The high-affinity human IgG receptor Fc gamma receptor I (FcγRI) is not associated with vascular leakage of dengue

Restless legs syndrome variants: A systematic review

Introduction

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is a clinical syndrome that may manifest itself in non-leg parts of the body as well, called RLS variant, which is considered a distinct entity by some researchers. In this systematic review, we tried to evaluate various clinical features and effective treatments of RLS variants and compare them with that of typical RLS.

Methods

This study was conducted following the PRISMA guideline. The primary search was performed in the data resources of Medline (PubMed), Web of Science, and Scopus, as well as the Google Scholar search engine. The required data were extracted from the studies.

Results

In this review, 1565 studies were initially identified and finally 39 studies were selected. The most common RLS variants were observed to involve hands, head, abdomen, and genitalia. These patients mostly complained of sleep disturbance and feelings of itching, tingling and twitching. Supportive diagnostic criteria of RLS including familial history of RLS, periodic limb movements during sleep (PLMS) and response to treatment with dopaminergic agents were assessed.

Conclusion

It seems that patients with RLS variant can undergo the same diagnostic and therapeutic work-up as patients with conventional RLS. It is suggested that these two disorders fall into the same syndromic spectrum.

Plant-produced anti-dengue virus monoclonal antibodies exhibit reduced antibody-dependent enhancement of infection activity

The mAb E60 has the potential to be a desirable therapeutic molecule since it efficiently neutralizes all four serotypes of dengue virus (DENV). However, mammalian-cell-produced E60 exhibits antibody-dependent enhancement of infection (ADE) activity, rendering it inefficacious in vivo, and treated animals more susceptible to developing more severe diseases during secondary infection. In this study, we evaluated a plant-based expression system for the production of therapeutically suitable E60. The mAb was transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamianaWT and a ∆XFT line, a glycosylation mutant lacking plant-specific N-glycan residues. The mAb was efficiently expressed and assembled in leaves and exhibited highly homogenous N-glycosylation profiles, i.e. GnGnXF3 or GnGn structures, depending on the expression host. Both E60 glycovariants demonstrated equivalent antigen-binding specificity and in vitro neutralization potency against DENV serotypes 2 and 4 compared with their mammalian-cell-produced counterpart. By contrast, plant-produced E60 exhibited reduced ADE activity in Fc gamma receptor expressing human cells. Our results suggest the ability of plant-produced antibodies to minimize ADE, which may lead to the development of safe and highly efficacious antibody-based therapeutics against DENV and other ADE-prone viral diseases. Our study provides so far unknown insight into the relationship between mAb N-glycosylation and ADE, which contributes to our understanding of how sugar moieties of antibodies modulate Fc-mediated functions and viral pathogenesis.

Fc receptors in antibody-dependent enhancement of viral infections

Sensitization of the humoral immune response to invading viruses and production of antiviral antibodies forms part of the host antiviral repertoire. Paradoxically, for a number of viral pathogens, under certain conditions, antibodies provide an attractive means of enhanced virus entry and replication in a number of cell types. Known as antibody‐dependent enhancement (ADE) of infection, the phenomenon occurs when virus‐antibody immunocomplexes interact with cells bearing complement or Fc receptors, promoting internalization of the virus and increasing infection. Frequently associated with exacerbation of viral disease, ADE of infection presents a major obstacle to the prevention of viral disease by vaccination and is thought to be partly responsible for the adverse effects of novel antiviral therapeutics such as intravenous immunoglobulins. There is a growing body of work examining the intracellular signaling pathways and epitopes responsible for mediating ADE, with a view to aiding rational design of antiviral strategies. With in vitro studies also confirming ADE as a feature of infection for a growing number of viruses, challenges remain in understanding the multilayered molecular mechanisms of ADE and its effect on viral pathogenesis.

Early dengue virus interactions: the role of dendritic cells during infection

Dengue is an acute infectious disease caused by dengue virus (DENV) that affects approximately 400 million people annually, being the most prevalent human arthropod-borne disease. DENV infection causes a wide variety of clinical manifestations that range from asymptomatic to dengue fever, and in some cases may evolve to the more severe dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. The exact reasons why some patients do not have symptoms while others develop the severe forms of disease are still elusive, but gathered evidence showed correlation between a secondary infection with a heterologous DENV serotype and the occurrence of severe symptoms. Despite several advances, the mechanisms of DENV infection are still not completely elucidated, and efforts have been made to understand the development of immunity and/or pathology to DENV. When a mosquito transmits DENV, the virus is initially deposited in the skin, where mononuclear phagocytic cells, such as dendritic cells (DCs), become infected. DCs play a critical role in the induction of immune responses, as they are able to rapidly detect pathogen-associated molecular patterns, endocytose and process antigens, and efficiently activate naïve-T and B cells. Recent findings have shown that DCs serve as DENV targets, but they are also important mediators of immunity against the virus. In this review, we will briefly discuss DENV infection pathogenesis, and introduce DCs as central players in the induction of anti-DENV immune responses. Then, we will review in more detail how DENV interacts with and is sensed by DCs, with particular emphasis in two classes of receptors implicated in viral entry.