Immune

Immune discusses a snippet on how EBV infection alters the immunopeptidome and promotes multiple sclerosis, and a paper on head and neck cancers harboring bacteria that create an immunosuppressive environment and promote immunotherapy resistance.


Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Cindy Leifer, Stephanie Langel, and Brianne Barker
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EBV, Golli-MBP presentation and multiple sclerosis (Cell, 2026)
Intratumoral bacteria promote resistance to cancer immunotherapy (Nat Cancer, 2026)
Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!
Music by Tatami.
Immune logo image by Blausen Medical

Send your immunology questions and comments to immune@microbe.tv
Information on this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

Gabriel Nunez discusses the discovery of NOD-like receptors, NOD1 and NOD2, in inflammatory bowel disease and how travel and taking a moment to enjoy local culture and art influences his creativity.
Host: Cindy Leifer
Guest: Gabriel Nuñez

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HLA and antigen presentation (Hum Immunol, 1987)
Bcl2, cell death, and B cells (Nature, 1991)
Discovery of NOD1 (J Biol Chem, 1999)
Discovery of NOD2 (J Biol Chem, 2001)
Mutation in NOD2 and connection to Crohn's disease (Nature, 2001)
Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!
Music by Tatami.
Logo image by Blausen Medical

Send your immunology questions and comments to immune@microbe.tv
Information on this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

Martha Alexander-Miller discusses why newborn and infant immune responses to vaccines are generally less effective and how we can make vaccines safer and more effective.

Host: Cindy Leifer
Guest: Martha Alexander-Miller
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Flu HA nanoparticle vaccine (Nat Comm, 2025)
Sex-dependent adjuvant activity in newborns (Vaccines, 2024)
Flu vaccine with R848 adjuvant (Vaccines, 2023)
Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!
Music by Tatami.
Logo image by Blausen Medical

Send your immunology questions and comments to immune@microbe.tv
Information on this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

The Immune team talks about two papers on the effect of sleep and environment on seasonal allergies. 
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Cindy Leifer, and Brianne Barker
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Sleep is needed for condition dependent allergic responses (PNAS, 2020)
Original paper on allergy to artificial rose (Am. J. Med. Sci. 181, 45–56 (1886))
One of multiple personalities allergic (Am J Clin Hypn, 1983)
Environmentally driven immune imprinting protects against allergy (Nature, 2026)
News and Views on immune imprinting paper (Nature, 2026)
Immune 90 discussion of "dirty mice"
Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!
Music by Tatami.
Immune logo image by Blausen Medical

Send your immunology questions and comments to immune@microbe.tv
Information on this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

Matters Microbial #130: The Holobiont — Animals, Microbes, and Ecology
May 19, 2026 Today Dr. Kevin Kohl, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how he and his colleagues study the interplay between animals, their resident gut microbes, and the overarching concept of the holobiont.
Host: Mark O. Martin
Guest: Kevin Kohl
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Links for this episode
The One Health Microbiome Center at Pennsylvania State University.
A very fine essay on the holobiont concept for non-microbiologists.
A general introductory overview of the holobiont concept.
The holobiont concept and the coral symbiosis. 
A partial history of the development of the holobiont concept.
Dr. Casadevall suggests that context and thus outcomes describes the term "pathogen," and a similar analysis applies to the holobiont.
A very short description of the holobiont concept. 
Another overview of the holobiont concept in general, coauthored by Dr. Kohl. 
Some basic rules for thinking about the holobiont concept.
A video introduction to the holobiont concept, by Dr. Seth Bordenstein.
I highly recommend this essay by the science writer Carl Zimmer, "The Human Lake," to think of the connections between lake ecology and microbial interactions with humans.
Another wonderful article recommended by Dr. Kohl, by Dr. Margaret McFall-Ngai and coauthors, detailing the impact microbes have on animals over evolution and development. 
The wood rat – creosote – microbiome connection to the holobiont concept, discussed on this podcast (coauthored by Dr. Kohl).
The fascinating work by Dr. Kohl and colleagues showing the relationship between tadpole development and pond microbes discussed in this podcast.
 A must read article by Dr. Kohl and colleagues, "Through the microbial looking glass: our shifting understanding of the holobiont and microbes as mediators of organismal biology," illustrates the development and influence of the holobiont concept.
Dr. Richard Prum's book, "Performance All the Way Down," was discussed during this podcast. There is also a video where Dr. Prum discusses the ideas in this book, describing gene regulation as a performance. 
Dr. Kohl's faculty website.
Dr. Kohl's (very interesting) research website.
Intro music is by Reber Clark
Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com