The U94 “latency” gene of HHV-6, interferes with breast cancer proliferation and potentiates chemotherapy.
BioFire’s FilmArray multiplex encephalitis panel is causing headaches due to confusion over ciHHV-6 status and the meaning of a qualitative positive result
A rapid point-of-care test for patients with encephalitis and meningitis was heralded as a breakthrough, but because the test is not able to determine ciHHV-6 status or viral load, it now has physicians frustrated over how to interpret a positive result.
Berberine is as effective as ganciclovir in controlling CMV, and targets IE -2 protein transactivating activity
A Chinese medicine that has been used for thousands of years, berberine inhibits replication of CMV at micromolar levels in vitro. It was also effective against drug resistant strains of CMV, as well against murine cytomegalovirus.
Herpesvirus acquires protein corona that facilitates the formation of Alzheimer’s plaques
Swedish researchers report that viruses interact with proteins to form a coating or protein corona that facilitates the formation of amyloid plaque, supporting previous findings by Harvard’s Rudy Tanzi and Robert Moir.
49 new CD4 T-cell-recognized HHV-6B antigens identified using genome-wide approach
University of Washington investigators utilized rare cell enrichment and an HLA-agnostic, proteome-wide approach to expand the library of known HHV-6 T cell antigens from 11 to 60.
New HLA-DR3-restricted HHV-6B peptides demonstrate broadly recognized polyfunctional and cytotoxic CD4 T-cell responses
University of Massachusetts investigators have identified 25 new naturally processed peptide sequences using mass spectrometry.
HHV-6 infection induces a high percentage of virus-specific suppressive Tregs compared to CMV
A French group studied immunological responses to HHV-6 and CMV in healthy adults ex vivo and found that HHV-6 induces an excessive number of potently immunosuppressive T regulatory cells that block dendritic cell maturation and functions.
An elevated CD134/CD4+ ratio before conditioning results in a 10 fold increased risk of HHV-6B reactivation
A prospective study of allogenic stem cell transplant patients in Japan suggests that the percentage of CD134+ T cells could be used to predict which patients are vulnerable to HHV-6 reactivation. The authors propose that further investigation into the effect of elevated CD134+ T cells pre-transplant is warranted.
HHV-6 linked to neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, longer hospital stays and a 5X increased risk of serious complications after autologous transplant
In a prospective study, patients with HHV-6 infection took longer to recover neutrophils and platelets. They also spent significantly more time in the hospital with complications.
Single-cell transcriptomic analysis of Alzheimer’s brains showed early changes that are highly cell-type specific with APOE strongly upregulated in the microglia
MIT examined transcription across tens of thousands of individual cells in both Alzheimer’s and healthy brains and found APOE strongly upregulated in the microglia and perturbation in myelination-related processes in multiple cell types including oligodendrocytes.
Could autophagy dysregulation link neurotropic viruses to Alzheimer’s disease?
The cellular housekeeping function of autophagy may play a role in Alzheimer’s as dysfunction could result in the accumulation of amyloid. HHV-6A, HHV-6B and HSV1 can infect central nervous system cells and dysregulate autophagy.
Mori lab identifies a vaccine and immunotherapy target for HHV6-B
Rational vaccine design requires understanding details of protective immunity against each virus. Yasuko Mori and associates from Japan have now identified CD4+ and H-2Kd restricted CD8+ T-cell epitopes essential for HHV-6B viral entry, opening new possibilities for vaccines and immunotherapy.
Breakthrough on therapeutic HHV-6B neutralizing antibodies
Yasuko Mori and colleagues were successful in humanizing two neutralizing monoclonal antibodies to HHV-6B. The chimeric antibodies performed well enough to show promise for therapeutic use.
HHV-6 DR7 found to promote glioma development and progression
A Chinese group found HHV-6 direct repeat 7 in 48% of glioma tumors. Furthermore, they determined that DR7 overexpression could promote glioma cell migration, invasion and angiogenesis. Expression profiles showed that DR7 created an inflammatory microenvironment that enhanced degradation of the extracellular matrix.
HHV-6 interacts with HLA-B*13:01 to confer a 92-fold increased risk of trichloroethylene hypersensitivity reaction
Chinese investigators determined that human leukocyte antigen polymorphism HLA-B*13:01 and HHV-6 DNA blood positivity were not only independently associated with occupational trichloroethylene hypersensitivity, they had an interactive effect, increasing the odds ratio to 92.