Bartonella spp. Bacteremia and rheumatic symptoms in patients from lyme disease-endemic region

Immunoinformatics and Immunogenetics-Based Design of Immunogenic Peptides Vaccine against the Emerging Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus (TBEV) and Its Validation through In Silico Cloning and Immune Simulation

Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), belonging to the Flaviviridae family, is transmitted to humans via infected tick bites, leading to serious neurological complications and, in some cases, death. The available vaccines against the TBEV are reported to have low immunogenicity and are associated with adverse effects like swelling, redness and fever. Moreover, these vaccines are whole-organism-based, carry a risk of reactivation and potential for significant mortality. Consequently, to design a potential antigenic and non-allergenic multi-epitope subunit vaccine against the TBEV, we used an immunoinformatic approach to screen the Tick-borne virus proteome for highly antigenic CTL, HTL and B cell epitopes. The proper folding of the constructed vaccine was validated by a molecular dynamic simulation. Additionally, the molecular docking and binding free energy (−87.50 kcal/mol) further confirmed the strong binding affinity of the constructed vaccine with TLR-4. The vaccine exhibited a CAI value of 0.93 and a GC content of 49%, showing a high expression capability in E coli. Moreover, the analysis of immune simulation demonstrated robust immune responses against the injected vaccine and clearance of the antigen with time. In conclusion, our vaccine candidate shows promise for both in vitro and in vivo analyses due to its high immunogenicity, non-allergenicity and stable interaction with the human TLR-4 receptor.

Global Molecular Epidemiology of Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii: An Atlas of the Molecular Types

Cryptococcosis is a fungal disease affecting more than one million people per year worldwide. The main etiological agents of cryptococcosis are the two sibling species Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii that present numerous differences in geographical distribution, ecological niches, epidemiology, pathobiology, clinical presentation and molecular characters. Genotyping of the two Cryptococcus species at subspecies level supplies relevant information to understand how this fungus has spread worldwide, the nature of its population structure, and how it evolved to be a deadly pathogen. At present, nine major molecular types have been recognized: VNI, VNII, VNB, VNIII, and VNIV among C. neoformans isolates, and VGI, VGII, VGIII, and VGIV among C. gattii isolates. In this paper all the information available in the literature concerning the isolation of the two Cryptococcus species has been collected and analyzed on the basis of their geographical origin, source of isolation, level of identification, species, and molecular type. A detailed analysis of the geographical distribution of the major molecular types in each continent has been described and represented on thematic maps. This study represents a useful tool to start new epidemiological surveys on the basis of the present knowledge.