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Biomedical subjects

Timothy R Peters

Publications and source records attributed to Timothy R Peters.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Bartonella henselae endocarditis in a child.

14-year-old white male with a past medical history of congenital bicuspid aortic valve, Streptococcus viridans endocarditis, and pulmonary valve homograft presented with culture-negative endocarditis. Molecular studies identified the causative organism as Bartonella henselae and subsequent serologic studies supported this diagnosis. This rare cause of endocarditis may be under recognized in children. Bartonella henselae endocarditis should be considered in all children with culture-negative endocarditis, and molecular studies using a polymerase chain reaction-based assay should be routinely utilized in the evaluation of all endocarditis cases that are culture negative to rapidly diagnosis this treatable cause of endocarditis.

Adolescent↗

AP-3 directs the intracellular trafficking of HIV-1 Gag and plays a key role in particle assembly.

Gag proteins direct the process of retroviral particle assembly and form the major protein constituents of the viral core. The matrix region of the HIV-1 Gag polyprotein plays a critical role in the transport of Gag to the plasma membrane assembly site. Recent evidence indicates that Gag trafficking to late endosomal compartments, including multivesicular bodies, occurs prior to viral particle budding from the plasma membrane. Here we demonstrate that the matrix region of HIV-1 Gag interacts directly with the delta subunit of the AP-3 complex, and that this interaction plays an important functional role in particle assembly. Disruption of this interaction eliminated Gag trafficking to multivesicular bodies and diminished HIV particle formation. These studies illuminate an early step in retroviral particle assembly and provide evidence that the trafficking of Gag to late endosomes is part of a productive particle assembly pathway.

Adaptor Protein Complex 3↗

Intracellular localization and protein interactions of the gene 1 protein p28 during mouse hepatitis virus replication.

Coronaviruses encode the largest replicase polyprotein of any known positive-strand RNA virus. Replicase protein precursors and mature products are thought to mediate the formation and function of viral replication complexes on the surfaces of intracellular double-membrane vesicles. However, the functions of only a few of these proteins are known. For the coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), the first proteolytic processing event of the replicase polyprotein liberates an amino-terminal 28-kDa product (p28). While previous biochemical studies have suggested that p28 is associated with viral replication complexes, the intracellular localization and interactions of p28 with other proteins during the course of MHV replication have not been defined. We used immunofluorescence confocal microscopy to show that p28 localizes to viral replication complexes in the cytoplasm during early times postinfection. However, at late times postinfection, p28 localizes to sites of M accumulation distinct from the replication complex. Furthermore, by yeast two-hybrid and coimmunoprecipitation analyses, we demonstrate that p28 specifically binds to p10 and p15, two coronavirus replicase proteins of unknown function. Deletion mutagenesis experiments determined that the carboxy terminus of p28 is not required for its interactions with p10 and p15. These results suggest that p28 may play a part at the replication complex by interacting with p10 and p15. Moreover, our findings highlight a potential role for p28 at virion assembly sites.

Animals↗

Crystal structure of human junctional adhesion molecule 1: implications for reovirus binding.

Reovirus attachment to cells is mediated by the binding of viral attachment protein sigma 1 to junctional adhesion molecule 1 (JAM1). The crystal structure of the extracellular region of human JAM1 (hJAM1) reveals two concatenated Ig-type domains with a pronounced bend at the domain interface. Two hJAM1 molecules form a dimer that is stabilized by extensive ionic and hydrophobic contacts between the N-terminal domains. This dimeric arrangement is similar to that observed previously in the murine homolog of JAM1, indicating physiologic relevance. However, differences in the dimeric structures of hJAM1 and murine JAM1 suggest that the interface is dynamic, perhaps as a result of its ionic nature. We demonstrate that hJAM1, but not the related proteins hJAM2 and hJAM3, serves as a reovirus receptor, which provides insight into sites in hJAM1 that likely interact with sigma 1. In addition, we present evidence that the previously reported structural homology between sigma 1 and the adenovirus attachment protein, fiber, also extends to their respective receptors, which form similar dimeric structures. Because both receptors are located at regions of cell-cell contact, this similarity suggests that reovirus and adenovirus use conserved mechanisms of entry and pathways of infection.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Reovirus sigma NS and mu NS proteins form cytoplasmic inclusion structures in the absence of viral infection.

Reovirus replication occurs in the cytoplasm of infected cells and culminates in the formation of crystalline arrays of progeny virions within viral inclusions. Two viral nonstructural proteins, sigma NS and micro NS, and structural protein sigma 3 form protein-RNA complexes early in reovirus infection. To better understand the minimal requirements of viral inclusion formation, we expressed sigma NS, mu NS, and sigma 3 alone and in combination in the absence of viral infection. In contrast to its concentration in inclusion structures during reovirus replication, sigma NS expressed in cells in the absence of infection is distributed diffusely throughout the cytoplasm and does not form structures that resemble viral inclusions. Expressed sigma NS is functional as it complements the defect in temperature-sensitive, sigma NS-mutant virus tsE320. In both transfected and infected cells, mu NS is found in punctate cytoplasmic structures and sigma 3 is distributed diffusely in the cytoplasm and the nucleus. The subcellular localization of mu NS and sigma 3 is not altered when the proteins are expressed together or with sigma NS. However, when expressed with micro NS, sigma NS colocalizes with mu NS to punctate structures similar in morphology to inclusion structures observed early in viral replication. During reovirus infection, both sigma NS and mu NS are detectable 4 h after adsorption and colocalize to punctate structures throughout the viral life cycle. In concordance with these results, sigma NS interacts with mu NS in a yeast two-hybrid assay and by coimmunoprecipitation analysis. These data suggest that sigma NS and mu NS are the minimal viral components required to form inclusions, which then recruit other reovirus proteins and RNA to initiate viral genome replication.

Animals↗

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in a girl with a midbrain glioma.

A 7-year-old girl with a midbrain glioma contracted Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in the absence of cytotoxic or corticosteroid therapy. Gliomas are known to cause immunosuppression, and PCP prophylaxis should be considered for patients with these tumors.

Brain Neoplasms↗