Jennifer Mitchell

Really pleased to see this study led by @raymondkiu.bsky.social now published in @natcomms.nature.com!

We show that probiotics help modulate the preterm infant 👶#microbiome - to reduce ARGs, lower MDR bacteria 🦠 & increase beneficial Bifido ✨

Huge team effort!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

HPV vaccination: How the world can eliminate cervical cancer HPV vaccines offer a rare opportunity to effectively eliminate one type of cancer. By taking this opportunity, it’s possible to save hundreds of thousands of women each year.

Some positive stories 👇🏾

“Countries with widespread HPV vaccination and regular cervical cancer screenings are already seeing dramatic reductions in cancer rates. They demonstrate that it’s possible to effectively eliminate the disease”

@scientificdiscovery.dev

ourworldindata.org/hpv-vaccinat...

Here is another map of malaria from 1870
ourworldindata.org/malaria

By “return,” what is meant is that malaria was once endemic in the US. The CDC was founded in Georgia—because it was then the nation’s malaria hotspot. Here’s a Library of Congress map showing past distribution:
www.loc.gov/resource/g37...

We are investigating possible locally acquired case of malaria - Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department The risk to the public is very low. An East Pierce County woman who has not traveled recently was diagnosed Aug. 2 with malaria.

In the past 2 years, the US has reported a return of locally acquired malaria. In 2023, Florida & Texas reported P. vivax, then Maryland reported P. falciparum. Now, as far north as Pierce County, WA, a potential local case is under investigation (species TBD).
tpchd.org/news/we-are-...

Panels one and two: Two white mice make their way through a maze. Panel three: Having completed the maze, the two mice are rewarded with some fruit. Two scientists watch them. One says: “Poor little things: all that thought and effort just to earn themselves a little treat.” The second scientist looks at a clock and says: “Coffee time!” Panels four and five: The two scientists make their way through a maze of corridors to a door marked “Canteen” Panel six: The scientists look at the food on offer. One says: “Ooh, Donuts!”

My latest cartoon for @newscientist.com

Cross-kingdom RNA communication in plant–bacterial interaction Boundaries of cross-kingdom RNA communication are now being expanded, with recent work showing that plants deliver gene-silencing RNA into bacteria. Ravet et al. report that both extracellular vesicul...

Cross-kingdom RNA communication in plant–bacterial interaction

- @cp-trendsgenetics.bsky.social Spotlight

www.cell.com/trends/genet...

🧵 Dengue is no longer just a tropical disease - it's showing up in Europe.

This season, France, Italy, and Portugal (Madeira) have already reported locally acquired dengue cases.

Check the latest #CDTR on #dengue here: bit.ly/3TQpDVu

#IdSky #EpiSky #MosquitoBorne #Prevention #PublicHealth

Epigenetic silencing of interleukin-10 by host-derived oxidized phospholipids supports a lethal inflammatory response to infections Upon pathogen detection, phagocytes trigger immunity. This process induces tissue stress and the formation of host-derived molecules that further tune immune responses. We show that host-derived oxidized phospholipids accumulate upon microbial encounter, epigenetically suppress IL-10, and exacerbate harmful inflammation. Thus, targeting oxPLs represents a therapeutic strategy to treat deranged inflammation after infection.

Online now: Epigenetic silencing of interleukin-10 by host-derived oxidized phospholipids supports a lethal inflammatory response to infections

Known effects of arginine on Gram-positive and Gram-negative behavior

It's seem like arginine is emerging as a major host cue. So we wrote an IAI minireview on how arginine levels vary between host tissues and affect microbial behavior.

The review is online today!
journals.asm.org/doi/epdf/10....

@brookeeryan3.bsky.social

#microsky

Join us in Tubingen as a Junior Research Group Leader if you do research on #ESKAPE pathogens and infections and are interested in the highly cooperative environment of @dzif.bsky.social‬ and @cmfi.bsky.social ! Please send your application or forward to colleagues!
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...

Wrong Jen Mitchell!

Systemic inflammation impairs myelopoiesis and interferon type I responses in humans - Nature Immunology Stunnenberg et al. use a model of lipopolysaccharide injection in humans to characterize the transcriptomic landscape of bone marrow and blood immune cells during the hyperinflammatory and immunosuppr...

#WeekendRead! #InterferonPower! Stunnenberg Pickkers Kox, Keramati &co show @natimmunol.bsky.org that 2 LPS injections in volunteers mimic the proinflammatory & immunosuppressive phases of #sepsis & found that IFNb treatment restores immune responsiveness in the suppressive phase!

It's a 24 panel illustration, with a rotor (circle) with 24 open circles. For each increment from 1 to 24, an additional circle is filled with blue or pink, in ways that create a symmetrical axis of mass, allowing the rotor to be balanced when rotating at high speeds. The pinks generally show the odd numbers (divisible by 3) while the blues are the paired (divisible by 2) I think?

Weird intersection of math & centrifuge balancing:
Visual proof that it's possible to balance a 24-position centrifuge rotor for any number of equally-filled tubes EXCEPT 1 and 23.

Some of these are anxiety-inducing, though.

(🧑‍🎨: aliyoh, labrats subreddit)

The cellular mammalian clock regulates Staphylococcus aureus invasion in epithelial cells https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.05.652254v1

Interested in superbugs, AMR and stress resistance? Join us to do a PhD in the Corrigan lab
@UCDMedicine www.ucd.ie/graduatestud...

Looking to appoint a new or experienced Postdoc to join my team. Investigating novel therapeutics targeting Crohn's disease associated bacteria. Background in Microbiology, Immunology, Biochemistry or related field. 🦠🔬

Apply here: my.corehr.com/pls/trrecrui...

Closing date: 31st May 2025

The nasal microbiome modulates risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection These results suggest that natural variation in the nasal microbiome significantly impacts ACE2/TMPRSS2 expression in the nasal cavity and the near-term risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in adults. Modifyi...

"Having high densities of Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae, or Moraxella catarrhalis/nonliquefaciens was linked to increased nasal ACE2/TMPRSS2 expression."

The nasal microbiome modulates risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection - eBioMedicine www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...

I'm delighted to share a useful FREE web-based app portal of powerful bioinformatics tools for microbial genomes and shotgun microbiome sequences!

It's called Micromics and is built by Middle Author Bioinformatics, led by co-founder @ironark.bsky.social
omix.midauthorbio.com

Why do we like vaccines and water systems so much?

It used to be 50/50 whether your kid lived to be an adult. With 4 kids, 94% chance they wouldn't all make it.

Fun times. Maybe let's not do that again.

We don't have magic cures for diseases like measles. We have vaccines.

Molecular interplay between ComEC domains leads to efficient DNA translocation during natural transformation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.08.647572v1

Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia: A Review This narrative review summarizes current evidence on the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia.

New review article on management of S. aureus bacteraemia: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

@jama.com @vancefowler.bsky.social #IDSky

Check out the gorgeous Figure which brings together elements of pathogenesis and management: (thread)

It’s just a bridge in Ballybough. That’s what most people see.

This is an essay worth your time reading.

open.substack.com/pub/garygann...

Bifidobacteria support optimal infant vaccine responses - Nature Neonatal antibiotic use is shown to reduce immune response to infant vaccines, accompanied by reduced abundance of Bifidobacteria in the gut microbiota, with experiments in mice indicating that probio...

Delighted our study (7+ years in the making) is out today in Nature. In a nutshell, 48 hours of antibiotics in week 1 led to impaired vaccine responses up to 15 months later in infants. We show (in-vivo) a probiotic can fix it #microbiome #science #immunology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Inducible transposon mutagenesis identifies bacterial fitness determinants during infection in mice - Nature Microbiology InducTn-seq, a method for inducible mutagenesis followed by transposon insertion site sequencing, enables temporal control of transposition to bypass population bottlenecks and enable the quantificati...

OUT NOW: Inducible transposon mutagenesis identifies bacterial fitness determinants during infection in mice

#microsky 🧪

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🤣

In 3 days, the number of measles cases in a highly unvaccinated area of Texas has doubled. There are now 48 cases, all of whom are unvaccinated, and 13 of whom have been hospitalized so far, for a hospitalization rate of 27%. This is huge figure in epidemiology. This outbreak will keep spreading.

Call for applications 2025 - Creation of new research groups at the Institut Pasteur - Research The Institut Pasteur launches an international call to recruit new junior research group leaders in the application of cutting-edge transdisciplinary approaches to the exploration of host-microbe, tis...

🌟 Join Institut Pasteur as a Junior Research Group Leader 🌟
Explore host-microbe interactions in key areas like vaccinology, infectious diseases, neuro-immunology, and maternal health.

📅 Deadline: Feb 28, 2025 (few weeks left!)

Apply now ⬇️

Diabetes potentiates the emergence and expansion of antibiotic resistance Diabetic infections are a reservoir for the emergence and proliferation of antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus.

Delighted to share our new study. A collaboration with the Thurlow lab. Antibiotic resistance rapidly emerges and thrives in diabetic mice. A worrying coming together of two major and growing health problems worldwide www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

PhD opportunity in bacterial pathogenesis- deadline tomorrow Feb 13 !