Ricerc@Sapienza

CD28 superagonistic antibodies (CD28SAb) can preferentially activate and expand immunosuppressive
regulatory T cells (Treg) in mice. However, pre-clinical trials assessing
CD28SAbs for the therapy of autoimmune diseases reveal severe systemic inflammatory
response syndrome in humans, thereby implying the existence of distinct signalling abilities
between human and mouse CD28. Here, we show that a single amino acid variant within the
C-terminal proline-rich motif of human and mouse CD28 (P212 in human vs. A210 in mouse)

In this study we report the detection of the recently described mcr-4 gene in two human isolates of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. The strains were isolated from faecal samples of two Italian patients with gastroenteritis, collected in 2016. The identified mcr-4 genes (variant mcr-4.2) differed from the mcr-4 gene originally described in a Salmonella strain of swine origin from Italy. Salmonella species could represent a hidden reservoir for mcr genes. © 2018, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). All rights reserved.

Campylobacter spp. is one of the main cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in the world. The increase of antibiotic resistance in this species is a threat to public health. A Campylobacter spp. surveillance study was performed in Italy in the 2013-2016 period by the Enter-Net Italia network. The most prevalent Campylobacter species identified causing gastroenteritis was Campylobacter jejuni (73.4%) and 45% of all the annual cases of campylobacteriosis were reported in the summer period. High rates of ciprofloxacin and tetracycline resistance in Campylobacter spp. have been observed.

Background and aim: Plasmid-mediated colistin resistance mechanisms have been identified worldwide in the past years. A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol for detection of all currently known transferable colistin resistance genes (mcr-1 to mcr-5, and variants) in Enterobacteriaceae was developed for surveillance or research purposes. Methods: We designed four new primer pairs to amplify mcr-1, mcr-2, mcr-3 and mcr-4 gene products and used the originally described primers for mcr-5 to obtain a stepwise separation of ca 200 bp between ampli-cons.

The emergence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) is a critical concern worldwide. In Italy, CPE isolates are very frequent, with the KPC enzyme types strongly predominant whereas the New Delhi metallo-?-lactamase (NDM) enzymes are extremely rare. Here we report the first detection of NDM-5-producing Escherichia coli sequence type 167 (ST167) isolates from two patients with urinary tract infection (Ec001 and Ec002 from urines), including one with colonisation (Ec003 from faeces) admitted to the same hospital 2 months apart in 2017.

Objectives In this study we compared the recently described mcr-4-positive Salmonella enterica monophasic variant, isolated in 2016 in two Italian patients affected by gastroenteritis, with the first mcr-4-positive Salmonella isolate identified in 2013 in a pig at slaughter in Italy. Methods WGS of the two Salmonella isolates of human origin was performed using a MiSeq instrument (Illumina).

Objectives: Genomic characterization of the internationally spread sequence type (ST) 16 carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. Methods: The complete genomes of three carbapenem producing ST16 K. pneumoniae from Italian patients were analysed by single-nucleotide polymorphism-based phylogeny, core genome multilocus sequence typing, resistance, plasmid, and virulence content and compared with ten genomes of ST16 strains isolated in other countries. Plasmids carrying bla NDM-1 or bla OXA-232 carbapenemase genes were assembled and sequences were analysed.

Autophagy is a catabolic process strongly involved in the immune response, and its dysregulation contributes to the onset of several diseases including cancer. The human oncogenic gammaherpesviruses, EpsteinBarr virus (EBV) and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), manipulate autophagy, either during the de novo infection or during the lytic reactivation, in naturally latently-infected lymphoma cells.