About the Authors

Udai P. Singh

Udai.singh@uscmed.sc.edu

Affiliation Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States of America

Narendra P. Singh

Affiliation Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States of America

Honbing Guan

Affiliation Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States of America

Venkatesh L. Hegde

Affiliation Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States of America

Robert L. Price

Affiliation Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States of America

Dennis D. Taub

Affiliation Hematology and Immunology Research, VA Medical Center, Department of Veteran Affairs, Washington DC, United States of America

Manoj K. Mishra

Affiliation Department of Math and Sciences, Alabama State University, Montgomery, Alabama, United States of America

Mitzi Nagarkatti

Affiliation Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States of America

Prakash S. Nagarkatti

Affiliation Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States of America

Competing Interests

Udai P. Singh is a PLOS ONE Editorial member and this does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: UPS NPS. Performed the experiments: UPS. Analyzed the data: VLH HG RLP MKM. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: DDT PSN MN. Wrote the paper: UPS.