Chronic stress-induced activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis can influence the primary immune response to a pathogen, and can have significant impact on the outcome to an infectious disease. Whether chronic stress alters the generation of the memory T cell response, and whether a secondary response to pathogen challenge is affected by priming T cells under a """"""""stressed environment"""""""" are not well established. In this proposal, we test the central hypothesis that chronic non-habituating stress induces repeated activation of the HPA axis, hindering the development and/or effector function of Listeria- specific memory CD8+ T cells. This model will yield information that reflects how physical and/or psychological stress in humans may affect immune responses to pathogens, and can impact the effectiveness of profilactic and therapeutic vaccines.
| Santiago, Felix W; Lambert Emo, Kris; Fitzgerald, Theresa et al. (2012) Antigenic and immunogenic properties of recombinant hemagglutinin proteins from H1N1 A/Brisbane/59/07 and B/Florida/04/06 when produced in various protein expression systems. Vaccine 30:4606-16 |
| Santiago, Felix W; Fitzgerald, Theresa; Treanor, John J et al. (2011) Vaccination with drifted variants of avian H5 hemagglutinin protein elicits a broadened antibody response that is protective against challenge with homologous or drifted live H5 influenza virus. Vaccine 29:8888-97 |
