Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Julien Sourimant, Carolin M. Lieber, Jeong-Joong Yoon, Mart Toots, Mugunthan Govindarajan, Venkata Udumula, Kaori Sakamoto, Michael G. Natchus, Joseph Patti, John Vernachio, Richard K. Plemper
Summary: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of lower respiratory infections in infants and the immuno-compromised. A study has identified a compound called AVG that can inhibit RSV RNA synthesis, potentially providing a therapeutic solution for RSV disease.
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Jung-Eun Park, Hyun-Jin Shin
Summary: Rabies is a viral disease with severe neurological manifestations, and the new VSV/RABV-GP vaccine could be a promising platform for vaccination. Studies show that it induces immune responses and produces high titers of antibodies.
VETERINARY QUARTERLY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jingyuan Cong, Xiaoying Feng, Huiling Kang, Wangjun Fu, Lei Wang, Chenlong Wang, Xuemei Li, Yutao Chen, Zihe Rao
Summary: This study investigates the structure-function relationship of the L-P complex of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) using cryo-EM and enzymatic assays. The research reveals distinct conformations and interactions between L and P proteins, advancing our understanding of Paramyxoviridae RNA synthesis and providing potential therapeutic targets.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Review
Microbiology
Aartjan J. W. te Velthuis, Jonathan M. Grimes, Ervin Fodor
Summary: RNA viruses, including important human and animal pathogens, have genomes consisting of single or multiple RNA segments. Replication and transcription are performed by RNA-dependent RNA polymerases, and recent high-resolution studies have provided insights into the structures of these enzymes and their roles in viral transcription and replication, offering potential targets for antiviral drug design.
NATURE REVIEWS MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Delphine C. Malherbe, Drishya Kurup, Christoph Wirblich, Adam J. Ronk, Chad Mire, Natalia Kuzmina, Noor Shaik, Sivakumar Periasamy, Matthew A. Hyde, Julie M. Williams, Pei-Yong Shi, Matthias J. Schnell, Alexander Bukreyev
Summary: The study developed a SARS-CoV-2 ConVac vaccine which, through animal experiments, showed that a single dose of the vaccine could rapidly control viral replication after disease challenge, protecting animals from weight loss and lung virus replication, with some inflammation still detected.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Stefania Dispinseri, Massimiliano Secchi, Maria Franca Pirillo, Monica Tolazzi, Martina Borghi, Cristina Brigatti, Maria Laura De Angelis, Marco Baratella, Elena Bazzigaluppi, Giulietta Venturi, Francesca Sironi, Andrea Canitano, Ilaria Marzinotto, Cristina Tresoldi, Fabio Ciceri, Lorenzo Piemonti, Donatella Negri, Andrea Cara, Vito Lampasona, Gabriella Scarlatti
Summary: The study reveals that antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein play a significant role in neutralization and protection against severe COVID-19, unaffected by heterologous boosting or common cold immunity, and can last for up to 8 months.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gina J. Park, Adam Osinski, Genaro Hernandez, Jennifer L. Eitson, Abir Majumdar, Marco Tonelli, Katie Henzler-Wildman, Krzysztof Pawlowski, Zhe Chen, Yang Li, John W. Schoggins, Vincent S. Tagliabracci
Summary: In this study, we reconstituted the formation mechanism of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA cap and identified key domains and interactions involved. This finding reveals a new target for the treatment of COVID-19.
Article
Immunology
Daisy A. Hoagland, Rasmus Moller, Skyler A. Uhl, Kohei Oishi, Justin Frere, Ilona Golynker, Shu Horiuchi, Maryline Panis, Daniel Blanco-Melo, David Sachs, Knarik Arkun, Jean K. Lim, Benjamin R. tenOever
Summary: This study investigated the systemic response to SARS-CoV-2 infection in hamsters and found that inflammation was present in all tissues but not enough to prevent disease progression. Bolstering the antiviral response with intranasal administration of recombinant IFN-I reduced viral disease, prevented transmission, and lowered inflammation in vivo. This suggests that intranasal IFN-I could be an effective early treatment for SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Satoshi Ikegame, Mohammed Siddiquey, Chuan-Tien Hung, Griffin Haas, Luca Brambilla, Kasopefoluwa Oguntuyo, Sheryas Kowdle, Hsin-Ping Chiu, Christian S. Stevens, Ariel Esteban Vilardo, Alexis Edelstein, Claudia Perandones, Jeremy Kamil, Benhur Lee
Summary: The authors characterize the neutralizing capacity of post-Sputnik V vaccination sera against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern B.1.1.7 (alpha) and B.1.351 (beta), showing the latter to exhibit resistance to neutralization in vitro.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tianle Gu, Dandan Yu, Ling Xu, Yu-Lin Yao, Xiao Zheng, Yong-Gang Yao
Summary: Tree shrew GBP1 was shown to exhibit antiviral activity against VSV infection by competing with the VSV nucleocapsid protein in binding to the VSV phosphoprotein, thereby repressing the primary transcription of the VSV genome.
Article
Microbiology
Tessa N. Cressey, Afzaal M. Shareef, Victoria A. Kleiner, Sarah L. Noton, Patrick O. Byrne, Jason S. McLellan, Elke Muhlberger, Rachel Fearns
Summary: Researchers identified a key amino acid residue in the RNA polymerase of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) that plays a role in stabilizing the initiation complex for RNA synthesis. This finding provides insights into the replication process of RNA viruses.
Article
Biology
Hong Shan, Xin Su, Tianhao Li, Yuqi Qin, Na Zhang, Liuyan Yang, Linsha Ma, Yun Bai, Lei Qi, Yunhui Liu, Qing-Tao Shen
Summary: The study describes high-resolution structures of the Nucleoprotein in two different oligomeric states and four different higher-order helical structures. The structural rearrangements required to transition between the different helical assemblies obtained are highlighted, providing a basis for the structural plasticity among different MuV nucleocapsids.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Annette Runge, Melissa Mayr, Theresa Schwaiger, Susanne Sprung, Paolo Chetta, Timo Gottfried, Jozsef Dudas, Maria C. Greier, Marlies C. Glatz, Johannes Haybaeck, Knut Elbers, Herbert Riechelmann, Patrik Erlmann, Monika Petersson
Summary: The etiology and architecture of head and neck cancer are diverse and complex, making it difficult to predict patient responses to specific cancer immunotherapy or combination treatment. To bridge this gap, researchers have developed a patient-derived HNSCC (head and neck squamous cell carcinoma) slice culturing system. This system preserves the heterogeneous contexture of the human tumor ecosystem and functional immune cell compartment, allowing for assessment of immunomodulatory effects and oncolytic virus action.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Qi Shao, Junjie Huang, Jingui Li
Summary: Managing viral diseases is challenging without widely licensed vaccines or treatments. This study found that tea tree oil, known for its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, can effectively inhibit the replication of vesicular stomatitis virus and suppress inflammation in cells.
FRONTIERS IN VETERINARY SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Virology
Katherine E. Havranek, Judith Mary Reyes Ballista, Kelly Marie Hines, Melinda Ann Brindley
Summary: The viral lifecycle is highly dependent on host lipids, which are important for viral entry, replication, and egress. This study used an untargeted lipidomics approach to analyze changes in host lipid species during vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) infection. The results revealed significant alterations in glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids, suggesting that these changes impact the properties of host membranes and are hijacked by the virus for replication.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Nathan E. Jespersen, Cedric Leyrat, Francine C. Gerard, Jean-Marie Bourhis, Danielle Blondel, Marc Jamin, Elisar Barbar
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Virology
Francine C. A. Gerard, Marc Jamin, Martin Blackledge, Danielle Blondel, Jean-Marie Bourhis
JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY
(2020)
Article
Biophysics
Malene Ringkjobing Jensen, Filip Yabukarski, Guillaume Communie, Eric Condamine, Caroline Mas, Valentina Volchkova, Nicolas Tarbouriech, Jean-Marie Bourhis, Viktor Volchkov, Martin Blackledge, Marc Jamin
BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2020)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Claire M. Grison, Paul Lambey, Sylvain Jeannot, Elise Del Nero, Simon Fontanel, Fanny Peysson, Joyce Heuninck, Remy Sounier, Thierry Durroux, Cedric Leyrat, Sebastien Granier, Cherine Bechara
Summary: The study reveals that leukotoxins HlgA and HlgB compete with endogenous chemokines by directly binding to the extracellular domain of ACKR1, impacting the structure and function of the receptor. Results show that toxin binding induces changes in the G protein-binding domain of ACKR1, leading to dissociation and alterations in the receptor's protein complexes within living cells.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jean-Marie Bourhis, Filip Yabukarski, Guillaume Communie, Robert Schneider, Valentina A. Volchkova, Mickael Freneat, Francine C. Gerard, Corinne Ducournau, Caroline Mas, Nicolas Tarbouriech, Malene Ringkjobing Jensen, Viktor E. Volchkov, Martin Blackledge, Marc Jamin
Summary: The study investigated the interactions between the phosphoprotein (P) and the nucleoprotein (N) in the Paramyxoviridae's transcription/replication complex. The structural properties of the C-terminal X domain (P-XD) of Nipah (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV) P protein were characterized. The experiments demonstrated that NiV P-XD adopted different conformations in solution, formed dimers, and played a possible role in viral replication.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Paul Lambey, Omolade Otun, Xiaojing Cong, Francois Hoh, Luc Brunel, Pascal Verdie, Claire M. Grison, Fanny Peysson, Sylvain Jeannot, Thierry Durroux, Cherine Bechara, Sebastien Granier, Cedric Leyrat
Summary: The study characterized the interaction of LukE with chemokine receptors ACKR1, CCR2, and CCR5, revealing the location of receptor sulfotyrosine binding sites in the toxins. This work provides new insights into chemokine receptor recognition by leukotoxins and suggests that the conserved sulfotyrosine binding pocket could be a target for future drug development.
Article
Virology
Francine C. A. Gerard, Jean-Marie Bourhis, Caroline Mas, Anais Branchard, Duc Duy Vu, Sylvia Varhoshkova, Cedric Leyrat, Marc Jamin
Summary: This study reconstituted a soluble heterodimeric complex between the nucleoprotein and phosphoprotein of rabies virus and solved the crystal structure of the complex. The results showed that the chaperone module undergoes a disordered-order transition during assembly and that the chaperone module and RNA-mediated polymerization reduce the ability of the RNA binding cavity to open and close.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ada Roy, Emeric Chan Mine, Lorenzo Gaifas, Cedric Leyrat, Valentina A. Volchkova, Florence Baudin, Luis Martinez-Gil, Viktor E. Volchkov, David G. Karlin, Jean-Marie Bourhis, Marc Jamin
Summary: The study found that despite low sequence similarity, the Tupaia paramyxovirus (TupV) C protein is structurally similar to the Sendai virus C protein. This suggests that all Orthoparamyxovirine C proteins are homologous. Additionally, the study also discovered that a STAT1-binding site is encoded by the same RNA region of the P/C gene across Paramyxovirinae, but in different reading frames (P or C), depending on the cluster they belong to.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Robert D. Healey, Louise Couillaud, Francois Hoh, Assia Mouhand, Aurelien Fouillen, Pierre Couvineau, Sebastien Granier, Cedric Leyrat
Summary: In this study, the crystal structure of a single-chain Fv antibody with a stable polyhistidine motif stabilized by cobalt ions was obtained. This finding has implications for biomaterial design and cryo-EM studies.
COMMUNICATIONS CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Robert D. Healey, Essa M. Saied, Xiaojing Cong, Gergely Karsai, Ludovic Gabellier, Julie Saint-Paul, Elise Del Nero, Sylvain Jeannot, Marion Drapeau, Simon Fontanel, Damien Maurel, Shibom Basu, Cedric Leyrat, Jerome Golebiowski, Guillaume Bossis, Cherine Bechara, Thorsten Hornemann, Christoph Arenz, Sebastien Granier
Summary: Sphingolipid metabolism is tightly regulated by enzymes, with recent attention on the discovery and mechanism of action of the first drug-like inhibitors of alkaline ceramidase 3 (ACER3). This discovery opens up a new paradigm for targeting ACER3 in drug discovery efforts.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Robert D. Healey, Shibom Basu, Anne-Sophie Humm, Cedric Leyrat, Xiaojing Cong, Jerome Golebiowski, Florine Dupeux, Andrea Pica, Sebastien Granier, Jose Antonio Marquez
Summary: This study introduces a new method for crystallizing membrane proteins in meso and successfully applies it to the structural analysis of human integral membrane proteins. The results demonstrate that this method can assist in determining the atomic structure of membrane proteins and provide an automated pipeline for high-throughput screening.
CELL REPORTS METHODS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Julien Bous, Helene Orcel, Nicolas Floquet, Cedric Leyrat, Josephine Lai-Kee-Him, Gerald Gaibelet, Aurelie Ancelin, Julie Saint-Paul, Stefano Trapani, Maxime Louet, Remy Sounier, Helene Demene, Sebastien Granier, Patrick Bron, Bernard Mouillac
Summary: The study presents the cryo-electron microscopy structure of the AVP-V2R-G(s) complex, revealing different states and internal structures. These structures provide insights into how V2R variants can lead to genetic diseases.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Robert D. Healey, Essa M. Saied, Xiaojing Cong, Gergely Karsai, Ludovic Gabellier, Julie Saint-Paul, Elise Del Nero, Sylvain Jeannot, Marion Drapeau, Simon Fontanel, Damien Maurel, Shibom Basu, Cedric Leyrat, Jerome Golebiowski, Guillaume Bossis, Cherine Bechara, Thorsten Hornemann, Christoph Arenz, Sebastien Granier
Summary: This study presents the discovery and mechanism of action of the first drug-like inhibitors of alkaline ceramidase 3 (ACER3), as well as the characterization of enzyme:inhibitor interactions using mass spectrometry and MD simulations. The use of novel fluorescent ceramide substrates enables screening of large compound libraries, offering a new paradigm for inhibition of lipid metabolizing enzymes with non-lipidic small molecules. The findings lay the groundwork for targeting ACER3 in drug discovery efforts.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ankita Chadda, Alexander G. Kozlov, Binh Nguyen, Timothy M. Lohman, Eric A. Galburt
Summary: In this study, it was found that the DNA damage response in Mycobacterium tuberculosis differs from well-studied model bacteria. The DNA repair helicase UvrD1 in Mtb is activated through a redox-dependent process and is closely associated with the homo-dimeric Ku protein. Additionally, Ku protein is shown to stimulate the helicase activity of UvrD1.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2024)