Browsing by Author "Levy, Ofer"

Now showing items 1-16 of 16

    • Adjuvant-induced Human Monocyte Secretome Profiles Reveal Adjuvant- and Age-specific Protein Signatures* 

      Oh, Djin-Ye; Dowling, David J.; Ahmed, Saima; Choi, Hyungwon; Brightman, Spencer; Bergelson, Ilana; Berger, Sebastian T.; Sauld, John F.; Pettengill, Matthew; Kho, Alvin T.; Pollack, Henry J.; Steen, Hanno; Levy, Ofer (The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2016)
      Adjuvants boost vaccine responses, enhancing protective immunity against infections that are most common among the very young. Many adjuvants activate innate immunity, some via Toll-Like Receptors (TLRs), whose activities ...

    • Age-Dependent Maturation of Toll-Like Receptor-Mediated Cytokine Responses in Gambian Infants 

      Burl, Sarah; Townend, John; Njie-Jobe, Jainaba; Cox, Momodou; Adetifa, Uche J.; Touray, Ebrima; Mancuso, Christy; Kampmann, Beate; Whittle, Hilton; Jaye, Assan; Flanagan, Katie L.; Philbin, Victoria Jane; Levy, Ofer (Public Library of Science, 2011)
      The global burden of neonatal and infant mortality due to infection is staggering, particularly in resource-poor settings. Early childhood vaccination is one of the major interventions that can reduce this burden, but there ...

    • Antimicrobial Proteins and Peptides in Early Life: Ontogeny and Translational Opportunities 

      Battersby, Anna J.; Khara, Jasmeet; Wright, Victoria J.; Levy, Ofer; Kampmann, Beate (Frontiers Media S.A., 2016)
      While developing adaptive immune responses, young infants are especially vulnerable to serious infections, including sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia. Antimicrobial proteins and peptides (APPs) are key effectors that ...

    • Circulating Human Neonatal Naïve B Cells are Deficient in CD73 Impairing Purine Salvage 

      Pettengill, Matthew Aaron; Levy, Ofer (Frontiers Media S.A., 2016)
      Background: Extracellular purines, in particular adenosine (Ado) and adenosine-triphosphate, are critical immunoregulatory molecules. Expression and activity of purine ecto-enzymes on B cells in neonatal and adult blood ...

    • The Imidazoquinoline Toll-Like Receptor-7/8 Agonist Hybrid-2 Potently Induces Cytokine Production by Human Newborn and Adult Leukocytes 

      Ganapathi, Lakshmi; Van Haren, Simon; Dowling, David J.; Bergelson, Ilana; Shukla, Nikunj M.; Malladi, Subbalakshmi S.; Balakrishna, Rajalakshmi; Tanji, Hiromi; Ohto, Umeharu; Shimizu, Toshiyuki; David, Sunil A.; Levy, Ofer (Public Library of Science, 2015)
      Background: Newborns and young infants are at higher risk for infections than adults, and manifest suboptimal vaccine responses, motivating a search for novel immunomodulators and/or vaccine adjuvants effective in early ...

    • Innate immune activation in neonatal tracheal aspirates suggests endotoxin-driven inflammation 

      Nathe, Katheryn; Mancuso, Christy J.; Parad, Richard Barry; Van Marter, Linda Joanne; Martin, Camilia Rivera; Stoler-Barak, Liat; Philbin, Victoria J.; Phillips, Michele F.; Palmer, Christine D.; Levy, Ofer (Nature Publishing Group, 2012)
      Background:: Tracheal aspirates (TAs) from critically ill neonates accumulate bacterial endotoxin and demonstrate mobilization of endotoxin-binding proteins, but the potential bioactivity of endotoxin in TAs is unknown. ...

    • Innate immune memory: implications for development of pediatric immunomodulatory agents and adjuvanted vaccines 

      Levy, Ofer; Netea, Mihai G. (2014)
      Unique features of immunity early in life include a distinct immune system particularly reliant on innate immunity, with weak T helper (Th)1-polarizing immune responses, and impaired responses to certain vaccines leading ...

    • A Meningococcal Outer Membrane Vesicle Vaccine Incorporating Genetically Attenuated Endotoxin Dissociates Inflammation from Immunogenicity 

      Dowling, David J.; Sanders, Holly; Cheng, Wing Ki; Joshi, Sweta; Brightman, Spencer; Bergelson, Ilana; Pietrasanta, Carlo; van Haren, Simon D.; van Amsterdam, Sandra; Fernandez, Jeffrey; van den Dobbelsteen, Germie P. J. M.; Levy, Ofer (Frontiers Media S.A., 2016)
      Background: Group B Neisseria meningitidis, an endotoxin-producing Gram-negative bacterium, causes the highest incidence of group B meningococcus (MenB) disease in the first year of life. The Bexsero vaccine is indicated ...

    • Neonatal Host Defense against Staphylococcal Infections 

      Power Coombs, Melanie R.; Kronforst, Kenny; Levy, Ofer (Hindawi Publishing Corporation, 2013)
      Preterm infants are especially susceptible to late-onset sepsis that is often due to Gram-positive bacterial infections resulting in substantial morbidity and mortality. Herein, we will describe neonatal innate immunity ...

    • A Neonatal Model of Intravenous Staphylococcus epidermidis Infection in Mice <24 h Old Enables Characterization of Early Innate Immune Responses 

      Kronforst, Kenny D.; Mancuso, Christy J.; Power Coombs, Melanie R.; Stevens, Chad; Otto, Michael; Mallard, Carina; Wang, Xiaoyang; Pettengill, Matthew A; Ninkovic, Jana; Goldmann, Donald Alan; Levy, Ofer (Public Library of Science, 2012)
      Staphylococcus epidermidis (SE) causes late onset sepsis and significant morbidity in catheterized preterm newborns. Animal models of SE infection are useful in characterizing disease mechanisms and are an important approach ...

    • Neonatal Plasma Polarizes TLR4-Mediated Cytokine Responses towards Low IL-12p70 and High IL-10 Production via Distinct Factors 

      Belderbos, Mirjam E.; Levy, Ofer; Stalpers, Femke; Kimpen, Jan L.; Meyaard, Linde; Bont, Louis (Public Library of Science, 2012)
      Human neonates are highly susceptible to infection, which may be due in part to impaired innate immune function. Neonatal Toll-like receptor (TLR) responses are biased against the generation of pro-inflammatory/Th1-polarizing ...

    • Soluble Mediators Regulating Immunity in Early Life 

      Pettengill, Matthew Aaron; van Haren, Simon Daniël; Levy, Ofer (Frontiers Media S.A., 2014)
      Soluble factors in blood plasma have a substantial impact on both the innate and adaptive immune responses. The complement system, antibodies, and anti-microbial proteins and peptides can directly interact with potential ...

    • Systemic Stimulation of TLR2 Impairs Neonatal Mouse Brain Development 

      Du, Xiaonan; Fleiss, Bobbi; Li, Hongfu; D'angelo, Barbara; Sun, Yanyan; Zhu, Changlian; Hagberg, Henrik; Levy, Ofer; Mallard, Carina; Wang, Xiaoyang (Public Library of Science, 2011)
      Background: Inflammation is associated with perinatal brain injury but the underlying mechanisms are not completely characterized. Stimulation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) through specific agonists induces inflammatory ...

    • TLR2 Mediates Recognition of Live Staphylococcus epidermidis and Clearance of Bacteremia 

      Strunk, Tobias; Power Coombs, Melanie R.; Currie, Andrew J.; Richmond, Peter; Golenbock, Douglas T.; Stoler-Barak, Liat; Gallington, Leighanne C.; Otto, Michael; Burgner, David; Levy, Ofer (Public Library of Science, 2010)
      Background: Staphylococcus epidermidis (SE) is a nosocomial pathogen that causes catheter-associated bacteremia in the immunocompromised, including those at the extremes of age, motivating study of host clearance mechanisms. ...

    • The Ultra-Potent and Selective TLR8 Agonist VTX-294 Activates Human Newborn and Adult Leukocytes 

      Dowling, David; Tan, Zhen; Prokopowicz, Zofia M.; Palmer, Christine D.; Matthews, Maura-Ann H.; Dietsch, Gregory N.; Hershberg, Robert M.; Levy, Ofer (Public Library of Science, 2013)
      Background: Newborns display distinct immune responses that contribute to susceptibility to infection and reduced vaccine responses. Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists may serve as vaccine adjuvants, when given individually ...

    • Use of cidofovir in pediatric patients with adenovirus infection 

      Ganapathi, Lakshmi; Arnold, Alana; Jones, Sarah; Patterson, Al; Graham, Dionne; Harper, Marvin; Levy, Ofer (F1000Research, 2016)
      Background:: Adenoviruses contribute to morbidity and mortality among immunocompromised pediatric patients including stem cell and solid organ transplant recipients. Cidofovir (CDV), an antiviral compound approved by the ...