Publications by authors named "J Raffel"
Article Synopsis
- - SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19, and while both genomic RNA (gRNA) and subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs) are produced in infected cells, their roles in measuring active virus replication and predicting infectivity are debated.
- - Current methods to monitor SARS-CoV-2 infections primarily use RT-qPCR to detect gRNA, but the relationship between viral load and infectivity depends on the assay's performance, as Ct-values may not accurately reflect the presence of active viruses.
- - A study developed a multiplex RT-qPCR assay detecting both gRNA and sgRNA, finding no significant predictive advantage in using sgRNAs; in fact, gRNA alone was slightly more reliable for determining viral infectivity,
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of the acute respiratory disease COVID-19, which has become a global concern due to its rapid spread. The common methods to monitor and quantitate SARS-CoV-2 infectivity in cell culture are so far time-consuming and labor-intensive. Using the Sleeping Beauty transposase system, we generated a robust and versatile cellular infection model that allows SARS-CoV-2 infection experiments compatible for high-throughput and live cell imaging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: During the natural course of multiple sclerosis (MS), the brain is exposed to aging as well as disease effects. Brain aging can be modeled statistically; the so-called "brain-age" paradigm. Here, we evaluated whether brain-predicted age difference (brain-PAD) was sensitive to the presence of MS, clinical progression, and future outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Measurements of non-displaceable binding (V) of positron emission tomography (PET) ligands are not often made in vivo in humans because they require ligands to displace binding to target receptors and there are few readily available, safe ones to use. A technique to measure V for ligands for the 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO) has recently been developed which compares the total volume of distribution (V) before and after administration of the TSPO ligand XBD173. Here, we used XBD173 with an occupancy plot to quantify V for two TSPO radiotracers, [F]GE-180 and [C]PBR28, in cohorts of people with multiple sclerosis (MS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Progression is the major driver of disability and cost in multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the search for treatments in progressive multiple sclerosis (PMS) has not mirrored the success in relapsing MS.
Objectives: To assess changes in PMS trials over time.