Gene expression profiling of SARS-CoV-2 infections reveal distinct primary lung cell and systemic immune infection responses that identify pathways relevant in COVID-19 disease.

To identify key gene expression pathways altered with infection of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, we performed the largest comparative genomic and transcriptomic analysis to date. We compared the novel pandemic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, as well as influenza A strains H1N1, H3N2 and H5N1. Phylogenetic analysis confirms that SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to SARS-CoV at the level of the viral genome.

Dopamine-2 receptor extracellular N-terminus regulates receptor surface availability and is the target of human pathogenic antibodies from children with movement and psychiatric disorders.

Anti-Dopamine-2 receptor (D2R) antibodies have been recently identified in a subgroup of children with autoimmune movement and psychiatric disorders, however the epitope(s) and mechanism of pathogenicity remain unknown. Here we report a major biological role for D2R extracellular N-terminus as a regulator of receptor surface availability, and as a major epitope targeted and impaired in brain autoimmunity. In transfected human cells, purified anti-D2R antibody from patients specifically and significantly reduced human D2R surface levels.

Mapping autoantigen epitopes: molecular insights into autoantibody-associated disorders of the nervous system.

Background: Our knowledge of autoantibody-associated diseases of the central (CNS) and peripheral (PNS) nervous systems has expanded greatly over the recent years. A number of extracellular and intracellular autoantigens have been identified, and there is no doubt that this field will continue to expand as more autoantigens are discovered as a result of improved clinical awareness and methodological practice. In recent years, interest has shifted to uncover the target epitopes of these autoantibodies.

Autoantibodies in movement and psychiatric disorders: updated concepts in detection methods, pathogenicity, and CNS entry.

In recent years, autoantibodies to proteins or receptors expressed on the surface of neurons have been detected in movement and psychiatric disorders. These autoantibodies can assist in better recognition of clinical syndromes and offer novel treatment opportunities via immunotherapies, potentially leading to improved patient outcome. In this review, we describe several autoimmune syndromes associated with movement and psychiatric disorders, including anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis, basal ganglia encephalitis, Sydenham chorea, and autoantibody-associated psychosis and schizophrenia.

Antibodies to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein in bilateral and recurrent optic neuritis.

Objective: We examined a cohort of adults with aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibody-negative neuromyelitis optica/neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMO/NMOSD) for antibodies to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG).

Methods: We performed a flow cytometry cell-based assay using live human lentivirus-transduced cells expressing full-length surface MOG. Serum was tested in 23 AQP4 antibody-negative NMO/NMOSD patients with bilateral and/or recurrent optic neuritis (BON, n = 11), longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis (LETM, n = 10), and sequential BON and LETM (n = 2), as well as in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS, n = 76) and controls (n = 52).

Antibodies to MOG have a demyelination phenotype and affect oligodendrocyte cytoskeleton.

Objective: To examine the clinical features of pediatric CNS demyelination associated with positive myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibodies and to examine the functional effects of MOG antibody on oligodendrocyte cytoskeleton.

Methods: We measured MOG antibody using a fluorescence-activated cell sorting live cell-based assay in acute sera of 73 children with CNS demyelination (DEM) (median age 8 years, range 1.3-15.

Antibodies to surface dopamine-2 receptor and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor in the first episode of acute psychosis in children.

Background: The dopamine and glutamate hypotheses are well known in psychosis. Recently, the detection of autoantibodies against proteins expressed on the surface of cells in the central nervous system has raised the possibility that specific immune-mediated mechanisms may define a biological subgroup within psychosis, although no cohort of a first episode of psychosis in children has been investigated.

Methods: Serum taken during the acute presentation of 43 children with first episode of psychosis and serum from 43 pediatric control subjects was assessed for the presence of immunoglobulin (Ig)G, IgM, or IgA antibodies to dopamine-2 receptor (D2R) and NR1 subunit of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor using a flow cytometry live cell-based assay and immunolabeling of murine primary neurons.