Mild coronavirus disease 2019: Results of a multicentric prospective study on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 presence in semen fractions and cells and its effects on semen parameters.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the virus responsible for coronavirus disease 2019, affects multiple organs. The virus enters cells through angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 and host factors present in genital organs, leading to concern over virus shedding in semen and reproductive function.

Objectives: To investigate severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in semen from patients with a mild infection, identify the seminal infected cells, and explore the effect of the infection on sex hormones and semen parameters.

SARS-CoV-2 replicates in the human testis with slow kinetics and has no major deleterious effects .

SARS-CoV-2 is a new virus responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic. Although SARS-CoV-2 primarily affects the lungs, other organs are infected. Alterations of testosteronemia and spermatozoa motility in infected men have raised questions about testicular infection, along with high level in the testis of ACE2, the main receptor used by SARS-CoV-2 to enter host cells.

Human Testicular Germ Cells, a Reservoir for Zika Virus, Lack Antiviral Response Upon Zika or Poly(I:C) Exposure.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging teratogenic arbovirus that persists in semen and is sexually transmitted. We previously demonstrated that ZIKV infects the human testis and persists in testicular germ cells (TGCs) for several months after patients' recovery. To decipher the mechanisms underlying prolonged ZIKV replication in TGCs, we compared the innate immune response of human testis explants and isolated TGCs to ZIKV and to Poly(I:C), a viral RNA analog.

Potential for Virus Endogenization in Humans through Testicular Germ Cell Infection: the Case of HIV.

Viruses have colonized the germ line of our ancestors on several occasions during evolution, leading to the integration in the human genome of viral sequences from over 30 retroviral groups and a few nonretroviruses. Among the recently emerged viruses infecting humans, several target the testis (e.g.

From Ancient to Emerging Infections: The Odyssey of Viruses in the Male Genital Tract.

The male genital tract (MGT) is the target of a number of viral infections that can have deleterious consequences at the individual, offspring, and population levels. These consequences include infertility, cancers of male organs, transmission to the embryo/fetal development abnormalities, and sexual dissemination of major viral pathogens such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus. Lately, two emerging viruses, Zika and Ebola, have additionally revealed that the human MGT can constitute a reservoir for viruses cleared from peripheral circulation by the immune system, leading to their sexual transmission by cured men.

Zika virus infects human testicular tissue and germ cells.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a teratogenic mosquito-borne flavivirus that can be sexually transmitted from man to woman. The finding of high viral loads and prolonged viral shedding in semen suggests that ZIKV replicates within the human male genital tract, but its target organs are unknown. Using ex vivo infection of organotypic cultures, we demonstrated here that ZIKV replicates in human testicular tissue and infects a broad range of cell types, including germ cells, which we also identified as infected in semen from ZIKV-infected donors.

Comparison of the effect of semen from HIV-infected and uninfected men on CD4+ T-cell infection.

Objectives: Semen composition is influenced by HIV-1 infection, yet the impact of semen components on HIV infection of primary target cells has only been studied in samples from HIV-uninfected donors.

Design: We compared the effect of seminal plasma (SP) from chronically HIV-infected (SP+) versus uninfected donors (SP-) on HIV-1 infection of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and CD4 T cells.

Methods: Primary cells were infected with HIV-1 in the presence of SP+ or SP- and analyzed for infection level, metabolic activity, HIV receptor expression, proliferation and activation.

A New Method for Rapid Screening of End-Point PCR Products: Application to Single Genome Amplified HIV and SIV Envelope Amplicons.

PCR is the most widely applied technique for large scale screening of bacterial clones, mouse genotypes, virus genomes etc. A drawback of large PCR screening is that amplicon analysis is usually performed using gel electrophoresis, a step that is very labor intensive, tedious and chemical waste generating. Single genome amplification (SGA) is used to characterize the diversity and evolutionary dynamics of virus populations within infected hosts.

Excess type I interferon signaling in the mouse seminiferous tubules leads to germ cell loss and sterility.

Type I (α and β) interferons (IFNs) elicit antiproliferative and antiviral activities via the surface receptor IFNAR. Serendipitous observations in transgenic mice in 1988 strongly suggested that IFNα/β overexpression in the testis disrupts spermatogenesis. Here, we compare a new mouse strain transgenic for IFNβ (Tg10) and a sister strain lacking the IFNAR1 subunit of IFNAR (Tg10-Ifnar1(-/-)), both strains expressing the transgene in the testis.

Identification of new CNS-resident macrophage subpopulation molecular markers for the discrimination with murine systemic macrophages.

A controversial issue in neurobiology concerns the respective functions of central nervous system (CNS)-resident macrophages and systemic infiltrating macrophages morphologically and phenotypically similar during most of CNS injury processes. In a previous work, we isolated sixteen mRNAs differentially expressed between two microglial EOC clones. By studying their pattern of expression, we found that three of them were not expressed in peripheral macrophages, even after stimulation with IFNgamma, TNFalpha or IL10.