Research at a Glance

Explore recent research and scholarly contributions from the Department of Microbiology & Immunology.

Partial deletion of the OPG164 (A36R) transmembrane phosphoprotein in monkeypox virus clade Ib/sh2023 disrupts the active region involving Tyr140.
Kumar A, Martinez GS, Dutt M, Ostadgavahi AT, Kelvin A, Kelvin DJ.
Lancet Microbe. 2026 Jan;7(1):101223. doi: 10.1016/j.lanmic.2025.101223.

The Trans-Kingdom Spectrum of Mpox-like Lesion Pustules of Suspect Patients in the Mpox Clade Ib Outbreak in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Masirika LM, Hewins B, Toloue Ostadgavahi A, Dutt M, Mambo LM, Udahemuka JC, Ndishimye P, Mbiribindi JB, Siangoli FB, Kelvin P, Langille MGI, Kelvin DJ, Flores L, Sganzerla Martinez G, Kumar A.
Microorganisms. 2025 Aug 29;13(9):2025. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13092025.

Primary envelopment of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus at the nucleoplasmic reticulum.
Wilson A, Ridgway ND, McCormick C.
J Virol. 2025 Oct 23;99(10):e0058825. doi: 10.1128/jvi.00588-25.

What goes up must come down: dynamics of type 1 interferon signaling across the lifespan.
Hartnell L, Agudelo-Romero P, Montgomery ST, Ben-Othman R, Verhasselt V, Stick SM, Kollmann TR.
Front Immunol. 2025 Oct 16;16:1654604. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1654604.

Protocol for cell-specific RNA expression profiling and lipidomics analyses of Drosophila melanogaster intestinal progenitor cells.
Makdissi S, Malick A, Matak AM, Maschek JA, Kang X, Cox JE, Edgar BA, Di Cara F.
STAR Protoc. 2025 Dec 19;6(4):104188. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2025.104188.

Persistent mirusvirus infection in the marine protist Aurantiochytrium.
Chung D, Brask N, Matar S, Gallot-Lavallée L, Pringle ES, Duguay BA, Blais C, Latimer J, Haro R, Slamovits CH, Leyland B, Rest JS, Collier JL, McCormick C, Archibald JM.
Nat Commun. 2025 Nov 11;16(1):9922. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-65172-6.

Assessing the potential for specimen pooling to streamline nosocomial surveillance of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Pagotto I, Alqahtani M, Joy B, McCracken GR, Davis IR, LeBlanc JJ, Patriquin G.
Microbiol Spectr. 2026 Jan 6;14(1):e0258525. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.02585-25.

TCEPVDB: Artificial Intelligence-Based Proteome-Wide Screening of Antigens and Linear T-Cell Epitopes in the Poxviruses and the Development of a Repository.
Dutt M, Kumar A, Ostadgavahi AT, Kelvin DJ, Martinez GS.
Proteomes. 2025 Nov 6;13(4):58. doi: 10.3390/proteomes13040058.

Increased Borrelia burgdorferi Seroprevalence in Nova Scotia-Prevalence and Distribution 10 Years Later.
Phillips C, Jackson C, Passerini L, McIsaac K, Loomer C, Coatsworth H, Cram J, Simms E, Haldane D, Hatchette TF, Patriquin G.
Zoonoses Public Health. 2026 Mar;73(2):164-168. doi: 10.1111/zph.70033.

The BCG in situ study - novel techniques applied to a 100-year-old vaccine.
Schaltz-Buchholzer F, Bæk O, Singh A, Cá E, da Silva I, Aaby P, Benn CS, Kollmann TR, Amenyogbe N.
MethodsX. 2025 Nov 7;15:103712. doi: 10.1016/j.mex.2025.103712.

Persistent glycolysis defines pathological foreign body-associated inflammation to polymeric implants.
Rempe C, Callaghan N, Fong-Hollohan L, Nersesian S, Froom Z, Medd K, Ahmed I, Karakach T, Boudreau JE, Bezuhly M, Davenport Huyer L.
Sci Adv. 2025 Dec 19;11(51):eadx6368. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adx6368.

Escape from SARS-CoV-2 Nsp1-mediated host shutoff by TIAR transcript reveals general features of Nsp1 resistance.
Galbraith C, Stolz M, Tersteeg S, Andrews E, Patel TR, Khaperskyy DA.
RNA. 2026 Feb 17;32(3):379-393. doi: 10.1261/rna.080715.125.

Lime amendment to chronically acidified forest soils results in shifts in prokaryotic communities.
Hosmer M, Wright RJ, McCavour C, Keys K, Sterling S, Langille MGI, Rohde J.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2026 Jan 27;92(1):e0217124. doi: 10.1128/aem.02171-24.

Peri-tumoural lymphocyte neighbourhoods predict longer survival in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
Arseneau RJ, Mejia JP, Nersesian S, Lee SN, Bekkers C, Samson T, Gaston D, Gala-Lopez BL, Ramjeesingh R, Arnason T, Boudreau JE.
Front Immunol. 2025 Dec 11;16:1730817. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1730817.

Diving into the hidden viral world of marine protists.
Surgenor K, McCormick C.
J Virol. 2026 Feb 17;100(2):e0126225. doi: 10.1128/jvi.01262-25.

Systematic Development of Degradable Polyester Biomaterials via Ring-Opening Copolymerization of Succinic Anhydride and Epoxides.
Murrin SC, Woodworth KE, Wheeler B, Froom ZSCS, Scott AJ, Davenport Huyer L.
Biomacromolecules. 2026 Feb 9;27(2):1639-1654. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.5c02286.

Peptide-adaptive NK cell memory in the absence of functional TCR genes.
Bryan S, Gamage GS, Dey S, Medina-Luna D, Parsons BD, Makrigiannis AP.
Immunohorizons. 2026 Jan 6;10(1):vlaf083. doi: 10.1093/immhor/vlaf083.

Impaired host shutoff is a fitness cost associated with baloxavir marboxil resistance mutations in influenza A virus PA/PA-X nuclease domain.
Case JR, Khaperskyy DA.
PLoS Pathog. 2026 Feb 9;22(2):e1013550. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1013550.

Tutorial for variant interrogation in tumor samples.
Arseneau RJ, MacLean LK, Boudreau JE, Gaston D.
PLoS Comput Biol. 2026 Feb 17;22(2):e1013924. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013924.

Effective allogeneic natural killer cell therapy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma avails conserved activating receptors and evades HLA I-driven inhibition.
Lee SN, Arseneau RJ, Arnason T, Boudreau JE.
J Immunother Cancer. 2026 Feb 24;14(2):e013796. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2025-013796.

Peroxisomes and the nervous system: progress and challenges in neuroinflammation and cell-specific functions.
Di Cara F, Savary S.
Front Mol Neurosci. 2026 Feb 11;19:1745086. doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2026.1745086.

Adenosine drives suppression of CD16low NK cell responses against HGSC via NKG2A:HLA-E interactions.
Nicolela AP, Nersesian S, Lee SN, Hargreaves BKV, Boudreau JE.
J Leukoc Biol. 2026 Mar 3;118(3):qiag032. doi: 10.1093/jleuko/qiag032.

Case presentation of patients hospitalised with mpox (subclade Ib/2023sh) including children, adolescents, and adults in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo: an observational cohort study.
Flores Girón L, Sganzerla Martinez G, Daniel BN, Bisimwa AK, Pacific N, Martin GA, Kabwana JCA, Kumar A, Toloue Ostadgavahi A, Dutt M, Bénite KL, Damien MH, Gortázar C, Abu-Raya B, Kelvin AA, Prince KK, Kelvin DJ.
Lancet Infect Dis. 2026 Jun;26(6):590-600. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(26)00051-4.

Coronavirus M protein disperses the trans-Golgi network and inhibits anterograde protein trafficking in the secretory pathway.
Caddell TM, Mulloy RP, Corcoran JA, Pringle ES, McCormick C.
PLoS Pathog. 2026 May 5;22(5):e1014117. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1014117.

Mast cells support lung eosinophil homeostasis and the acute innate immune response to respiratory syncytial virus.
Hebbandi Nanjundappa R, Liwski CR, Edgar A, Castonguay M, Haidl ID, Marshall JS.
Nat Commun. 2026 May 24;17(1):6776. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-73438-w.

Natural killer cell immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer: Release the brakes.
Lee SN, Boudreau JE.
Mol Ther Oncol. 2026 May 13;34(2):201223. doi: 10.1016/j.omton.2026.201223.

Clock-like behavior across Orthoebolavirus species suggests alternative evolution of the 2026 Bundibugyo virus outbreak.
Sganzerla Martinez G, Kumar A, Dutt M, Wayengera M, Sabiiti W, Kelvin DJ, Kyobe Bosa H.
J Infect Dev Ctries. 2026 Jun 30;20(6):767-771. doi: 10.3855/jidc.23736.

Route of BCG administration determines success.
Andualem H, Dickson KB, Batool R, Amenyogbe N, Kollmann TR.
Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2026 Dec 31;22(1):2702676. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2026.2702676.

The minor spliceosome component U4atac regulates JAK/STAT signaling to modulate hematopoiesis and immune responses in Drosophila melanogaster.
Shikara D, Bishop E, Barton N, Makdissi S, Kailasam S, György A, Siekhaus DE, Borroto MC, Campeau PM, Vong L, Roifman CM, Parsons BD, Cara FD.
Nat Commun. 2026 Jul 16. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-75539-y.

Alternative quadruplex real-time PCR reactions for detection and discrimination of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes within serogroup 6.
Hatchette SF, Paterson N, Polsky A, Robertson P, McCracken GR, Cheng Z, LeBlanc JJ.
Microbiol Spectr. 2026 Sep;14(9):e0304525. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.03045-25.

IL-33 promotes efferocytosis by peritoneal macrophages by a mechanism associated with rapid granulocyte IL-13 production.
Legere SA, Nanjundappa RH, Meghnem D, Haidl ID, Edgar A, Hu Q, Légaré JF, Marshall JS.
Front Immunol. 2026 Jul 22;17:1802300. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1802300.

Biomaterial-associated factors in silicone breast implant-related pathology.
Callaghan NI, Lake R, Fong-Hollohan L, Medd K, Rempe C, Bezuhly M, Huyer LD.
Acta Biomater. 2026 Aug 20:S1742-7061(26)00571-4. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2026.08.039.

RSV bivalent prefusion vaccine in pregnancy and protection against RSV-associated illness in infants: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Batool R, Wang R, Obeid H, et al.
JAMA Pediatr. 2026 September 8. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2026.4074.