Nicole Messina
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nicolemessina.bsky.social
Nicole Messina
@nicolemessina.bsky.social
Immunologist interested in immunoregulation, vaccines, paediatric immunology and disease risk. #TB #ID #ImmunoSky

https://www.mcri.edu.au/researcher-details/nicole-messina
Reposted by Nicole Messina
#Tuberculosis
For those who think we r at a stage where we can end TB need to have a relook
TB has outlived many of our generations & for a reason- the very nature of it’s transmission is vastly misrepresented
@organicbotanic.bsky.social
@elhopkins.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ofid/article...
Donor-Derived Tuberculosis In Three Solid Organ Transplant Recipients From The Same Donor
Abstract. Donor-derived tuberculosis (TB) is a rare complication following solid-organ transplant (SOT) and TB screening is not a current transplant prereq
academic.oup.com
July 13, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
A June #TopRead identified different subtypes of neutrophils in #tuberculosis (TB) patients, indicating that neutrophils might be promising targets for TB host-directed therapy. Learn more: ow.ly/gBgR50WiiCr.
Neutrophils from tuberculosis patients are polarized toward pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory phenotypes according to the disease severity
The Editors have selected this article as a highlight of the issue.
ow.ly
July 2, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
V interesting step forward in discovering generalisable / public human T cell metaclones reactive to Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens in vivo.

Potential impact for:
👉 Risk stratification
👉 Vaccine design

Do read more details in preprint 👇
#IDSky #TBSky #tuberculosis #immunosky
April 21, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
Long-term mortality trends among individuals with tuberculosis: a retrospective cohort study of individuals diagnosed with tuberculosis in Brazil

✅ Just Accepted
⭐ Editor's Choice
#IDSky
Long-term mortality trends among individuals with tuberculosis: a retrospective cohort study of individuals diagnosed with tuberculosis in Brazil
Even after successful treatment, individuals surviving tuberculosis (TB) disease experience elevated mortality rates.
doi.org
April 23, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
In @elife.bsky.social: Type I interferon responses contribute to immune protection against mycobacterial infection doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
#TBSky #IDSky #Immunosky
work led by Gillian Tomlinson with support from @mnoursad.bsky.social & @innate2adaptive.bsky.social group (1/5)
Type I interferon responses contribute to immune protection against mycobacterial infection
doi.org
May 31, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
Single nucleotide polymorphisms in IL6 gene promoter associated with higher IL-6 production more common in extrapulmonary vs pulmonary TB.

No proof of causation, but supports hypothesis of IL-6 driven pathology + dissemination?

#IDSky #TBSky
Single nucleotide polymorphisms in IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-10, and TGF-beta in pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis in the State of Ceará, northeastern Brazil
Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in genes encoding cytokines influence tuberculosis (TB) outcomes. To characterise genotypes of the SNPs IFN-gamma +874 T > A, TNF-alpha -308 G > A, IL-6 -174 G >…
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
June 8, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
#WeekendRead! #InterferonFriendOrFoe!
@benjbroom.bsky.social @groomlab.bsky.social &co show @jem.org that transient type I IFN inhibition upon LCMV infection or a mRNA vaccine boosts stem-like memory CD8 T cells by altering their location within the draining lymph node, potentiating virus protection
Transient inhibition of type I interferon enhances CD8+ T cell stemness and vaccine protection | Journal of Experimental Medicine | Rockefeller University Press
Broomfield et al. demonstrate that early type I interferon blockade alters CXCR3 chemokine regulation and cell location to promote an antigen-dependent CD8
rupress.org
March 15, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
Wonder which #innate responses in your animal models are shared with or distinct from humans? We did too! To answer, we teamed up with @mcampomd.bsky.social and the Hawn lab to compare human and murine alveolar and monocyte-derived #macrophage responses to #Mtb. (1/4)

#TBSky #ImmunoSky #NewPI x 2
Shared and distinct responses of human and murine alveolar macrophages and monocyte-derived macrophages to Mycobacterium tuberculosis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.28.640814v1
March 11, 2025 at 9:38 PM
I’m excited to share our new study of the off-target effects of #BCGVaccine on response to #SARSCoV2 & #COVID-19 vaccines. We analysed immune responses before & after COVID-19 vaccination in healthcare workers in the #BRACE RCT. 💉🦠 #Immunology #IDsky #Immunosky doi.org/10.1002/cti2...
<em>Clinical & Translational Immunology</em> | ASI Journal | Wiley Online Library
Bacille Calmette–Guérin (BCG), the vaccine for tuberculosis, has immunomodulatory effects that may underpin its off-target effects on infectious disease risk and vaccine responses. This study used bl....
doi.org
February 4, 2025 at 5:33 AM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody specificities differ dramatically between recently infected infants and immune-imprinted individuals

Another paper to provide more insights into antibody responses and imprinting.

www.biorxiv.org/cont...
1/9
SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody specificities differ dramatically between recently infected infants and immune-imprinted individuals
The immune response to viral infection is shaped by past exposures to related virus strains, a phenomenon known as imprinting. For SARS-CoV-2, much of the population has been imprinted by a viral spike from an early strain, either through vaccination or infection during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a consequence of this imprinting, infection with more recent SARS-CoV-2 strains primarily boosts cross-reactive antibodies elicited by the imprinting strain. Here we compare the neutralizing antibody specificities of imprinted individuals versus infants infected with a recent strain. Specifically, we use pseudovirus-based deep mutational scanning to measure how spike mutations affect neutralization by the serum antibodies of adults and children imprinted by the original vaccine versus infants with a primary infection by a XBB* variant. While the serum neutralizing activity of the imprinted individuals primarily targets the spike receptor-binding domain (RBD), serum neutralizing activity of infants only infected with XBB* mostly targets the spike N-terminal domain (NTD). In these infants, secondary exposure to the XBB* spike via vaccination shifts more of the neutralizing activity towards the RBD, although the specific RBD sites targeted are different than for imprinted adults. The dramatic differences in neutralization specificities among individuals with different exposure histories likely impact SARS-CoV-2 evolution. ### Competing Interest Statement J.D.B. and B.D. are inventors on Fred Hutch licensed patents related to the pseudovirus deep mutational scanning technique used in this paper. J.D.B. consults for Apriori Bio, Invivyd, Pfizer, the Vaccine Company, Moderna, and GSK. B.D. consults for Moderna. HYC has consulted for Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Ellume, and has served on advisory boards for Vir, Merck, Roche and Abbvie. She has received research funding from Gates Ventures. M.A.S. has received research funding from Cepheid and Pfizer and has consulted for Merck.
www.biorxiv.org
January 22, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
Mycobacterium #tuberculosis resisters despite #HIV exhibit activated T cells and macrophages in their pulmonary alveoli www.jci.org/articles/vie... (open access) @jclinical-invest.bsky.social
JCI - Mycobacterium tuberculosis resisters despite HIV exhibit activated T cells and macrophages in their pulmonary alveoli
www.jci.org
January 22, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
Interesting paper showing different M tuberculosis strains induce varying levels of IL-1beta via inflammasome activation.

Curious to understand how that relates to infection clearance & disease severity.

#TBSky #IDSky #ImmunoSky #Immunometabolism
Genetically diverse Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates manipulate inflammasome activation and IL-1β secretion independently of macrophage metabolic rewiring
The glycolytic pathway is required for maximum IL-1β production by macrophages infected with live distinct M. tuberculosis isolates, but mitochondria metab
academic.oup.com
November 25, 2024 at 9:28 PM
Reposted by Nicole Messina

A paper of Firsts for me: rdcu.be/d2gBV
- 1st #StrepA paper
- 1st for my lab (started in 2023).
- 1st senior authorship

📣 Shout out to my amazing co-1st authors @joshosowicki.bsky.social & Hannah Frost.
📣 Andrew Steer & Nikki Moreland for leading this work with me + all other co-authors not on 🦋
Streptococcus pyogenes pharyngitis elicits diverse antibody responses to key vaccine antigens influenced by the imprint of past infections
Nature Communications - Streptococcus pyogenes is a deadly bacteria without a vaccine. Here, researchers measured antibodies in serum and saliva from a strep throat human challenge trial. Baseline...
rdcu.be
December 3, 2024 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
👀⤵️ - @altmetric.com further cementing Bluesky as a platform for sharing and quantifying academic discussions. ⭐

And, as this thread demonstrates, it's been achieved with a good dose of humour, which never goes amiss in life or academia! 👏
#AcademicSky #IDSky #ImmunoSky #clinmicro
BLUESKY MEGA-THREAD

Altmetric is thrilled and also LITERALLY RELIEVED to officially announce:

We are now tracking research attention as it happens on Bluesky!

We have been picking up posts on the site since late Oct.

Our team is on Bluesky all day answering questions.

Let's get into it!
December 3, 2024 at 4:11 PM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
Want to make beautiful scientific figures? Easy!

The NIH released a library of 2000+ free scientific illustrations called *BioArt*.

Check it out! bioart.niaid.nih.gov

#AcademicSky #PsychSciSky 🧠🟦 🧪
October 30, 2024 at 9:45 AM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
'For scientists the network is starting to look like home. Academic institutions, scientific journals and conferences, and international organizations such as the World Health Organization have established a presence there in recent days.'
www.science.org/content/arti...
Like ‘old Twitter’: The scientific community finds a new home on Bluesky
After recent changes to Elon Musk’s X, a gradual migration turns into a stampede
www.science.org
November 21, 2024 at 5:49 AM
Reposted by Nicole Messina

Every year, >200K newborns die from sepsis.
Our team used machine learning to develop a set of genes that can predict neonatal sepsis risk using at birth blood samples.
www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...
Predictive gene expression signature diagnoses neonatal sepsis before clinical presentation
Despite appearing healthy at birth, neonates who later developed EOS already had distinct whole blood gene expression changes at birth, which enabled the development of a 4-gene predictive signature f...
www.thelancet.com
November 21, 2024 at 9:16 AM
Antecedent and persistent symptoms in #COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses: Insights from prospectively collected data

Age, chronic respiratory disease, and pre-existing symptoms increased the risk of developing #PACS following COVID-19.
#LongCOVID

www.journalofinfection.com/article/S016...
Antecedent and persistent symptoms in COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses: Insights from prospectively collected data in the BRACE trial
Healthcare workers with COVID-19 were more likely to have severe and longer-lasting symptoms than those with a non-COVID-19 respiratory illness, with a higher proportion meeting the WHO or NICE defini...
www.journalofinfection.com
November 19, 2024 at 8:50 PM
Older neonates (>10 days) have stronger IFN-γ and IFN-γ-inducible chemokine responses to P. falciparum in vitro #malaria #ImmunoSky

bmcimmunol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
November 19, 2024 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
New paper revealing a novel aspect of how climate change will impact health outcomes in the UK, from former Leeds University PhD, Katy Willis and colleagues

#PLOSGlobalPublicHealth: Forecasting climate-associated non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections in the ... dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...
Forecasting climate-associated non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections in the UK using international surveillance data and machine learning
Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) cause skin and lung infections, have high mortality rates, and are resistant to a range of antibiotics and water treatment methods. As NTM reside in environmental res...
dx.plos.org
August 20, 2024 at 10:35 AM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
Immunomodulation is so fascinating in the way it teaches us about the role of key immune components in the careful balancing act between infection and autoimmunity risk.

Here, it's for checkpoint inhibitors and increased risk of psoriasis
#MedSky #ImmunoSky
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Psoriasis Risk With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors
This cohort study evaluates the psoriasis risk associated with the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors among patients with cancer.
jamanetwork.com
November 17, 2024 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
our #TBSky starter pack is up to 75 people! 💃🏻 i’ve also added in the two largest TB feeds from @gpollara.bsky.social and @tbfighters.org (thank you both!)—you can also get good #TB content in the “posts” section of the starter pack

next goal: a #TBSky recurring journal club 🤭

go.bsky.app/Au7nuHk
November 16, 2024 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Nicole Messina
We strongly suggest that academic publishers and other platforms that host research rapidly implement a Share to Bluesky button for their articles. Here's how:

docs.bsky.app/docs/advance...

#AcademicSky #HigherEd #Altmetrics
Action Intent Links | Bluesky
Authors, websites, and apps can use action intent links to implement "Share on Bluesky" buttons, or similar in-app actions. Logged-in users will be directed to the corresponding action view in the Blu...
docs.bsky.app
November 18, 2024 at 2:48 PM