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Arbovirus circulation, epidemiology and spatiotemporal distribution in Uganda (2023)
Journal Article
Byaruhanga, T., Kayiwa, J. T., Nankya, A. M., Ataliba, I. J., McClure, C. P., Ball, J. K., & Lutwama, J. J. (2023). Arbovirus circulation, epidemiology and spatiotemporal distribution in Uganda. IJID Regions, 6, 171-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijregi.2023.01.013

Background: Arboviruses are endemic in Uganda; however, little is known about their epidemiology, seasonality and spatiotemporal distribution. Our study sought to provide information on arbovirus outbreaks from acute clinical presentations. Methods:... Read More about Arbovirus circulation, epidemiology and spatiotemporal distribution in Uganda.

Evaluation of the relative potential for contact and doffing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by a range of personal protective equipment materials (2022)
Journal Article
Xue, X., Coleman, C. M., Duncan, J. D., Hook, A. L., Ball, J. K., Alexander, C., & Alexander, M. R. (2022). Evaluation of the relative potential for contact and doffing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by a range of personal protective equipment materials. Scientific Reports, 12(1), Article 16654. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-20952-8

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)—the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)—has caused a global public health emergency. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is the primary defence against viral exposure in... Read More about Evaluation of the relative potential for contact and doffing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by a range of personal protective equipment materials.

Human parainfluenza 2 & 4: Clinical and genetic epidemiology in the UK, 2013–2017, reveals distinct disease features and co‐circulating genomic subtypes (2022)
Journal Article
Chellapuri, A., Smitheman, M., Chappell, J. G., Clark, G., Howson-Wells, H. C., Berry, L., …McClure, C. P. (2022). Human parainfluenza 2 & 4: Clinical and genetic epidemiology in the UK, 2013–2017, reveals distinct disease features and co‐circulating genomic subtypes. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, 16(6), 1122-1132. https://doi.org/10.1111/irv.13012

Background: Human Parainfluenza viruses (HPIV) comprise of four members of the genetically distinct genera of Respirovirus (HPIV1&3) and Orthorubulavirus (HPIV2&4), causing significant upper and lower respiratory tract infections worldwide, particula... Read More about Human parainfluenza 2 & 4: Clinical and genetic epidemiology in the UK, 2013–2017, reveals distinct disease features and co‐circulating genomic subtypes.

The HCV Envelope Glycoprotein Down-Modulates NF-κB Signalling and Associates With Stimulation of the Host Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Pathway (2022)
Journal Article
McKay, L. G., Thomas, J., Albalawi, W., Fattaccioli, A., Dieu, M., Ruggiero, A., …Paxton, W. A. (2022). The HCV Envelope Glycoprotein Down-Modulates NF-κB Signalling and Associates With Stimulation of the Host Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Pathway. Frontiers in Immunology, 13, Article 831695. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.831695

Following acute HCV infection, the virus establishes a chronic disease in the majority of patients whilst few individuals clear the infection spontaneously. The precise mechanisms that determine chronic HCV infection or spontaneous clearance are not... Read More about The HCV Envelope Glycoprotein Down-Modulates NF-κB Signalling and Associates With Stimulation of the Host Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Pathway.

Simultaneous determination of HCV genotype and NS5B resistance associated substitutions using dried serum spots from São Paulo state, Brazil (2022)
Journal Article
Adeboyejo, K., Riquena Grosche, V., Pandeló José, D., Magalhães Ferreira, G., Farinha Shimizu, J., King, B. J., …Gomes Jardim, A. C. (2022). Simultaneous determination of HCV genotype and NS5B resistance associated substitutions using dried serum spots from São Paulo state, Brazil. Access Microbiology, 4(3), Article 000326. https://doi.org/10.1099/acmi.0.000326

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is responsible for more than 180 million infections worldwide, and about 80 % of infections are reported in Low and Middle-income countries (LMICs). Therapy is based on the administration of interferon (INF), ribavirin (RBV) o... Read More about Simultaneous determination of HCV genotype and NS5B resistance associated substitutions using dried serum spots from São Paulo state, Brazil.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to invest in care home research infrastructure (2022)
Journal Article
Gordon, A. L., Rick, C., Juszczak, E., Montgomery, A., Howard, R., Guthrie, B., …Tate, V. (2022). The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to invest in care home research infrastructure. Age and Ageing, 51(3), Article afac052. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afac052

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in catastrophic levels of morbidity and mortality for care home residents. Despite this, research platforms for COVID-19 in care homes arrived late in the pandemic compared with other care settings. The Prophylactic The... Read More about The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to invest in care home research infrastructure.

An Antigenically Diverse, Representative Panel of Envelope Glycoproteins for Hepatitis C Virus Vaccine Development (2021)
Journal Article
Salas, J. H., Urbanowicz, R. A., Guest, J. D., Frumento, N., Figueroa, A., Clark, K. E., …Bailey, J. R. (2022). An Antigenically Diverse, Representative Panel of Envelope Glycoproteins for Hepatitis C Virus Vaccine Development. Gastroenterology, 162(2), 562-574. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2021.10.005

Background & Aims: Development of a prophylactic hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine will require accurate and reproducible measurement of neutralizing breadth of vaccine-induced antibodies. Currently available HCV panels may not adequately represent the... Read More about An Antigenically Diverse, Representative Panel of Envelope Glycoproteins for Hepatitis C Virus Vaccine Development.

All Surfaces Are Not Equal in Contact Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (2020)
Journal Article
Xue, X., Ball, J. K., Alexander, C., & Alexander, M. R. (2020). All Surfaces Are Not Equal in Contact Transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Matter, 3(5), 1433-1441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2020.10.006

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. The world faces a severe and acute public health emergency due to the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Healthcare workers are... Read More about All Surfaces Are Not Equal in Contact Transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

Role of HVR1 sequence similarity in the cross-genotypic neutralization of HCV (2020)
Journal Article
Mosa, A. I., AbouHaidar, M. G., Urbanowicz, R. A., Tavis, J. E., Ball, J. K., & Feld, J. J. (2020). Role of HVR1 sequence similarity in the cross-genotypic neutralization of HCV. Virology Journal, 17, Article 140. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-020-01408-9

Despite available treatments, a prophylactic HCV vaccine is needed to achieve elimination targets. HCV vaccine development has faltered largely because the extreme diversity of the virus limits the protective breadth of vaccine elicited antibodies. I... Read More about Role of HVR1 sequence similarity in the cross-genotypic neutralization of HCV.

A bivalent HCV peptide vaccine elicits pan-genotypic neutralizing antibodies in mice (2020)
Journal Article
Mosa, A. I., Urbanowicz, R. A., AbouHaidar, M. G., Tavis, J. E., Ball, J. K., & Feld, J. J. (2020). A bivalent HCV peptide vaccine elicits pan-genotypic neutralizing antibodies in mice. Vaccine, 38(44), 6864-6867. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.08.066

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd Vaccine development for antigenically variable pathogens has faltered because extreme genetic diversity precludes induction of broadly neutralizing antibodies (nAB) with classical vaccines. Here, using the most variable epitope of... Read More about A bivalent HCV peptide vaccine elicits pan-genotypic neutralizing antibodies in mice.

IFITMs mediate viral evasion in acute and chronic hepatitis C virus infection (2019)
Journal Article
Wrensch, F., Ligat, G., Heydmann, L., Schuster, C., Zeisel, M. B., Pessaux, P., …Baumert, T. F. (2019). IFITMs mediate viral evasion in acute and chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Hepatology, 70(5), 1506-1520. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.30699

While adaptive immune responses against hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have been studied in great detail, the role of innate immunity in protection against HCV infection and immune evasion is only partially understood. Interferon‐induced transmemb... Read More about IFITMs mediate viral evasion in acute and chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

Cross-genotype AR3-specific neutralizing antibodies confer long-term protection in injecting drug users after HCV clearance (2019)
Journal Article
Merat, S. J., Bru, C., van de Berg, D., Molenkamp, R., Tarr, A. W., Koekkoek, S., …Schinkel, J. (2019). Cross-genotype AR3-specific neutralizing antibodies confer long-term protection in injecting drug users after HCV clearance. Journal of Hepatology, 71(1), 14-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2019.02.013

Background & Aims Understanding immune protection against hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is necessary for designing an effective vaccine. A number of broadly-reactive, neutralizing antibodies have been isolated from B cells of HCV-infected subjec... Read More about Cross-genotype AR3-specific neutralizing antibodies confer long-term protection in injecting drug users after HCV clearance.

Development and characterization of a human monoclonal antibody targeting the N-terminal region of hepatitis C virus envelope glycoprotein E1 (2017)
Journal Article
Mesalam, A. A., Desombere, I., Farhoudi, A., Van Houtte, F., Verhoye, L., Ball, J., …Meuleman, P. (2018). Development and characterization of a human monoclonal antibody targeting the N-terminal region of hepatitis C virus envelope glycoprotein E1. Virology, 514, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2017.10.019

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting the hepatitis C virus (HCV) envelope have been raised mainly against envelope protein 2 (E2), while the antigenic epitopes of envelope protein 1 (E1) are not fully identified. Here we describe the detailed chara... Read More about Development and characterization of a human monoclonal antibody targeting the N-terminal region of hepatitis C virus envelope glycoprotein E1.

Broad neutralization of hepatitis C virus-resistant variants by Civacir hepatitis C immunoglobulin (2016)
Journal Article
Tawar, R. G., Heydmann, L., Bach, C., Schüttrumpf, J., Chavan, S., King, B. J., …Baumert, T. (2016). Broad neutralization of hepatitis C virus-resistant variants by Civacir hepatitis C immunoglobulin. Hepatology, 64(5), 1495-1506. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.28767

Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-induced end-stage liver disease is the major indication for liver transplantation (LT). However, reinfection of the liver graft is still common, especially in patients with detectable viral load at the time of LT. Limited data... Read More about Broad neutralization of hepatitis C virus-resistant variants by Civacir hepatitis C immunoglobulin.

An ancestral host defence peptide within human beta-defensin 3 recapitulates the antibacterial and antiviral activity of the full-length molecule (2015)
Journal Article

Host defence peptides (HDPs) are critical components of innate immunity. Despite their diversity, they share common features including a structural signature, designated “γ-core motif”. We reasoned that for each HDPs evolved from an ancestral γ-core,... Read More about An ancestral host defence peptide within human beta-defensin 3 recapitulates the antibacterial and antiviral activity of the full-length molecule.

Non-ionic detergents facilitate non-specific binding of M13 bacteriophage to polystyrene surfaces (2015)
Journal Article
Hakami, A. R., Ball, J. K., & Tarr, A. W. (2015). Non-ionic detergents facilitate non-specific binding of M13 bacteriophage to polystyrene surfaces. Journal of Virological Methods, 221, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jviromet.2015.04.023

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. Phage-displayed random peptide libraries are widely used for identifying peptide interactions with proteins and other substrates. Selection of peptide ligands involves iterative rounds of affinity enrichment. The binding properti... Read More about Non-ionic detergents facilitate non-specific binding of M13 bacteriophage to polystyrene surfaces.

Structural flexibility of a conserved antigenic region in Hepatitis C virus glycoprotein E2 recognized by broadly neutralizing antibodies (2015)
Journal Article

Neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) targeting glycoprotein E2 are important for the control of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. One conserved antigenic site (amino acids 412 to 423) is disordered in the reported E2 structure, but a synthetic peptide mim... Read More about Structural flexibility of a conserved antigenic region in Hepatitis C virus glycoprotein E2 recognized by broadly neutralizing antibodies.

The past, present and future of neutralizing antibodies for hepatitis C virus (2014)
Journal Article
Ball, J. K., Tarr, A. W., & McKeating, J. A. (2014). The past, present and future of neutralizing antibodies for hepatitis C virus. Antiviral Research, 105(1), 100-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2014.02.013

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide. HCV establishes a chronic infection in the majority of cases. However, some individuals clear the virus, demonstrating a protective role for the host im... Read More about The past, present and future of neutralizing antibodies for hepatitis C virus.

B-cell receptors expressed by lymphomas of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients rarely react with the viral proteins (2014)
Journal Article

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been implicated in the induction and maintenance of B-cell lymphomas. The strongest evidence for this derives from clinical observations of tumor regressions upon antiviral treatments. Here we used multip... Read More about B-cell receptors expressed by lymphomas of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients rarely react with the viral proteins.