Virulence factors, antibiotic susceptibility and sequence type distribution of hospital-associated Clostridioides difficile isolates in Israel, 2020-2022.

Biofilm formation and toxin production are some of the virulence factors of Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile), which causes hospital-acquired C. difficile infection (HA-CDI).

Characterization of community-acquired strains in Israel, 2020-2022.

Background: The prevalence of community-acquired infection (CA-CDI) has been rising, due to changes in antibiotics prescribing practices, emergence of hypervirulent strains and improved diagnostics. This study explored CA-CDI epidemiology by examining strain diversity and virulence factors of CA-CDI isolates collected across several geographical regions in Israel.

Methods: Stool samples of 126 CA-CDI patients were subjected to PCR and an immunoassay to identify toxin genes and proteins, respectively.

Efficacy and safety of metabolic interventions for the treatment of severe COVID-19: in vitro, observational, and non-randomized open-label interventional study.

Background: Viral infection is associated with a significant rewire of the host metabolic pathways, presenting attractive metabolic targets for intervention.

Methods: We chart the metabolic response of lung epithelial cells to SARS-CoV-2 infection in primary cultures and COVID-19 patient samples and perform in vitro metabolism-focused drug screen on primary lung epithelial cells infected with different strains of the virus. We perform observational analysis of Israeli patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 and comparative epidemiological analysis from cohorts in Italy and the Veteran's Health Administration in the United States.

Population differences in antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and BNT162b2 vaccination.

The concentration of SARS-CoV-2-specific serum antibodies, elicited by vaccination or infection, is a primary determinant of anti-viral immunity, which correlates with protection against infection and COVID-19. Serum samples were obtained from 25 897 participants and assayed for anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike protein RBD IgG antibodies. The cohort was composed of newly vaccinated BNT162b2 recipients, in the first month or 6 months after vaccination, COVID-19 patients and a general sample of the Israeli population.

Early effectiveness of BNT162b2 Covid-19 vaccine in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare personnel in six Israeli hospitals (CoVEHPI).

Background: Methodologically rigorous studies on Covid-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection are critically needed to inform national and global policy on Covid-19 vaccine use. In Israel, healthcare personnel (HCP) were initially prioritized for Covid-19 vaccination, creating an ideal setting to evaluate early real-world VE in a closely monitored population.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study among HCP in 6 hospitals to estimate the effectiveness of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 vaccine in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The SARS-CoV-2 Lambda variant and its neutralisation efficiency following vaccination with Comirnaty, Israel, April to June 2021.

The SARS-CoV-2 Lambda (Pango lineage designation C.37) variant of interest, initially identified in Peru, has spread to additional countries. First detected in Israel in April 2021 following importations from Argentina and several European countries, the Lambda variant infected 18 individuals belonging to two main transmission chains without further spread.

Viral oncomiR spreading between B and T cells is employed by Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus to induce non-cell-autonomous target gene regulation.

The two human lymphotrophic γ-herpesviruses, Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), are a recognized cause of human cancer, encoding multiple miRs that are major players in carcinogenesis. Previously, we discovered that EBV-encoded miRs transfer between infected B and T lymphocytes. To further explore the biological significance of the spreading of γ-herpesvirus-encoded miRs on carcinogenesis, we focused on KSHV-miR-K12-11 (miR-K12-11) that is unique in having an identical seed sequence with the oncomiR hsa-miR-155, implicated in B cell lymphomas development.

Knockdown of unc119c results in visual impairment and early-onset retinal dystrophy in zebrafish.

Purpose: UNC119 proteins are involved in G protein trafficking in mouse retinal photoreceptors and Caenorhabditis elegans olfactory neurons. An Unc119 null allele is associated with cone-rod dystrophy in mouse, but the mechanism leading to disease is not understood. We studied the role of Unc119 paralogs and Arl3l2 in zebrafish vision and retinal organization resulting from unc119c and arl3l2 knockdown.

Ras oncoproteins transfer from melanoma cells to T cells and modulate their effector functions.

Lymphocytes establish dynamic cell-cell interactions with the cells they scan. Previous studies show that upon cell contact, various membrane-associated proteins, such as Ras-family proteins, transfer from B to T and NK lymphocytes. Mutations in RAS genes that encode constitutively active, GTP-bound, oncoproteins are rather common in human cancers; for instance, melanoma.

Gucy2f zebrafish knockdown--a model for Gucy2d-related leber congenital amaurosis.

Mutations in retinal-specific guanylate cyclase (Gucy2d) are associated with Leber congenital amaurosis-1 (LCA1). Zebrafish offer unique advantages relative to rodents, including their excellent color vision, precocious retinal development, robust visual testing strategies, low cost, relatively easy transgenesis and shortened experimental times. In this study we will demonstrate the feasibility of using gene-targeting in the zebrafish as a model for the photoreceptor-specific GUCY2D-related LCA1, by reporting the visual phenotype and retinal histology resulting from Gucy2f knockdown.