Volume 7, Issue 9, October 2010

The Annual American College of Veterinary Pathologist (ACVP) Board Exam was held September 28-30. Great job to all these candidates! Passing any or all is an accomplishment and we’re proud of your efforts and success!

	Karen Fox, passed all 4 sections of the Anatomic Pathologist Exam
	Amy Miller, passed all 4 sections of the Clinical Pathologist Exam
	Greg Wilkerson, passed all 4 sections of the Anatomic Pathologist Exam
	Chuck Halsey, passed 3 of the 4 sections of the Anatomic Pathologist Exam
	Gopi Palanisamy, passed 3 of the 4 sections of the Anatomic Pathologist Exam
	Michael Wiseman, passed 3 of the 4 sections of the Clincial Pathologist Exam

Congratulations to Dr. Colleen Duncan for passing the American College of Veterinary Preventative Medicine board exam!

The ACVPM challenges fellow veterinarians engaged in public practice to improve the strength and breadth of their knowledge in veterinary preventive medicine by pursuing board certification. This experience will enhance personal skills, expand professional expertise, strengthen the specialty of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and ultimately favorably affect the health of mankind and the animal kingdom.

Congratulations to Anatomic Pathology Resident, Brendan Podell, for receiving the C.L. Davis Scholarship Award. This Award is presented annually to a student who displays superior knowledge of pathology as well as leadership, dedication and accomplishment. The Charles Louis Davis, D.V.M. Foundation is the largest organization in the world composed of individuals who are engaged in the study of veterinary pathology and related scientific disciplines.

Congratulations to Deanna Dailey for receiving a $500 travel award from the American College of Veterinary Pathologists to attend this year's annual meeting being held October 30-November 3 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Pictured L to R: Stephanie Moon, Sai Palusa, Alexa Dickson, and Preston Neff

1st Place Poster:
PRESTON NEFF, Ramesh Akkina Lab

2nd Place Poster:
STEPHANIE MOON, Jeff Wilusz Lab

1st Place Post-Doc Oral Presentation:
ALEXA DICKSON, Jeff and Carol Wilusz Labs

2nd Place Post-Doc Oral Presentaion:
SAI PALUSA, Jeff Wilusz Lab

Holly Hughes defended her thesis entitled, "Increasing dengue virus vaccine safety and immunogenicity by manipulating antigenic determinants of the flavivirus envelope protein" on September 7. Her advisor is Dr. Carol Blair.

In the News...

Dr. Ramesh Akkina and his Laboratory were highlighted in the March 2010 Issue of Nature Medicine in an article entitled, "An Apt Approach" and in the July Issue of Nature Medicine in an article entitled, "Researchers knock down gene to stop HIV in its tracks".

A paper co-authored by Karen Dobos was recently highlighted in the August issue of ASM's Microbe magazine. Check it out at Microbe Magazine online.

A Defined Tuberculosis Vaccine Candidate Boosts BCG and Protects Against Multidrug-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Sylvie Bertholet, Gregory C. Ireton, Diane J. Ordway, Hillarie Plessner Windish, Samuel O. Pine, Maria Kahn, Tony Phan, Ian M. Orme, Thomas S. Vedvick, Susan L. Baldwin, Rhea N. Coler, Steven G. Reed

Science Translational Medicine 2:53

A mouse, a guinea pig, a monkey and Randy Basaraba walk into a bar.  After they get a drink, they are approach by an-ex rugby player with a pronounced British accent who offers them an elixir that will protect them from the deadliest disease ever known.  The mouse enthusiastically replies ‘YES!’ to the offer, and the guinea pig and monkey quickly follow suit with a loud and affirmative ‘YES, YES!’  The rugby player then turns to Randy, who slurs, “What is New Belgium putting in their beer these days – I could’ve sworn those animals just spoke!’  The rugby player shakes his head and leaves with his three new found friends, leaving Randy alone with his thoughts (and the tab).

The elixir that Ian was talking to the animals about was a 93 kDa recombinant protein (ID93) developed by Reed, Coler and colleagues at the IDRI in Seattle consisting of four fused Mycobacterium tuberculosis protein antigens that is mixed with a proprietary monophosphoryl lipid A emulsion (GLA-SE).  Given to a mouse, guinea pig or monkey, this elixir was shown in this study to induce a strong, generally protective immune response against the TB bacillus.  Interestingly, it also appears that it can provide an effective boost to animals that were pre-vaccinated with BCG – the only licensed (but not very effective) TB vaccine currently available.  This study does an excellent job demonstrating the immunogenicity, efficacy, and safety of the ID93-GLA-SE elixir using assays to measure cytokines, antibodies, bacterial loads and histopathology.  Ian and Diane’s specific contribution in the study was to assess the effect of the elixir on multi-drug resistant TB strains.

So why choose this study by Diane, Ian et al as our coveted MIPublication of the Month®?  First, if the WHO is right a billion of us will be infected with M. tb. by the end of the decade.  Thus very encouraging preclinical testing results with TB vaccine candidates like ID93/GLA-SE are very welcome and important advances.  Second, we’re pretty sure it’s the first publication ever from MIP researchers to appear in the new Science spin-off journal Science Translational Medicine.  Finally, with a name like ‘Phan’, we’re betting that middle author Tony is a rabid Philadelphia Phillies Phanatic.  Go Phils!

MIP Publications Late Aug 2010 - Early Oct 2010

Kassu A, Marcus RA, D'Souza MB, Kelly-McKnight EA, Golden-Mason L, Akkina R, Fontenot AP, Wilson CC, Palmer BE.  Regulation of virus-specific CD4(+) T cell function by multiple costimulatory receptors during chronic HIV infection.  J Immunol. 2010 Sep 1;185(5):3007-18.

Desch CE, Andrews JJ, Baeten LA, Holder Z, Powers JG, Weber D, Ballweber LR.  New records of hair follicle mites (Demodecidae) from North American Cervidae.  J Wildl Dis. 2010 Apr;46(2):585-90.

Erb SM, Butrapet S, Moss KJ, Luy BE, Childers T, Calvert AE, Silengo SJ, Roehrig JT, Huang CY, Blair CD.  Domain-III FG loop of the dengue virus type 2 envelope protein is important for infection of mammalian cells and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.  Virology. 2010 Oct 25;406(2):328-35.

Zhang J, Amin AG, Hölemann A, Seeberger PH, Chatterjee D.  Development of a plate-based scintillation proximity assay for the mycobacterial AftB enzyme involved in cell wall arabinan biosynthesis. Bioorg Med Chem. 2010 Oct 1;18(19):7121-31.

Giri PK, Kruh NA, Dobos KM, Schorey JS.  Proteomic analysis identifies highly antigenic proteins in exosomes from M. tuberculosis-infected and culture filtrate protein-treated macrophages. Proteomics. 2010 Sep;10(17):3190-202.

Alonso-Hearn M, Eckstein TM, Sommer S, Bermudez LE.  A Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis LuxR regulates cell envelope and virulence.  Innate Immun. 2010 Aug;16(4):235-47.

Kobylinski KC, Deus KM, Butters MP, Hongyu T, Gray M, da Silva IM, Sylla M, Foy BD.  The effect of oral anthelmintics on the survivorship and re-feeding frequency of anthropophilic mosquito disease vectors.  Acta Trop. 2010 Nov;116(2):119-26.

Dasgupta A, Sureka K, Mitra D, Saha B, Sanyal S, Das AK, Chakrabarti P, Jackson M, Gicquel B, Kundu M, Basu J.  An oligopeptide transporter of Mycobacterium tuberculosis regulates cytokine release and apoptosis of infected macrophages.  PLoS One. 2010 Aug 17;5(8). pii: e12225.

Bente Flatland, Kathy P. Freeman, Kristen R. Friedrichs, Linda M. Vap, Karen M. Getzy, Ellen W. Evans, Kendal E. Harr. ASVCP quality assurance guidelines: control of general analytical factors in veterinary laboratories. Vet Clin Path. 2010 Sept; 39(3):264-77.

da Silva EG, Gionfriddo JR, Powell CC, Campbell TW, Ehrhart EJ.  Iridociliary melanoma with secondary lens luxation: distinctive findings in a long-horned cowfish (Lactoria cornuta).  Vet Ophthalmol. 2010 Sep;13 Suppl:123-7.

Eisen L, Barker CM, Moore CG, Pape WJ, Winters AM, Cheronis N.  Irrigated agriculture is an important risk factor for West Nile virus disease in the hyperendemic Larimer-Boulder-Weld area of north central Colorado.
J Med Entomol. 2010 Sep;47(5):939-51.

Bertholet S, Ireton GC, Ordway DJ, Windish HP, Pine SO, Khan M, Phan P, Orme IM, Vedvick TS, Baldwin SL, Coler RN, Reed SG. A defined tuberculosis vaccine candidate boosts BCG and protects against multidrug-resistant mycobacterium tuberculosis.  Science Translational Medicine 2: 53

Ptitsyn A, Schlater A, Kanatous S.  Transformation of metabolism with age and lifestyle in Antarctic seals: a case study of systems biology approach to cross-species microarray experiment.  BMC Syst Biol. 2010 Sep 29;4(1):133.

O'Donoghue LE, Ptitsyn AA, Kamstock DA, Siebert J, Thomas RS, Duval DL  Expression profiling in canine osteosarcoma: identification of biomarkers and pathways associated with outcome.  BMC Cancer. 2010 Sep 22;10:506.

Hansen TR, Smirnova NP, Van Campen H, Shoemaker ML, Ptitsyn AA, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H.  Maternal and fetal response to fetal persistent infection with bovine viral diarrhea virus.  Am J Reprod Immunol. 2010 Oct;64(4):295-306.

Klose TC, MacPhail CM, Schultheiss PC, Rosychuk RA, Hawley JR, Lappin MR.  Prevalence of select infectious agents in inflammatory aural and nasopharyngeal polyps from client-owned cats.  J Feline Med Surg. 2010 Oct;12(10):769-74.

Li X, Liu N, Zhang H, Knudson SE, Slayden RA, Tonge PJ.  Synthesis and SAR studies of 1,4-benzoxazine MenB inhibitors: Novel antibacterial agents against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2010 Nov 1;20(21):6306-9.

O'Toole D, Van Campen H.  Abortifacient vaccines and bovine herpesvirus-1.  J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2010 Aug 1;237(3):259-60.

When: Nov 19th
Where: B120 Micro
Time: 11:30am

Rocky Mtn Virology Club
Sept 24-26
Pingree Park, CO

Check out the picture gallery from the meeting.

MIP Faculty Committee Election Results

Congratulations to Dr. Robert Jones for being elected to the Promotion, Tenure and Reappointment Committee in the special election to replace Erica Suchman. His term of service will begin December 15, 2010.

Check out the new Wilusz² Lab Website!. Please contact Erin Napier if you are interested in developing a website for your lab!

got updates?

With graduate student recruitment season upon us, it would also be a good time for all faculty to checkout their personal faculty webpages to make sure all the information is up to date.

Dr. Mary Jackson's Laboratory was highlighted in the Radiation Control Office Newsletter for it's international diversity, employing individuals from U.S., Poland, India, Brazil, Argentina, Tunisia, and France. Mary was quoted as saying, "Diversity in terms of nationality and background is a very good thing to have in a research lab. It brings new ideas, sometimes different ways of thinking, in addition to teaching us a lot about the outside world and other cultures".

Oct 22-23
University of Wyoming, Laramie

Dr. Johannes (Hans) Storz, former faculty member in the Microbiology Department, passed away unexpectedly on Friday, Oct 1.

A service to celebrate his life will be held at the Ryssby Church, 9000 N. 63rd St., Longmont, Colo., at 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 1.

Dr. Storz was head emeritus of the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Parasitology and professor emeritus of veterinary microbiology at the Louisiana State Unviersity School of Veterinary Medicine.

Best Wishes Teresa and Linda!

Accounting Technician for the Pathology Facility, Teresa Krueger, accepted a position with the Colorado State Forest Service. Her last day with MIP was September 17th. We wish her the best in her new endeavor!

Linda Moller, Accounting Technician for the Pathology Facility, has accepted a position with Ag Sciences and her last day will be October 25th. We wish her well in her new position!

Congratulations to Moner Ragas and his wife on the birth of their first child, Ali, who was born with a gorgeous head of hair!

Congratulations to Carol Blair and Patrick Brennan on the birth of their newest grandchild, Abby.

"The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas. "

On Oct 5th, MIP’s main campus buildings were plunged into darkness for 2.5 hours when all power was lost due to an off campus accident. Rumors that the blackout was due to CSU budget cuts or Dean Crick turning on his blow dryer proved to be unfounded…..

Questions for MIPuzzle #58
MIPuzzle #58 Answers

Michael Lairmore named to Institute of Medicine

Dr. Michael Lairmore, a former Ph.D. graduate (1987), now a noted virologist, cancer researcher and veterinarian, has been named to the prestigious national Institute of Medicine, one of the highest honors awarded to scientists in the biomedical fields.
Read more

Peter Villeneuve opens
eco-friendly brewery in Loveland

Peter Villeneuve, CSU microbiology graduate, was featured in the Business section of the September 29th Coloradoan regarding the opening of his Big Beaver Brewing Company on October 8th. Peter is pioneering a community supported brewery that includes environmentally sound practices that begin with serving directly to customers using reusable packaging.
Read more

The Department Administrative Staff participated in a retreat on Friday, Sept 17 from 11:30am to 5:00pm. Lorie Smith, the Director of Training & Organizational Development was the keynote speaker and Joe Schwarz gave a short presentation. Lunch was good. Golf was fun

See the staff retreat Photo Gallery

Alan Schenkel, "Beyond PECAM: Mechanisms of Transendothelial Migration", Northwestern University

Anne Lenaerts, "ARRA: Inhibitors of Latent M. tuberculosis", St. Jude Medical, Inc.

Carol Wilusz, "Messenger RNA Stability in Myotonic Distrophy", NIH-Arthritis Musculoskel, & Skin

Herbert Schweizer, "Production of Genetically Engineered Materials", CSU Ventures

Herbert Schweizer, "World Melioidosis Congress 2010", NIH-NIAID

John Belisle, "CD1-Restricted T-Cell Responses in Skin ", University of California, Los Angeles

John Belisle, "Small Molecule Biomarkers for Tuberculosis Treatment, Relapse and Cure", HHS-FDA

Justin Lee, "Molecular Ecology of Wild Felids: Host: Pathogen Dynamics and Factors in Cross-Species Transmission", Morris Animal Foundation

Karen Dobos, "Mechanisms of Recognition by Mycobacterium Tuberculosis-Reactive Thymocytes", Oregon Health Sciences University

• New Time Limit for resubmissions

  If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again goes the old adage. As of Oct. 1 however, in order for an NIH grant application to qualify as a resubmission, make sure that you get it back to NIH within 37 months of the original application.

• Students – want to meet a Nobel Laureate?

  NIH will cosponsor graduate students to attend a meeting where select students from around the world will meet with Nobel laureates. Taking place on June 26 to July 1, 2011, the meeting features recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; the annual event is in Lindau, Germany. Institutions may nominate 2 students who are full time graduate students who have completed 2 but not more than 4 years of their graduate study. Applications are due at NIH on Nov. 1 – so if you’re interested, you have to hurry. For more info, check out the 61st Lindau Meeting and go to Contacts for help.

• Can’t find an organism or reagent for your research and don’t know where to turn?

  You may need to look no further than the NIH repository for microbiology reagents. For links to the catalog and information on eligibility, assurances, user requirements, a program contact, and the application and approval process, visit Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Biological Resources Repository.

• HAPPY NEW fiscal YEAR!

  The champagne corks you heard popping just before midnight on Oct 1st were celebrating the beginning of the new fiscal year of the US government. Of course for us that means that NIH is now officially operating on a CR budget – and it’s the end of the ARRA funding – and NIAID has an interim payline of 8th percentile on R01 applications (12th percentile for new investigators). So stop reading this goofy newsletter and get back into the lab and do something truly innovative!

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri
1	2 Grad Student Seminar 12-noon, 103 Path	3 Microscopy Seminar 8am, 101 DMC	4	5
8	9 Grad Student Seminar 12-noon, 103 Path	10 Microscopy Seminar 8am 101 DMC Faculty Seminar 4pm, Path 103	11	12
15	16 Faculty Seminar 12-noon 103 Path	17 Microscopy Seminar 8am 101 DMC	18	19
22 THA B	23 NKS R	24 GIV E	25 IN A Univ Offices Closed	26 G K Univ Offices Closed
29	30 Grad Student Seminar 12-noon, 103 Path

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