Purpose: To investigate the presence of ACE2, TMPRSS2 and Furin, i.e., a key player in the ocular infection with SARS-COV-2, in surgically obtained human retinal tissue samples from SARS-CoV-2-negative patients, using gene expression analysis.
Methods: The mechanisms and entry paths of ocular infections have been ill-defined so far. To better understand the possible entry routes, we used surgically explanted retinal tissue from nine patients that were not infected with SARS-CoV-2 and analyzed the message expression of the three key molecules that confer viral entry into cells using polymerase chain reaction.
Results: The median age of the patients (n = 9) included in the study was 52 years (IQR 48, 55). Eight patients underwent surgery for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment and one patient for tractional retinal detachment. Gene expression for the proteins studied was detected in all nine patients. The results of analysis by Livak's method (2001) demonstrated a median TMPRSS2 gene expression value of 20.9 (IQR 11.7, 33.7), a median ACE2 gene expression value of 2.09 (IQR 1.14, 2.79) and a median Furin gene expression value of 8.33 (IQR 5.90, 11.8).
Conclusion: In conclusion, TMPRSS2, Furin and ACE2 are expressed in the retina and may contribute to the retinal involvement in COVID-19 patients. Expression may vary among individuals, which may explain why some patients may be more prone to retinal involvement during SARS-CoV-2 infection COVID-19 patients than others. Variability in the expression of TMPRSS2, Furin and ACE2 proteins themselves may also explain the presence or development of retinal symptoms of varying severity.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10792-023-02908-7 | DOI Listing |
Brief Bioinform
November 2024
School of Engineering, Westlake University, No. 600 Dunyu Road, 310030 Zhejiang, P.R. China.
Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) offers remarkable insights into cellular development and differentiation by capturing the gene expression profiles of individual cells. The role of dimensionality reduction and visualization in the interpretation of scRNA-seq data has gained widely acceptance. However, current methods face several challenges, including incomplete structure-preserving strategies and high distortion in embeddings, which fail to effectively model complex cell trajectories with multiple branches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrief Bioinform
November 2024
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mathematical and Neural Dynamical Systems, Great Bay University, No. 16 Daxue Rd, Songshanhu District, Dongguan, Guangdong, 523000, China.
Multimodal omics provide deeper insight into the biological processes and cellular functions, especially transcriptomics and proteomics. Computational methods have been proposed for the integration of single-cell multimodal omics of transcriptomics and proteomics. However, existing methods primarily concentrate on the alignment of different omics, overlooking the unique information inherent in each omics type.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCirc Genom Precis Med
January 2025
Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. (K.H., M.A., L.R., Y.L., A.S., H.H., L.R.B., Z.W.L.).
Background: Protein-truncating mutations in the titin gene are associated with increased risk of atrial fibrillation. However, little is known about the underlying pathophysiology.
Methods: We identified a heterozygous titin truncating variant (TTNtv) in a patient with unexplained early onset atrial fibrillation and normal ventricular function.
Hum Gene Ther
January 2025
Department of Internal Medicine V, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein and University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
Adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors are increasingly used for preclinical and clinical cardiac gene therapy approaches. However, gene transfer to cardiomyocytes poses a challenge due to differences between AAV serotypes in terms of expression efficiency and . For example, AAV9 vectors work well in rodent heart muscle cells but not in cultivated neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes (NRVCMs), necessitating the use of AAV6 vectors for studies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicrolife
January 2025
DTU Bioengineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs Lyngby, Denmark.
Although not essential for their growth, the production of secondary metabolites increases the fitness of the producing microorganisms in their natural habitat by enhancing establishment, competition, and nutrient acquisition. The Gram-positive soil-dwelling bacterium, , produces a variety of secondary metabolites. Here, we investigated the regulatory relationship between the non-ribosomal peptide surfactin and the sactipeptide bacteriocin subtilosin A.
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