Since the onset of the pandemic, many SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged, exhibiting substantial evolution in the virus' spike protein, the main target of neutralizing antibodies. A plausible hypothesis proposes that the virus evolves to evade antibody-mediated neutralization (vaccine- or infection-induced) to maximize its ability to infect an immunologically experienced population. Because viral infection induces neutralizing antibodies, viral evolution may thus navigate on a dynamic immune landscape that is shaped by local infection history.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConventional thin section electron microscopy of viral pathogens, such as the pandemic SARS-CoV-2, can provide structural information on the virus particle phenotype and its evolution. We recorded about 900 transmission electron microscopy images of different SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Alpha (B.1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeonatal sclerosing cholangitis (NSC) is associated with progressing biliary fibrosis that often requires liver transplantation in childhood. Several recent studies have identified variants in DCDC2, encoding doublecortin domain-containing protein 2 (DCDC2), expressed in primary cilia, that accompany syndromic disease and NSC. We report four patients with hepatobiliary disease associated with two novel homozygous or compound heterozygous variants in DCDC2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis article has been withdrawn due to a publisher error that caused it to be duplicated. The definitive version of this article is published under https://doi.org/10.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSARS-CoV-2 and its emerging variants of concern remain a major threat for global health. Here we introduce an infection model based upon polarized human Alveolar Epithelial Lentivirus immortalized (hAELVi) cells grown at the air-liquid interface to estimate replication and epidemic potential of respiratory viruses in the human lower respiratory tract. hAELVI cultures are highly permissive for different human coronaviruses and seasonal influenza A virus and upregulate various mediators following virus infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe development of therapeutic agonists for G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is hampered by the propensity of GPCRs to couple to multiple intracellular signalling pathways. This promiscuous coupling leads to numerous downstream cellular effects, some of which are therapeutically undesirable. This is especially the case for adenosine A receptors (ARs) whose clinical potential is undermined by the sedation and cardiorespiratory depression caused by conventional agonists.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) utilises the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) transmembrane peptidase as cellular entry receptor. However, whether SARS-CoV-2 in the alveolar compartment is strictly ACE2-dependent and to what extent virus-induced tissue damage and/or direct immune activation determines early pathogenesis is still elusive.
Methods: Spectral microscopy, single-cell/-nucleus RNA sequencing or ACE2 "gain-of-function" experiments were applied to infected human lung explants and adult stem cell derived human lung organoids to correlate ACE2 and related host factors with SARS-CoV-2 tropism, propagation, virulence and immune activation compared to SARS-CoV, influenza and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
Objectives: In France, a systematic control of compulsory psychiatric admissions has existed since the enactment of the law of July 5th 2011. The Court of Cassation clarified that the liberty and custody judges (JLD) cannot supersede the medical opinion described in the medical certificates. In 2015, the JLD ordered the release of 8.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Infantile nephropathic cystinosis (INC) is a rare lysosomal storage disorder resulting in progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD) and a variety of extrarenal manifestations. This orphan disease remains a challenge for patients, their families and health care providers. There is currently no comprehensive study on patients' clinical course in Germany and Austria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSevere acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 infections are characterized by remarkable differences, including infectivity and case fatality rate. The underlying mechanisms are not well understood, illustrating major knowledge gaps of coronavirus biology. In this study, protein expression of the SARS-CoV- and SARS-CoV-2-infected human lung epithelial cell line Calu-3 was analyzed using data-independent acquisition-mass spectrometry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCOVID-19-induced "acute respiratory distress syndrome" (ARDS) is associated with prolonged respiratory failure and high mortality, but the mechanistic basis of lung injury remains incompletely understood. Here, we analyze pulmonary immune responses and lung pathology in two cohorts of patients with COVID-19 ARDS using functional single-cell genomics, immunohistology, and electron microscopy. We describe an accumulation of CD163-expressing monocyte-derived macrophages that acquired a profibrotic transcriptional phenotype during COVID-19 ARDS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 (Comirnaty, BioNTech/Pfizer) and the vaccine candidate CVnCoV (Curevac) each encode a stabilized spike protein of SARS-CoV2 as antigen but differ with respect to the nature of the mRNA (modified versus unmodified nucleotides) and the mRNA amount (30 μg versus 12 μg RNA). This study characterizes antisera elicited by these two vaccines in comparison to convalescent sera.
Methods: Sera from BNT162b2 vaccinated healthcare workers, and sera from participants of a phase I trial vaccinated with 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 μg CVnCoV and convalescent sera from hospitalized patients were analyzed by ELISA, neutralization tests, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and peptide arrays.
Background: The upper respiratory tract (URT) is the primary entry site for severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and other respiratory viruses, but its involvement in viral amplification and pathogenesis remains incompletely understood.
Methods: In this study, we investigated primary nasal epithelial cultures, as well as vital explanted tissues, to scrutinize the tropism of wild-type SARS-CoV-2 and the recently emerged B.1.
Oligodendrocytes produce myelin, which provides insulation to axons and speeds up neuronal transmission. In ischaemic conditions, myelin is damaged, resulting in mental and physical disabilities. Recent evidence suggests that oligodendrocyte damage during ischaemia can be mediated by Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin-1 (TRPA1), whose activation raises intracellular Ca concentrations and damages compact myelin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMiddle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is enzootic in dromedary camels across the Middle East and Africa. Virus-induced pneumonia in humans results from animal contact, with a potential for limited onward transmission. Phenotypic changes have been suspected after a novel recombinant clade (lineage 5) caused large nosocomial outbreaks in Saudi Arabia and South Korea in 2016.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: In France, a systematic control of compulsory psychiatric admissions has existed since the enactment of the law of 5 July 2011. In 2015, the judge of freedoms and detention ordered the withdrawal of 8.4 % of the compulsory psychiatric admissions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFElevated blood pressure remains a major cause of cardiovascular disease, disability, and premature death in Austria, with suboptimal rates of detection, treatment and control also in recent years. Management of hypertension is a common challenge for physicians with different spezializations. In an attempt to standardize diagnostic and therapeutic strategies and, ultimately, to increase the rate of patients with controlled blood pressure and to decrease the burden of cardiovascular disease, 13 Austrian medical societies reviewed the evidence regarding prevention, detection, workup, treatment and consequences of high blood pressure in general and in various clinical scenarios.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBACKGROUNDProteinuria is considered an unfavorable clinical condition that accelerates renal and cardiovascular disease. However, it is not clear whether all forms of proteinuria are damaging. Mutations in CUBN cause Imerslund-Gräsbeck syndrome (IGS), which is characterized by intestinal malabsorption of vitamin B12 and in some cases proteinuria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Microangiopathic hemolytic anemias and thrombocytopenias in pregnant or postpartum women constitute an interdisciplinary diagnostic and therapeutic challenge in the evaluation of thrombotic microangiopathies (TMA), where urgent care must be considered.
Case Presentation: We here report the case of a 21-year-old Somali woman, who was delivered by emergency caesarean section at 35 weeks of gestational age with acute dyspnea, placental abruption and gross edema due to severe preeclampsia/HELLP syndrome. After delivery, she developed acute kidney failure and thrombotic microangiopathy as revealed by kidney biopsy.