Category: Microbiology

Structural Insights Driving Vaccine Innovation and Therapeutic Discovery for Oropouche Virus (OROV)

July 3, 2026 Gabi I Wiggill
Gabi I Wiggill Background:  Oropouche virus (OROV) is an enveloped, negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus in the Orthobunyavirus genus that causes Oropouche Fever.1-6 It is primarily transmitted by the Culicoides paraensis midge and has caused over 30 outbreaks in South and Central America, resulting in more than 500,000 cases.2 OROV infection…
Featured Abstracts Microbiology

Therapeutic Potential of Mycobacteriophages D29 and DS6A in Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: A Preclinical Case for Phage-Based Therapy

July 3, 2026 Myrah N Savul
Myrah N Savul Background: The bacterial infection Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), which remains the leading infectious cause of death from a single pathogen worldwide.1 Mtb is transmitted through inhalation and internalized by alveolar macrophages, persisting in a drug-tolerant state within granulomas, organized immune structures that attempt…
Featured Abstracts Microbiology

Persistent Epigenetic Reprogramming After Hepatitis C Virus Eradication as a Driver of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risk

July 3, 2026 Lisette Pham
Lisette Pham Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a global health burden, chronically infecting approximately 58 million individuals worldwide and remaining a leading infectious cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The advent of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) has transformed HCV treatment, achieving sustained virologic response (SVR) rates exceeding 95%. However, epidemiologic data…
Cancer Microbiology

Congenital Zika Risks and Clinical Presentation: Placental and Blood-Brain Barrier Crossing Through Disruption of Tight Junctions & Transcytosis

July 3, 2026 Elaina Park
Elaina Park Background: Zika Virus (ZIKV) is a positive enveloped single-stranded RNA flavivirus transmitted via mosquito vector or bodily fluids.1,2 Vertical transmission is particularly concerning, as ZIKV has been detected in amniotic fluid, fetal brain tissue, and neonatal serum.1  Infection during pregnancy can cause Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS), characterized by…
Featured Abstracts Microbiology

Engineering Monoclonal Antibodies to Better Prevent and Treat RSV

July 2, 2026 Daniel Orosco
Daniel Orosco Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children worldwide, contributes to millions of hospitalizations, and nearly 100,000 deaths annually in children under five years of age.1 Current management of RSV is mainly supportive, with limited drug options available for prevention…
Microbiology

Pathogenesis and Potential Targets of Non-Antibiotic Therapeutics Against Clostridioides difficile Infection

July 2, 2026 Brady Neuman
Brady Neuman Background: Clostridioides difficile is a gram positive anaerobic bacteria that is a leading cause of infectious diarrhea in the United States, commonly acquired in hospital settings in patients who received antibiotic regimens that disrupt the microbiome.1,2 The virulence of C. difficile results from its production of toxin A…
Featured Abstracts Microbiology

Engineering Dual-Affinity Molecules to Redirect Immune Effector Cells for the Elimination of Latent HIV-1 Reservoirs

July 2, 2026 Neha B Mullassery
Neha B Mullassery Background: The latent HIV-1 reservoir—a pool of resting memory CD4+ T cells harboring integrated, transcriptionally silent proviral DNA—remains the primary barrier to a functional cure.6,7 While these cells remain “invisible” to the host immune system under suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART), they can be reactivated by latency-reversing agents.…
Immunology Microbiology

Toll-Like Receptors in Human Papillomavirus Infections and Their Role in the Aggressiveness of Cervical Cancer

July 2, 2026 Emily Nicole Marr
Emily Nicole Marr Background: Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality in women worldwide, with over 500,000 new cases diagnosed annually1. Infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) is associated with almost 100% of cervical cancer cases2. Although approximately 90% of HPV infections are resolved by the…
Cancer Featured Abstracts Microbiology

Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus Promotes Colorectal Tumorigenesis Through Disruption of Intestinal Epithelial Homeostasis

July 1, 2026 Sasha Kadamba
Sasha Kadamba Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and its development is attributed to a variety of genetic and environmental factors including microbial exposures in the gut.1 Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus (Sgg) is a gut pathobiont associated with septicemia, endocarditis, and…
Cancer Featured Abstracts Microbiology