About the Authors

Kelly A. Miller

Affiliation Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America

Md. A. Motaleb

Affiliation Department of Microbiology and Immunology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, United States of America

Jun Liu

Affiliation Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America

Bo Hu

Affiliation Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America

Melissa J. Caimano

Affiliation Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, United States of America

Michael R. Miller

mmiller@hsc.wvu.edu

Affiliation Department of Biochemistry, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America

Nyles W. Charon

Affiliation Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: KAM MAM JL MJC MRM NWC. Performed the experiments: KAM MAM BH MJC. Analyzed the data: KAM MAM JL BH MJC MRM NWC. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: MAM MJC. Wrote the paper: KAM MAM JL BH MJC MRM NWC.