Commensual bacteria are a normal part of the human body and its tissues. Many commensual bacteria have components which can activate the immune system but they also express mechanisms to mute that activation. One interesting commensual that can cause serious disease is Neisseria meningitis. However this commensual is also found in many individuals as part of the normal flora and can use factor H and other strategies to "hide out."
Recently, it has been discovered that Neisseria meningitis can be activated to cause inflammation during host infection with influenza or other respiratory pathogens. It is activated via RNA thermosensors. RNA thermosensors are stretches of double stranded RNA that "melt" during high temperatures associated with fever. This melted RNA then can be used to make proteins etc...that may induce virulence. This is a fascinating response.
Since some microbiologists believe that normal flora bacteria were designed to be part of the human body, what role could these thermosensors play other than promoting virulence?
Do some research and find out more about how Neisseria meningitis hides out and evades the immune system and also come up with a theory that might explain its RNA thermosensor activation during viral infection.
DUE NOV10
Research on an AIDS vaccine has been ongoing for years. Very few positive results have been achieved. More recently the focus has been on broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs). Broadly neutralizing antibodies show up naturally in a person infected with HIV only later in the infection. These antibodies have been shown to be effective in neutralizing the HIV virus but only if they appear early in HIV infection.