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Research

The non-specific and sex-differential effects of vaccines

The textbook view of vaccination is that it functions to induce immune memory of the specific pathogen components of the vaccine, leading to a quantitatively and qualitatively better response if the host is exposed to infection with the same pathogen

Research

Vaccination strategies to enhance immunity in neonates

Protection may be further improved by integrating these approaches, namely vaccinating the neonate under the cover of vertically transferred maternal immunity

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Dynamic molecular changes during the first week of human life follow a robust developmental trajectory

Systems biology and innovative data integration can provide fresh insights into the molecular ontogeny of the first week of life

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FastMix: a versatile data integration pipeline for cell type-specific biomarker inference

Flow cytometry (FCM) and transcription profiling are the two widely used assays in translational immunology research. However, there is no data integration pipeline for analyzing these two types of assays together with experiment variables for biomarker inference.

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Defining the pediatric response to SARS-CoV-2 variants

The global population has been severely affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, however, with older age identified as a risk factor, children have been underprioritized. This article discusses the factors contributing to the less severe response observed in children following infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), including, differing viral entry receptor expression and immune responses.

Research

Ancestral SARS-CoV-2, but not Omicron, replicates less efficiently in primary pediatric nasal epithelial cells

Children typically experience more mild symptoms of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) when compared to adults. There is a strong body of evidence that children are also less susceptible to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection with the ancestral viral isolate.

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DNA Methylation signatures underpinning blood neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio during first week of human life

Understanding of newborn immune ontogeny in the first week of life will enable age-appropriate strategies for safeguarding vulnerable newborns against infectious diseases. Here we conducted an observational study exploring the immunological profile of infants longitudinally throughout their first week of life. 

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One vaccine for life: Lessons from immune ontogeny

There remains a general misconception that the immune status of the fetus and neonate is immature or insufficient. However, emerging research in immune ontogeny prompts reconsideration of this orthodoxy, reframing this period instead as one of unique opportunity. Vaccine responses (qualitative and quantitative) vary between individuals, and across demographic cohorts. Elements of baseline immune status and function predict vaccine response - some of these factors are well described, others remain a subject of ongoing research, especially with the rapidly expanding field of 'omics' research, enabled by development of highly granular immune profiling techniques and increasing computational capacity.

Research

The bone marrow microenvironment of pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia at single-cell resolution

The bone marrow microenvironment plays a key role in leukemia progression, but its molecular complexity in pre-B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), the most common cancer in children, remains poorly understood. To gain further insight, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize the kinetics of the murine BMM during B-ALL progression.

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Machine Learning-Based Single Cell and Integrative Analysis Reveals That Baseline mDC Predisposition Correlates With Hepatitis B Vaccine Antibody Response

Vaccination to prevent infectious disease is one of the most successful public health interventions ever developed. And yet, variability in individual vaccine effectiveness suggests that a better mechanistic understanding of vaccine-induced immune responses could improve vaccine design and efficacy.