The molecular epidemiology of a dengue virus outbreak in Taiwan: population wide versus infrapopulation mutation analysis.

Dengue virus (DENV) causes approximately 390 million dengue infections worldwide every year. There were 22,777 reported DENV infections in Tainan, Taiwan in 2015. In this study, we sequenced the C-prM-E genes from 45 DENV 2015 strains, and phylogenetic analysis based on C-prM-E genes revealed that all strains were classified as DENV serotype 2 Cosmopolitan genotype.

VP1 codon deoptimization and high-fidelity substitutions in 3D polymerase as potential vaccine strategies for eliciting immune responses against enterovirus A71.

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) can induce severe neurological complications and even fatal encephalitis in children, and it has caused several large outbreaks in Taiwan since 1998. We previously generated VP1 codon-deoptimized (VP1-CD) reverse genetics (rg) EV-A71 viruses (rgEV-A71s) that harbor a high-fidelity (HF) 3D polymerase. These VP1-CD-HF rgEV-A71s showed lower replication kinetics and decreased virulence in an Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mouse model of EV-A71 infection, while still retaining their antigenicity in comparison to the wild-type virus.

Antigenic mapping of enterovirus A71 from Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is a non-enveloped virus possessing 4 capsid proteins: VP1-VP4. The outermost capsid protein, VP1, plays roles in both antigenicity and virulence of the virus. The concept of generating other EV-A71 genotypes of reverse genetics (rg) viruses by replacing VP1 can be made possible with synthetic biotechnology, allowing us to redesign organisms, creating unavailable ones.

Serological responses triggered by different SARS-CoV-2 vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 variants in Taiwan.

Broadly neutralizing ability is critical for developing the next-generation SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. We collected sera samples between December 2021-January 2022 from 113 Taiwan naïve participants after their second dose of homologous vaccine (AZD1222, mRNA-1273, BNT162-b2, and MVC-COV1901) and compared the differences in serological responses of various SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Compared to AZD1222, the two mRNA vaccines could elicit a higher level of anti-S1-RBD binding antibodies with higher broadly neutralizing ability evaluated using pseudoviruses of various SARS-CoV-2 lineages.

Conserved Residues Adjacent to ß-Barrel and Loop Intersection among Enterovirus VP1 Affect Viral Replication: Potential Target for Anti-Enteroviral Development.

genus has over one hundred genotypes and could cause several kinds of severe animal and human diseases. Understanding the role of conserved residues in the VP1 capsid protein among the genus may lead to anti-enteroviral drug development. The highly conserved residues were found to be located at the loop and ß-barrel intersections.

Enterovirus A71: virulence, antigenicity, and genetic evolution over the years.

As a neurotropic virus, enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) emerge and remerge in the Asia-Pacific region since the 1990s, and has continuously been a threat to global public health, especially in children. Annually, EV-A71 results in hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) and occasionally causes severe neurological disease. Here we reviewed the global epidemiology and genotypic evolution of EV-A71 since 1997.