July 2012
Vol. 9 | No. 6
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. 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. Congratulations to the following students who have completed their Veterinary Residency Program: 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". 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. 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. |
"Should our accountants be forgot, 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. 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! 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 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. 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. 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.
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. 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! |
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
AUGUST 2012
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MIP Newsletter Volume 9, Issue 6, July 2012
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