SARS-CoV-2 Protein Nsp9 Is Involved in Viral Evasion through Interactions with Innate Immune Pathways.

The suppression of the host's innate antiviral immune response by SARS-CoV-2, a contributing factor to the severity of disease, has been considerably studied in recent years. Many of these studies have focused on the actions of the structural proteins of the virus because of their accessibility to host immunological components. However, less is known about SARS-CoV-2 nonstructural and accessory proteins in relation to viral evasion.

Galectin-1 Modulates the Fusogenic Activity of Placental Endogenous Retroviral Envelopes.

Syncytin-1 and -2 are glycoproteins encoded by human endogenous retrovirus (hERV) that, through their fusogenic properties, are needed for the formation of the placental syncytiotrophoblast. Previous studies suggested that these proteins, in addition to the EnvP(b) envelope protein, are also involved in other cell fusion events. Since galectin-1 is a β-galactoside-binding protein associated with cytotrophoblast fusion during placental development, we previously tested its effect on Syncytin-mediated cell fusion and showed that this protein differently modulates the fusogenic potential of Syncytin-1 and -2.

Isolation of Human Villous Cytotrophoblastic Cells from Term Placenta for Transfection.

Isolation of villous cytotrophoblastic cells (vCTBs) from placental tissue provides the possibility of studying differentiation of these cells as well as their function. We describe herein a protocol, in which term placentas are used to isolate a population of vCTB in high quantities. These cells are subsequently used to transfect siRNA through microporation and thereby to achieve efficient silencing of targeted genes.

Optimized Bioorthogonal Non-canonical Amino Acid Tagging to Identify Serotype-Specific Biomarkers in Verotoxigenic .

According to Canada's Food Report Card 2016, there are 4 million foodborne illnesses acquired each year in the nation alone. The leading causes of foodborne illness are pathogenic bacteria such as shigatoxigenic/verotoxigenic (STEC/VTEC) and . Most current detection methods used to identify these bacterial pathogens are limited in their validity since they are not specific to detecting metabolically active organisms, potentially generating false-positive results from non-living or non-viable bacteria.

MicroRNA Mimics or Inhibitors as Antiviral Therapeutic Approaches Against COVID-19.

Coronaviruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, present a significant threat to human health by inflicting a wide variety of health complications and even death. While conventional therapeutics often involve administering small molecules to fight viral infections, small non-coding RNA sequences, known as microRNAs (miRNAs/miR-), may present a novel antiviral strategy. We can take advantage of their ability to modulate host-virus interactions through mediating RNA degradation or translational inhibition.

Galectin-1 interacts with the human endogenous retroviral envelope protein syncytin-2 and potentiates trophoblast fusion in humans.

Syncytin (Syn)-2 is an important fusogenic protein that contributes to the formation of the placental syncytiotrophoblast. Galectin (Gal)-1, a soluble lectin, is also involved in trophoblast cell fusion and modulates the interaction of certain retroviral envelopes with their cellular receptor. This study aimed to investigate the association between Syn-2 and Gal-1 during human trophoblast cell fusion.

Endogenous retrovirus-encoded Syncytin-2 contributes to exosome-mediated immunosuppression of T cells†.

Modulation of the activation status of immune cell populations during pregnancy depends on placental villous cytotrophoblast (VCT) cells and the syncytiotrophoblast (STB). Failure in the establishment of this immunoregulatory function leads to pregnancy complications. Our laboratory has been studying Syncytin-2 (Syn-2), an endogenous retroviral protein expressed in placenta and on the surface of placental exosomes.

Implication of human endogenous retrovirus envelope proteins in placental functions.

Human endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) represent 8% of the total human genome. Although the majority of these ancient proviral sequences have only retained non-coding long terminal repeats (LTRs), a number of "endogenized" retroviral genes encode functional proteins. Previous studies have underlined the implication of these ERV-derived proteins in the development and the function of the placenta.