July 2012
Vol. 9 | No. 6

Spotlight
Edward Hoover

Congratulations to Dr Ed Hoover for being selected to receive the prestigious Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges' 2012 Merial-AAVMC Excellence in Research Award. For more than 30 years, Dr Hoover has been an innovator in his field of pathology and the study of infectious diseases such as feline leukemia and chronic wasting disease. He will receive the award at the Merial-NIH National Veterinary Scholars Symposium hosted by the college Aug. 2-5 in Fort Collins.


Tawfik Aboellail

Congratulations to Dr Tawfik Aboellail for receiving the 2012 Samuel W. Thompson Lectureship Award! Attendees of the 2012 C.L. Davis Pathology Training Course (pictured below) selected Dr. Aboellail based on the excellent lectures he presented during the July 9-13 course. Attendees consisted of residents and graduate students from all over the US, the US Army, and Europe. Dr. Aboellail will officially receive his award at the Foundation's annual reception at the ACVP meeting in Seattle this December.

Click on the photo to see a larger image


Congrats Residents

Congratulations to the following students who have completed their Veterinary Residency Program:

Winona Burgess Mauren Emanuelli Valerie Johnson Shannon McLeland Julia Ryseff

A reception to recognize these achievements was held on June 26 in the Pathology Glover Gallery. Check out the Resident Reception Photo Gallery!


In the News...

Dr. Brian Geiss was part of an NPR radio story, The Search for a Drug to Treat West Nile and its Viral Cousins, he was also highlighted in the Greeley Tribune article Good friends team up for breakthrough against West Nile and the Coloradoan article, "CSU, UNC scientists developing drug to fight West Nile virus".


Defence

Becky Rivoire, BS, defended her PhD Thesis entitled, "Development and Clinical Evaluation of New Leprosy Skin Test Antigens as Diagnostic-Epidemiological Tools" on Tues, July 17. Her advisor is Dr. Patrick Brennan.

Heidi Pecoraro, BA, BS, defended her PhD Thesis entitled, "The Epidemiology, Ecology, and Evolution of Canine Influenza Viruses (H3N8) in U.S. Dogs" on Weds, July 18. Her advisor is Dr. Gabriele Landolt.


Congratulations Austin!

Austin Walton, MIP Accounting Student Hourly, and his fellow CSU Computer Information Systems graduate students, Laura Barron and Matt Zachman, won the SAP University Alliances North America Student Dashboard Design Competition in Orlando, Florida, May 14-16.
Read the entire Today@ColoState June 25 article

Austin Walton and Fellow team members

Pictured left to right: Dr. C.A.P. Smith, Austin Walton, Laura Barron, Matt Zachman


pub highlight

Isolation of a distinct Mycobacterium tuberculosis mannose-capped lipoarabinomannan isoform responsible for recognition by CD1b-restricted T cells

Jordi Torelles, Peter Sieling, Nannan Zhang, Mark Keen, Mike McNeil, John Belisle, Robert Modlin, Pat Brennan and Delphi Chatterjee

Glycobiology 22: 1118-1127, August 2012

It’s hard to argue with the old cliché that ‘a good MAN is hard to find’.  This month’s Pub of the month demonstrates that this wisdom also applies to T cells surveying the mycobacterial cell wall  - except that the MAN refers to an acronym for mannose/mannan.  It’s been known for some time that subtle structural entities in mycobacterial MAN molecules can dramatically influence CD1b-restricted T cell activation.  But as many of you know, ‘MAN’ (both the outer membrane components and the Homo sapiens variety….) is so heterogeneous and complex that it is tough to figure them out.  The focus of this study was a specific MAN known as mannose-capped lipoarabinomannan, abbreviated ‘ManLAM’.  Looks like they decided to leave the task of figuring out the Homo sapiens MAN to the experts at whatmenreallythink.com, catchandkeephim.com, etc….

                 

Using a clever application of detergents, ampholytes and 2D gel technology, Jordi et al have achieved a rather impressive separation of M. tuberculosis ManLAM into 8 isoforms on the basis of charge and solved some of the mystery of the mannose-containing molecule.   Using preparative IEF tube gels, they were able to purify and characterize a number of these ManLAM isoforms, confirmation that variations in acyl groups were largely responsible for the isoform charge differences.  Interestingly, it was only the pH 5.8 ManLAM isoform that was a potent T cell activator compared to the other isoforms.  Based on these comparative studies, acyl content and arabinan size must clearly play a role in the 3D structure of the ManLAM molecule for T cell recognition.

                 

So why did we choose this paper as our coveted MIPublication of the Month® for this first full month of summer?  First, this study builds upon the group’s previous work and makes a major step towards providing additional detailed knowledge of the molecular determinants of ManLAM-T cell  -interactions that help determine the all-important immune response to mycobacterial pathogens.  Thus in the long run, the paper could have game-changing potential.  Second, this study has a clever adaptation of existing technology to expand the impact of IEF beyond conventional protein applications.  In our opinion, such ‘outside the kit’ technical thinking should always be applauded.  Finally, if you just can’t figure out your MAN, this study makes it perfectly clear who you should be going to in the MIP Dept for advice…

Enjoy the rest of your summer and watch out for rabid skunks.


MIP Publications Late June & July 2012

Nischang M, Gers-Huber G, Audigã A, Akkina R, Speck R.  Modeling HIV infection and therapies in humanized mice.  Swiss Med Wkly. 2012 Jul 9;142:0. doi: 10.4414/smw.2012.13618.

Urresti S, Albesa-Jové D, Schaeffer F, Pham HT, Kaur D, Gest P, van der Woerd MJ, Carreras-González A, López-Fernández S, Alzari PM, Brennan PJ, Jackson M, Guerin ME.  Mechanistic Insights into the Retaining Glucosyl-3-phosphoglycerate Synthase from Mycobacteria.  J Biol Chem. 2012 Jul 13;287(29):24649-61.

Torrelles JB, Sieling PA, Zhang N, Keen MA, McNeil MR, Belisle JT, Modlin RL, Brennan PJ, Chatterjee D. Isolation of a distinct Mycobacterium tuberculosis mannose-capped lipoarabinomannan isoform responsible for recognition by CD1b-restricted T cells. Glycobiology. 2012 Aug;22(8):1118-27.

Sutherland MD, Goodyear AW, Troyer RM, Chandler JC, Dow SW, Belisle JT. Post-exposure immunization against Francisella tularensis membrane proteins augments protective efficacy of gentamicin in a mouse model of pneumonic tularemia.  Vaccine. 2012 Jul 13;30(33):4977-82.

Rybtke MT, Borlee BR, Murakami K, Irie Y, Hentzer M, Nielsen TE, Givskov M, Parsek MR, Tolker-Nielsen T.  Fluorescence-Based Reporter for Gauging Cyclic Di-GMP Levels in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.  Appl Environ Microbiol. 2012 Aug;78(15):5060-9.

Tatham E, Chavadi S, Mohandas P, Edupuganti U, Angala S, Chatterjee D, Quadri LE. Production of mycobacterial cell wall glycopeptidolipids requires a member of the MbtH-like protein family.  BMC Microbiol. 2012 Jun 22;12(1):118.

Kvitko BH, Goodyear A, Propst KL, Dow SW, Schweizer HP.  Burkholderia pseudomallei Known Siderophores and Hemin Uptake Are Dispensable for Lethal Murine Melioidosis.  PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012 Jun;6(6):e1715.

Kobylinski KC, Sylla M, Black W 4th, Foy BD. Mermithid nematodes found in adult Anopheles from southeastern Senegal.  Parasit Vectors. 2012 Jun 28;5(1):131.

Gonzalez-Juarrero M, Woolhiser LK, Brooks E, Degroote MA, Lenaerts AJ. Mouse Model for Efficacy Testing of Antituberculosis Agents via Intrapulmonary Delivery.  Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2012 Jul;56(7):3957-9.

Grover A, Izzo AA. BAT3 Regulates Mycobacterium tuberculosis Protein ESAT-6-Mediated Apoptosis of Macrophages. PLoS One. 2012;7(7):e40836.

Klepp LI, Forrellad MA, Osella AV, Blanco FC, Stella EJ, Bianco MV, Santangelo Mde L, Sassetti C, Jackson M, Cataldi AA, Bigi F, Morbidoni HR.  Impact of the deletion of the six mce operons in Mycobacterium smegmatis.  Microbes Infect. 2012 Jul;14(7-8):590-9.

Prenni JE, Vidal M, Olver CS. Preliminary characterization of the murine membrane reticulocyte proteome.  Blood Cells Mol Dis. 2012 Aug 15;49(2):74-82.

Walter ND, Strong M, Belknap R, Ordway DJ, Daley CL, Chan ED.  Translating basic science insight into public health action for multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis.  Respirology. 2012 Jul;17(5):772-791.

Bowser PR, Casey JW, Casey RN, Quackenbush SL, Lofton L, Coll JA, Cipriano RC.  Swimbladder Leiomyosarcoma in Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) in North America.  J Wildl Dis. 2012 Jul;48(3):795-8.

Schweizer HP. Understanding efflux in Gram-negative bacteria: opportunities for drug discovery.  Expert Opin Drug Discov. 2012 Jul;7(7):633-42.

Mitchell GB, Sigurdson CJ, O'Rourke KI, Algire J, Harrington NP, Walther I, Spraker TR, Balachandran A. Experimental Oral Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease to Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus).  PLoS One. 2012;7(6):e39055.

Nichols TA, Spraker TR, Gidlewski T, Powers JG, Telling GC, Vercauteren KC, Zabel MD.  Detection of prion protein in the cerebrospinal fluid of elk (Cervus canadensis nelsoni) with chronic wasting disease using protein misfolding cyclic amplification.  J Vet Diagn Invest. 2012 Jul;24(4):746-9.

Smirnova NP, Webb BT, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, Van Campen H, Antoniazzi AQ, Morarie SE, Hansen TR.  Development of fetal and placental innate immune responses during establishment of persistent infection with bovine viral diarrhea virus.  Virus Res. 2012 Aug;167(2):329-36.

Phetsuksiri B, Srisungngam S, Rudeeaneksin J, Bunchoo S, Lukebua A, Wongtrungkapun R, Paitoon S, Sakamuri RM, Brennan PJ, Vissa V.  SNP genotypes of Mycobacterium leprae isolates in Thailand and their combination with rpoT and TTC genotyping for analysis of leprosy distribution and transmission.  Jpn J Infect Dis. 2012;65(1):52-6.

Happenings

Thank you

"Should our accountants be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should HR, front desk, travel, and other programmatic staff be forgot,
and old lang syne ?"

As we welcome in another fiscal New Year, let's not forget to thank the hard working staff who create the docs, push the paper and coordinate the oftentimes behind-the-scenes effort that make our MIP-world tick. You guys and gals are the ‘Dream Team’ of CSU office staff.


McNeil Retirement Reception Dr Mike McNeil

On the afternoon of Thursday, June 28, members of the MIP Family, University Colleagues and Friends gathered in the Pathology Glover Gallery to honor Dr Mike McNeil and his 27 years of dedicated service to CSU.

Check out the Reception Photos


MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

RMV Club

The annual Rocky Mountain Virology Club Meeting is scheduled for September 28-30 at Pingree Park Campus. The Keynote Speaker will be Dr. Luis Rodriguez, Research Leader, Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center. More information may be found at the Rocky Mountain Virology Club website


RMASM Annual Meeting

The Fall meeting of the Rocky Mtn Branch of the American Society for Microbiology has been slated for October 19-20th at UNC-Greeley. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more information on this great regional opportunity to present your research and network with colleagues.


Summer Adventures Paula Schaffer

Anatomic Pathology Resident, Paula Schaffer, participated in an externship at the Marine Mammal Center in California. Paula helped with necropies in addition to assisting vets working with live animals. Paula found the medical consideration with these animals very interesting---much different from the world of dogs and cats! She was constantly fascinated with what they could and could not do at the Center. A highlight of her time there was when they released 8 harbor seals and picked up an ill elephant seal.


Barb Andre

RCE Accounting Guru, Barb Andre, participated in the 2012 Ride the Rockies, June 9-15. Participants pedaled their way from Gunnison to Fort Collins---over 400 miles and nearly 2500 vertical feet, conquering 5 mountain passes! Barb is pictured above on Trail Ridge Road as she prepares for her final descent.


Welcome New Residents
Carmen LedesmaCarmen Ledesma
Comparative Medicine

Originally from Puerto Rico, Carmen is interested in studying Infectious Diseases. She is new to Fort Collins and enjoys biking, movies and hiking in her spare time.
 
Ashley MalmlovAshley Malmlov
Microbiology

Ashley came to Fort Collins 4 years ago from Washington State. She is interested in studying Infectious Disease and Public Health. She spends her free time participating in Yoga, hiking and art.
 
Travis MeutenTravis Meuten
Anatomic Pathology

Travis recently moved to Fort Collins from Raleigh, North Carolina. He is interested in Cancer Research, specifically cell signaling in tumor-stroma interactions. Travis enjoys rock climbing and surfing when near the coast.
 
Wendy TuttleWendy Tuttle
Comparative Medicine

Originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, Wendy has been living in Fort Collins for the past 4 years. Her research interests include surgery and implants/devices. When not at school, she participates in running, painting, dancing, and playing with her dogs.
 
April WhiteApril White
Clinical Pathology

April recently moved to Fort Collins from Birmingham, Alabama. She is interested in studying Infectious Diseases. When not studying she enjoys hiking, cooking, and taking long walks with her dog.

Got Parking?

Parking Permits will expire on July 31st!

For the 2012-2013 adademic year, the fee increase originally planned for 2 years ago will be going into effect! Go to the Parking Services Website to review the new categories and associated fees.


Goodbye MIP

I am glad I have this opportunity to formally say good bye to friends and colleagues at MIP. I joined the Dobos' lab in the fall of '05 as a graduate student and continued there as a Postdoc and more recently as a Research Scientist.
I leave CSU and the Dobos' lab to embark in my next adventure to Toronto, as Scientist, TB and Mycobacteriology at Public Health Ontario with a joint appointment as Assistant Professor at University of Toronto. I thank all the professors at MIP that played a role in my formation as a scientist, Dr Brennan, who received me as a visiting Scientist from Colombia before I enrolled as PhD student and Dr. Belisle who opened the doors of his lab and let me join his team early in my studies. I will forever be grateful to Dr. Dobos, who believed in me and decided to take a big risk and accepted me as her first graduate student. I am happy to say that besides being a great mentor, advisor and scientist, Karen is also a great friend and colleague. I also thank everybody at the Dobos' lab. They all supported me during good and also difficult times and I will miss them forever.
As I moved on to this next step in my career I hope I can bring some of the friendliness, camaraderie and exceptional research that I experienced at MIP.

Thank you so much!!
~Carolina


Baby Congrats

Congratulations to Shannon Pfohl on the birth of her first grandchild!

Congratulations to Shiva Angala on the birth of his first child!

Congratulations to Ann Simpson on the birth of her first child!

Congratulations to Luis Morua on the birth of his first child!


MIP Bits

Quote of the Month

"I Didn't Set Out to Beat the World; I Just Set Out to Do My Absolute Best."
~ Al Oerter, 4 time Olympic Discus Champion

 


Jenny Harding and Cam the Ram

Jenny Harding poses with Cam the Ram in his new summer frock sewn by Jenny


MIPuzzle
Questions for MIPuzzle #78
MIPuzzle #78 Answers
MIPuzzle 78

Seung Yoo and Christine Olver

Seung Yoo and Christine Olver at the recent MIP Residents' Reception

    Alternative Captions
  1. Having contracted norovirus the prior evening, Dr. Olver bravely tries to wait for a break in the conversation.
  2. Christine demonstrates the subtle art of self examination during causal conversation.
  3. Looks like Christine never quite recovered from watching 'Magic Mike' last month.
  4. Between fires and senseless violence, let's face it - we've all had that ‘Dr. Olver look’ on our faces this summer
  5. Submit your own

NIH Happenings
  • Funding Opportunity in Understanding the Functions of Uncharacterized Genes in Infectious Disease Pathogens (U19)

    If you have any interest in creating or contributing to a program to conduct functional genomics research that will increase knowledge of the biochemical function(s) of hypothetical genes, unknown open reading frames, and noncoding RNAs in the annotated genomes of infectious disease pathogens, then this funding opportunity may be right up your alley. Letters of intent are due Oct 13, 2012.

  • IMPORTANT: Compliance with New PHS Financial Conflict of Interest Regulations Required ASAP

    In case you missed the July 23rd deadline to become compliant with this new regs, stop reading this goofy newsletter and get compliant right now! To continue working on the PHS funded project, you will need to complete the new CSU Financial Conflict of Interest Training as well as the PHS Addendum to the Role & Responsibility Survey. Login to the PHS Addendum Survey Website to accomplish these tasks.


New Grant Awards

Anne Lenaerts, "Novel Protein Synthesis Inhibitors for the Treatment of MDR Tuberculosis", St. Jude Medical, Inc.

Herbert Schweizer, "TP-434 Efficacy Testing with Burkholderia Pseudomallei and B. mallei", CUBRC

Karen Dobos, "Preparation of Subcellular Extracts from M. Tuberculosis Clinical Isolates", UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School

Kristy Pabilonia, "Using Conservation Genetics to Improve ex-situ Management of the Critical Endangered Buffon Macaw (Ara ambiguus ...", Association of Avian Veterinarians

Mary Jackson, "Amoebal Models of Leprosy Infection", The New York Community Trust

Chester Moore, "Testing of Mosquito Pools for West Nile Virus, City of Fort Collins, 2012", City of Fort Collins


JULY 2012
Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri
2 3 4

Independence Day
5 6
9 10 11 12 13
16 17 18 19 20
23 24 25 26 27
30 31      

 

AUGUST 2012
Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri
    1 2 3
6 7 8 9 10
13 14
Dept Seminar
15 16 17
20
Fall Classes Begin
21
Dept Seminar
22 23 24
Dept Seminar
27 28
Dept Seminar
29 30 31

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MIP Newsletter Volume 9, Issue 6, July 2012
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