Publications by authors named "Yunfa Zhang"

Bile acids are microbial metabolites that can impact infection of enteric and hepatitis viruses, but their functions during systemic viral infection remain unclear. Here we show that elevated levels of the secondary bile acid taurolithocholic acid (TLCA) are associated with reduced fatality rates and suppressed viraemia in patients infected with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV), an emerging tick-borne haemorrhagic fever virus. TLCA inhibits viral replication and mitigates host inflammation during SFTSV infection in vitro, and indirectly suppresses SFTSV-mediated induction of ferroptosis by upregulating fatty acid desaturase 2 via the TGR5-PI3K/AKT-SREBP2 axis.

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Article Synopsis
  • In June 2019, a patient in Inner Mongolia developed severe symptoms after a tick bite, leading to the discovery of a new virus named Wetland virus (WELV) through advanced genetic testing.
  • Active surveillance identified 17 cases of WELV infection across multiple regions in China, with patients exhibiting a range of nonspecific symptoms and laboratory abnormalities.
  • WELV was isolated from various ticks and animals, and studies showed that it can cause serious illness in mice, indicating a potential tick vector for the virus.
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  • California hare coltivirus (CHCV) was first isolated in 1976, but its distribution and host range were unclear until recent studies in China expanded its known presence.
  • Using next-generation sequencing, researchers found CHCV RNA in 1.56% of tick samples collected from northeastern China, with the highest positivity rates in Inner Mongolia.
  • Genetic analysis showed that current CHCV strains have high identity with previously reported strains and are closely related to human pathogenic coltiviruses, therefore expanding our understanding of CHCV’s diversity and geographic scope.
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Shrews being insectivores, serve as natural reservoirs for a wide array of zoonotic viruses, including the recently discovered Langya henipavirus (LayV) in China in 2018. It is crucial to understand the shrew-associated virome, viral diversity, and new viruses. In the current study, we conducted high-throughput sequencing on lung samples obtained from 398 shrews captured along the eastern coast of China, and characterized the high-depth virome of 6 common shrew species (Anourosorex squamipes, Crocidura lasiura, Crocidura shantungensis, Crocidura tanakae, Sorex caecutiens, and Suncus murinus).

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Mudanjiang phlebovirus (MJPV) is a newly discovered phlebovirus, initially detected from ticks in China in 2022. In this study, by next-generation sequencing (NGS) on a wide variety of ticks and wild small animals in China, we detected MJPV from and . Additionally, we conducted RT-PCR and sequencing on 1815 adult ticks and 805 wild small mammals collected from eight provinces in China between 2017 and 2021.

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Background: Severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP) is associated with a substantial number of hospitalisations and deaths worldwide. Infection or co-infection patterns, along with their age dependence and clinical effects are poorly understood. We aimed to explore the causal and epidemiological characteristics by age, to better describe patterns of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and their association with severe disease.

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J paramyxovirus (JPV) is a rodent-borne Jeilongvirus isolated from moribund mice () with hemorrhagic lung lesions trapped in the 1972 in northern Queensland, Australia. The JPV antibodies have been detected in wild mice, wild rats, pigs, and human populations in Australia. Here, by next-generation sequencing (NGS), we detected JPV from in Shandong Province of China.

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Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging tick-borne disease caused by a phlebovirus in the Bunyaviridae family. Infection can result in systemic inflammatory response syndrome with a high fatality rate, and there are currently no treatments or vaccines available. The microbiota has been implicated in host susceptibility to systemic viral infection and disease outcomes, but whether the gut microbiota is implicated in severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) infection is unknown.

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Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging hemorrhagic fever acquired by tick bites. Whether mast cells (MCs), the body's first line of defense against pathogens, might influence immunity or pathogenesis during SFTS virus (SFTSV) infection remained unknown. Here, we found that SFTSV can cause MC infection and degranulation, resulting in the release of the vasoactive mediators, chymase, and tryptase, which can directly act on endothelial cells, break the tight junctions of endothelial cells and threaten the integrity of the microvascular barrier, leading to microvascular hyperpermeability in human microvascular endothelial cells.

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Viral diarrhea is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children. This study was conducted to disclose the etiological cause and epidemiological features of viral diarrhea among children in China. From 2009 to 2021, active surveillance was performed on pediatric patients with acute diarrhea and tested for five enteric viruses.

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Mukawa virus (MKWV), a novel tick-borne virus (TBV) of the genus of family , has been firstly reported in in Japan. In this study, we made an epidemiological investigation in China to obtain the geographic distribution and genetic features of this virus outside Japan. We screened 1,815 adult ticks (665 , 336 , 599 , 170 , 45 ) and 805 wild small mammals collected from eight provinces.

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In this work, a two-step method consisting of in situ polymerization of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) in the presence of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), followed by the redispersion of the resulting compound in dimethylformamide (DMF), was used to fabricate SWCNT modified with PMMA (SWCNT-PMMA). Raman spectroscopy revealed that PMMA was merely wrapped around the SWCNT when raw SWCNT or purified SWCNT were used as the starting material. However, PMMA was covalently bonded to SWCNT when acid treated SWCNT (SWCNT-COOH) was used as the starting material.

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