. I have had the pleasure of working with many amazing people throughout the years including professors and graduate and undergraduate students. The focus has always been to provide our students with the best quality education that they can get. I can truly say I have enjoyed the process!


CSEF LogoCSEF Judges Needed

The Colorado Science and Engineering Fair (CSEF) is looking for Judges! The event is April 10th at the Hilton Hotel and judges are needed from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm. The CSEF hosts the regional winners of science fairs from all over Colorado. To register please visit Colorado State Science Fair and for additional information please contact Erica Suchman.


Countdown to ASV2014
3 MONTHS TO GO...

ASV2014

This June, we’ll be hosting the large (1,200+ participant) 33rd Annual meeting of the American Society for Virology right here on the CSU campus! Please mark your calendars for this special, can’t-be-missed event. Also – we’ll be looking for numerous (50+) volunteers to help with numerous AV/customer service aspects of this event – so please consider helping us out when asked.

This is a golden opportunity to showcase MIP’s infectious disease expertise and high-quality environment to a large international group of experts in the field. We’ll definitely need the collective help of the MIP community to make this a truly special meeting. For further information on the event, please contact Jeff Wilusz (local lead organizer) at jeffrey.wilusz@colostate.edu.

You can also visit the American Society for Virology website for information about the meeting.


Faculty Travels

Orme and Basaraba Goiania

Drs Ian Orme and Randy Basaraba traveled to Goiás, Brazil to attend the second Tuberculosis Immunopathology Workshop and Postgraduate Program in Tropical Pathology and Public Health at the Universidade Federal de Goiás. They were hosted by Drs Ana Paula Junqueira Kipnis and Andre Kipnis, Professors at the Universidade and former Orme lab members. More than 30 students attended the workshop.


Stop TB in My Lifetime

World TB Day is March 24 and the Mycobacteria Research Laboratories will once again host more than 100 young scientists for talks, tours and hands-on laboratory activities. MRL researchers hope to inspire visiting students to pursue science and, to consider tackling the significant human-health challenges presented by TB.


The 20th Annual Celebrate Undergraduate Research and Creativity will be held on April 15th from 10:30-1:30 in Johnson Hall, room 222. The registration deadline is midnight on March 25. For more information, visit the CURC website


FREE TUTORS!!

Microbiology Tutors for Spring 2014

Students: Please contact tutors directly to make an appt.


CourseTutors
MIP300Maggie Rollert
Yanwen Gong
MIP342Brianna Baca
Charlie Hoxmeier
Aspen king
MIP351Alan Elder
Alan Elder
MIP443Heather Bender

RecycleMania, a nationwide recycling and waste reduction competition among more than 650 universities, kicks off February 2 and continues through March 29. CSU has placed in the top 5 percent each year for the 10 years the university has competed. The competition tracks both overall recycling rates per capita on campus as well as waste reduction efforts. Learn more on the CSU Recycle Mania website.


MIP Bits

Quote of the Month

"Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day. "
  ~ Sally Koch



Minions B-day

Gregg Dean Bday

MIPuzzle
Questions for MIPuzzle #91
MIPuzzle #91 Answers
MIPuzzle #91


Letter to the Editor

Orme Letter to Editor

Prion Mardi Gras

The Prion Research Center Celebrates Fat Tuesday

    Alternative Captions:
  1. Wonder how Ed ‘Flash’ Hoover and Glenn ‘What Happens in FoCo Stays in Foco’ Telling earned their beads?
  2. Step aside Ellen and the Oscar crowd, there’s a new hot ‘selfie’ on the web
  3. Mark ‘Beadless’ Zabel wipes pancake off of his chin
  4. Submit your own

NIH Happenings

  • Don’t Let Public Access Noncompliance Delay Your Non-competing renewal

    Almost 20% of NIAID non-competing grant renewals were delayed last year due to (1) non-submission of accepted manuscripts to the NIH Manuscript Submission System and (2) not checking publications that were affiliated with grants. Be vigilant, make your MIP grant accountant’s job easier, and don’t let this happen to you!

  • NIH’s Big Data to Knowledge Initiative

    In case you didn’t know, NIH has launched a $24 million/year Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) initiative to enable biomedical scientists to capitalize more fully on the Big Data (genome sequencing, RNA-seq, etc) being generated. To stay abreast of the funding opportunities and programs associated with this exciting and badly needed initiative, check out http://bd2k.nih.gov/#sthash.QCuoFkrN.feIAMyFs.dpbs.


Ashton Herrington with an ice saber

Ashton Herrington and FoCo’s Biggest Icicle


New Grant Awards

bulletAngelo Izzo, "MGIA in Animal Models ", Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation

bulletMercedes Gonzalez-Juarrero, "Minipigs as Animal Model for Infant TB and Vaccine Efficacy", NIH-NIAID

bulletIan Orme"BCG Efficacy Against W-Beijing TB Strains", NIH, NIAID

bulletDiane Ordway"Breath Test for Biomarkers of Tuberculosis in Guinea Pigs", Gates Foundation


A recent text exchange
between a Micro Major and their parents



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MIP Newsletter Volume 11, Issue 2, March 2014
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