Article
Virology
Rebecca Salgado, Seth A. Hawks, Francesca Frere, Ana Vazquez, Claire Y. -H. Huang, Nisha K. Duggal
Summary: The study showed that exposure to an attenuated form of WNV protects against severe USUV disease in mice, providing critical insight into immune mechanisms and potential vaccine development for both USUV and WNV.
Letter
Immunology
Gino Arcilla, Antoine Nguyen, Antonio Liu
Summary: We encountered a patient with HIV who showed rapid deterioration in mental status and was positive for both acute West Nile encephalitis and amphiphysin antibodies. After reviewing the literature, we found Dr. Moutsopoulos's paper from your journal highly interesting (Karagianni et al., 2019 [1]). Although autoimmune encephalitis following West Nile encephalitis is not uncommon, there are several intriguing aspects in our patient's case. Firstly, the coexistence of amphiphysin antibodies with West Nile encephalitis has not been reported before. Secondly, the monophasic clinical course suggests that autoimmune encephalitis triggered by or coexisting with West Nile encephalitis may be significantly underrecognized. Lastly, our patient was HIV positive but not severely immunocompromised, which may have contributed to the autoimmune status.
CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Virology
Szu-Chia Hsieh, Wen-Yang Tsai, Jih-Jin Tsai, Mars Stone, Graham Simmons, Michael P. Busch, Marion Lanteri, Susan L. Stramer, Angel Balmaseda, Eva Harris, Wei-Kung Wang
Summary: The study highlights the need for better serological tests to distinguish past ZIKV, DENV, and other flavivirus infections, and improve vaccine strategies in endemic regions where interactions between these viruses are critical.
JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Alex W. Wessel, Michael P. Doyle, Taylor B. Engdahl, Jessica Rodriguez, James E. Crowe, Michael S. Diamond
Summary: This study isolated human monoclonal antibodies from individuals previously infected with WNV, mapped their epitopes, and evaluated their efficacy in vivo against lethal WNV challenge. The most protective epitopes clustered at three antigenic sites on extracellular NS1 forms. This information may aid in the development of NS1-based countermeasures against flaviviruses.
Article
Virology
Phebe de Heus, Jolanta Kolodziejek, Zdenek Hubalek, Katharina Dimmel, Victoria Racher, Norbert Nowotny, Jessika-M Cavalleri
Summary: The study found neutralizing antibody prevalence rates for WNV and TBEV in horses in eastern Austria to be 5.3% and 15.5% respectively, with USUV showing 0% prevalence and 1.2% for autochthonous WNV. Furthermore, no significant risk factors for seropositivity were identified.
Article
Virology
Guohua Li, Xianyong Meng, Zhiguang Ren, Entao Li, Feihu Yan, Jing Liu, Ying Zhang, Zhanding Cui, Yuetao Li, Hongli Jin, Zengguo Cao, Le Yi, Pei Huang, Hang Chi, Hualei Wang, Weiyang Sun, Tiecheng Wang, Yuwei Gao, Yongkun Zhao, Songtao Yang, Xianzhu Xia
Summary: West Nile virus disease is caused by the arthropod-borne West Nile virus, posing a significant public health risk. The constructed ChiVax-WN01 chimera exhibits distinct characteristics compared to other strains, with moderate safety and immunogenicity demonstrated in animal studies.
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Ya-Nan Zhang, Na Li, Qiu-Yan Zhang, Jing Liu, Shun-Li Zhan, Lei Gao, Xiang-Yue Zeng, Fang Yu, Hong-Qing Zhang, Xiao-Dan Li, Cheng-Lin Deng, Pei-Yong Shi, Zhi-Ming Yuan, Shao-Peng Yuan, Han-Qing Ye, Bo Zhang
Summary: The development of a new live-attenuated vaccine, WNV-poly(A), shows promising results with efficient propagation and high attenuation in mouse models, providing full protection after a single dose vaccination. This poly(A) vaccine strategy may have wide applications in the development of flavivirus live-attenuated vaccines due to its general target regions in flaviviruses.
EMBO MOLECULAR MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Md Tahsin Khan, Rahatul Islam, Tarhima Jahan Jerin, Araf Mahmud, Sahara Khatun, Ahasanul Kobir, Md Nahidul Islam, Arzuba Akter, Shakhinur Islam Mondal
Summary: In this study, an immunoinformatics approach was used to design a multi-epitope subunit vaccine against the West Nile Virus (WNV). The selected epitopes have shown strong immune response against WNV, suggesting they could be strong vaccine candidates to prevent WNV infections in humans. Further in vitro and in vivo investigations are needed to validate the potential of the vaccine candidate.
Article
Immunology
Tomohiro Kotaki, Yurie Nagai, Atsushi Yamanaka, Eiji Konishi, Masanori Kameoka
Summary: This study focused on developing a Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine that does not induce antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of dengue virus (DENV) infection. By introducing a mutation at the 106th amino acid residue of the JEV E protein, the modified JE vaccine was able to significantly reduce the production of cross-reactive ADE-prone antibodies against DENV.
Article
Virology
Paul Kinsella, Michael Moso, Genevieve Martin, Theo Karapangiotidis, Di Karamalakis, Suellen Nicholson, Mitch Batty, Kathy Jackson, Madeleine Marsland, Tilda Thomson, Lakshmi Manoharan, Helen O'brien, N. Deborah Friedman, Katherine Bond, Deborah A. Williamson, Chuan Kok Lim
Summary: This study evaluated the clinical performance of two high-throughput JEV assays in different populations and found that these assays exhibited high sensitivity and concordance in diagnosing acute infection and monitoring vaccination.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL VIROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Rebecca Weiss, Leila Issmail, Alexandra Rockstroh, Thomas Grunwald, Jasmin Fertey, Sebastian Ulbert
Summary: West Nile Virus is a virus transmitted by mosquitoes that can cause severe neurological symptoms. However, there is currently no human vaccine available for WNV. This study found that the E protein and the fusion loop domain (FL) of WNV have cross-reactivity, which should be taken into consideration for vaccine development.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Robert E. Snyder, Gail Sondermeyer Cooksey, Vicki Kramer, Seema Jain, Duc J. Vugia
Summary: WNV-associated hospitalizations in California were substantial and costly, with higher incidence in males, elderly persons, and patients with underlying conditions. WNV remains a costly and severe public health threat in California.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Anna Nagy, Nikolett Csonka, Maria Takacs, Eszter Mezei, Eva Barabas
Summary: A comprehensive serosurvey conducted in Hungary in 2019 revealed a seroprevalence of 4.32% for West Nile virus (WNV) and confirmed five cases of Usutu virus (USUV) infection among blood donors. The study also found a spatial pattern of seroprevalence, with Central, Eastern, and Southern Hungary having the highest rates. These findings highlight the importance of increased surveillance and awareness for high-risk areas.
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Ivo C. C. Martins, Rafaela C. C. Ricardo, Nuno C. C. Santos
Summary: Dengue, West Nile, and Zika viruses are vector-borne flaviviruses that cause disease outbreaks with potentially severe symptoms and socioeconomic repercussions. Currently, there are no specific treatments available, and only generic symptom relief is possible. The effectiveness of the first dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, is limited. Prophylactic approaches against other viruses are even more restricted. Therefore, there is a need for therapeutic strategies.
Article
Immunology
Haiyan Sun, Dhiraj Acharya, Amber M. Paul, Huafang Lai, Junyun He, Fengwei Bai, Qiang Chen
Summary: Researchers have developed a plant-based vaccine candidate that provides protective immunity against lethal West Nile virus and minimizes the risk of infection by Zika and dengue viruses.
Article
Virology
Masafumi Sakata, Hiroshi Katoh, Noriyuki Otsuki, Kiyoko Okamoto, Yuichiro Nakatsu, Chang-Kweng Lim, Masayuki Saijo, Makoto Takeda, Yoshio Mori
JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY
(2019)
Article
Virology
Shigeru Tajima, Satoshi Taniguchi, Eri Nakayama, Takahiro Maeki, Takuya Inagaki, Chang-Kweng Lim, Masayuki Saijo
Article
Microbiology
Yohei Doi, Masaya Hibino, Ryota Hase, Michiko Yamamoto, Yu Kasamatsu, Masahiro Hirose, Yoshikazu Mutoh, Yoshito Homma, Masaki Terada, Taku Ogawa, Fumihiro Kashizaki, Toshihiko Yokoyama, Hayato Koba, Hideki Kasahara, Kazuhisa Yokota, Hideaki Kato, Junichi Yoshida, Toshiyuki Kita, Yasuyuki Kato, Tadashi Kamio, Nobuhiro Kodama, Yujiro Uchida, Nobuhiro Ikeda, Masahiro Shinoda, Atsushi Nakagawa, Hiroki Nakatsumi, Tomoya Horiguchi, Mitsunaga Iwata, Akifumi Matsuyama, Sumi Banno, Takenao Koseki, Mayumi Teramachi, Masami Miyata, Shigeru Tajima, Takahiro Maeki, Eri Nakayama, Satoshi Taniguchi, Chang Kweng Lim, Masayuki Saijo, Takumi Imai, Hisako Yoshida, Daijiro Kabata, Ayumi Shintani, Yukio Yuzawa, Masashi Kondo
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS AND CHEMOTHERAPY
(2020)
Article
Virology
Satoshi Taniguchi, Tomoki Yoshikawa, Masayuki Shimojima, Shuetsu Fukushi, Takeshi Kurosu, Hideki Tani, Aiko Fukuma, Fumihiro Kato, Eri Nakayama, Takahiro Maeki, Shigeru Tajima, Chang-Kweng Lim, Hideki Ebihara, Shigeru Kyuwa, Shigeru Morikawa, Masayuki Saijo
Article
Virology
Youichi Suzuki, Atsushi Tanaka, Yusuke Maeda, Akino Emi, Yoshihiko Fujioka, Shoichi Sakaguchi, Subhash G. Vasudevan, Takeshi Kobayashi, Chang-Kweng Lim, Tomohiko Takasaki, Hong Wu, Takashi Nakano
Summary: In this study, two DNA-based CHIKV infectious clones were generated from Indian Ocean Lineage SL11131 strain and prototype Ross strain. The replication capabilities of these clones were evaluated in different cell lines, showing that SL11131 strain replicated more efficiently in C6/36 cells but had limited replication in BHK-DRV cells. Through infection experiments using chimeric CHIKV, it was revealed that the replication activities of SL11131 in different cells were determined by structural and nonstructural genes.
Article
Infectious Diseases
Tetsuya Suzuki, Satoshi Kutsuna, Takato Nakamoto, Masayuki Ota, Masahiro Ishikane, Kei Yamamoto, Takahiro Maeki, Shigeru Tajima, Eri Nakayama, Satoshi Taniguchi, Chang-Kweng Lim, Masayuki Saijo, Norio Ohmagari
Summary: Dengue fever outbreaks have been frequently reported in Cote d'Ivoire, with DENV-1 being the predominant strain in the 2019 outbreak showing high homology with Southeast Asian strains. In a previous outbreak in 2017, DENV-1 accounted for 5% of the DENY serotypes. The endemic DENV-1 strain in Abidjan in 2019 could have been imported from Southeast Asia.
JAPANESE JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Masahiro Suzuki, Takumi Imai, Aki Sakurai, Satoshi Komoto, Tomihiko Ide, Chang Kweng Lim, Ayumi Shintani, Yohei Doi, Takayuki Murata
Summary: This study sequenced the genomes of SARS-CoV-2 in patients involved in a favipiravir clinical trial, showing the early presence of clade 19B strains followed by clade 20B strains. Cytopathic effect was strongly associated with disease onset time, viral load, age, and male sex. All except one patient who received favipiravir therapy had identical paired genomes, indicating no evidence of resistance development.
JOURNAL OF INFECTION AND CHEMOTHERAPY
(2021)
Article
Virology
Eri Nakayama, Yasuhiro Kawai, Satoshi Taniguchi, Jessamine E. Hazlewood, Ken-Ichi Shibasaki, Kenta Takahashi, Yuko Sato, Bing Tang, Kexin Yan, Naoko Katsuta, Shigeru Tajima, Chang Kweng Lim, Tadaki Suzuki, Andreas Suhrbier, Masayuki Saijo
Summary: The study using a mouse pregnancy model found that congenital ZIKV infection can lead to a wide range of symptoms, with the timing of embryonic infection being a crucial factor in determining offspring outcomes. Maternal neutralizing antibodies were shown to protect neonatal mice from death, suggesting a potential criteria for vaccine candidate screening.
Article
Immunology
Shigeru Tajima, Satoshi Taniguchi, Eri Nakayama, Takahiro Maeki, Takuya Inagaki, Masayuki Saijo, Chang Kweng Lim
Summary: A novel live attenuated Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine with high efficacy against genotype V (GV) JE virus (JEV) was produced in this study. By utilizing genotype I (GI)-GV intertypic recombinant strains and introducing attenuation mutations, the neuroinvasiveness and neurovirulence of mutant viruses were significantly reduced while inducing neutralizing antibodies against GV JEV. The protective efficacy of the mutants against lethal GV JEV infections varied depending on the dose and growth ability, with one mutant showing weaker protection due to reduced growth caused by attenuation mutations.
Article
Microbiology
Nor Azila Muhammad Azami, Meng Ling Moi, Yasushi Ami, Yuriko Suzaki, Satoshi Taniguchi, Shigeru Tajima, Masayuki Saijo, Tomohiko Takasaki, Ichiro Kurane, Chang-Kweng Lim
Summary: This study characterized the viral kinetics and antibody response induced by DENV type 2 Asian I and Asian/American genotypes in marmosets, revealing differences in viremia duration and levels as well as their impact on neutralizing antibody titers and ADE activity. These findings highlight the importance of genotype-specific neutralizing antibodies in vaccine development.
Article
Virology
Madoka Horiya, Guillermo Posadas-Herrera, Mutsuyo Takayama-Ito, Yukie Yamaguchi, Itoe Iizuka-Shiota, Hirofumi Kato, Aikou Okamoto, Masayuki Saijo, Chang-Kweng Lim
Summary: Rabies virus is widely distributed and vaccination is an important preventive measure. This study conducted a genomic analysis of a chicken embryo cell culture vaccine strain and confirmed its genetic characteristics. The evaluated efficacy of the vaccine suggests it is suitable for preventing the current rabies virus.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yasuo Watanabe, Youichi Suzuki, Akino Emi, Takeshi Murakawa, Takayuki Hishiki, Fumihiro Kato, Shoichi Sakaguchi, Hong Wu, Takato Yano, Chang-Kweng Lim, Tomohiko Takasaki, Takashi Nakano
Summary: This study established a Gluc reporter replicon system based on the CHIKV SL11131 strain and identified several compounds that suppress CHIKV infection in Vero cells, with CP-154,526 showing the strongest anti-CHIKV activity. The findings suggest that CRF-R1 antagonists may target a step in the intracellular replication process of CHIKV.
BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Takahiro Maeki, Shigeru Tajima, Naokatsu Ando, Yuji Wakimoto, Kayoko Hayakawa, Satoshi Kutsuna, Fumihiro Kato, Satoshi Taniguchi, Eri Nakayama, Chang-Kweng Lim, Masayuki Saijo
Summary: In this study, the cross-reactivity of dengue patients' sera from Japan with other flaviviruses was analyzed. The results showed positive IgM antibodies against other flaviviruses and positive IgG antibodies against TBEV in the sera. However, the neutralizing antibody titers against ZIKV, WNV, and TBEV were lower than those against DENV. These findings highlight the importance of using paired serum samples for correctly interpreting serological test results for DENV.
JOURNAL OF INFECTION AND CHEMOTHERAPY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shigeru Tajima, Ken-ichi Shibasaki, Satoshi Taniguchi, Eri Nakayama, Takahiro Maeki, Chang-Kweng Lim, Masayuki Saijo
Article
Infectious Diseases
Toshihiro Matsui, Noriko Kinoshita, Takahiro Maeki, Satoshi Kutsuna, Keiji Nakamura, Takahito Nakamoto, Masahiro Ishikane, Shigeru Tajima, Fumihiro Kato, Satoshi Taniguchi, Chang-Kweng Lim, Masayuki Saijo, Norio Ohmagari
JAPANESE JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2019)
Article
Virology
Naiqing Xu, Xinen Tang, Xin Wang, Miao Cai, Xiaowen Liu, Xiaolong Lu, Shunlin Hu, Min Gu, Jiao Hu, Ruyi Gao, Kaituo Liu, Yu Chen, Xiufan Liu, Xiaoquan Wang
Summary: This study found that the H9N2 subtype avian influenza virus has a high airborne transmissibility, while the H7N9 virus does not. The Hemagglutinin protein of the H9N2 virus was found to play a key role in replication, stability, and airborne transmission.
Article
Virology
Samar S. Ewies, Sabry M. Tamam, Ahmed S. Abdel-Moneim, Sherin R. Rouby
Summary: Contagious ecthyma (CE) is a highly contagious viral disease of sheep and goats worldwide. The study provided a clinical description of CE and screened for genetic variation in the B2L gene. Infected sheep exhibited anorexia and oral lesions, while inoculated chicken embryos showed pock lesions. The B2L gene was successfully amplified and found to be highly conserved.
Article
Virology
Yigal Farnoushi, Dan Heller, Avishai Lublin
Summary: In recent years, new variants of avian reovirus (ARV) have caused a variety of symptoms in chickens worldwide, including viral arthritis/tenosynovitis. This study analyzed emerging ARV variants in Israel and found significant genetic diversity. Most ARV isolates in Israel belonged to genotypic cluster 5 (GC5). The study suggests that Israel has not experienced the emergence of new ARV variants since the introduction of the live vaccine (ISR-7585), but ongoing monitoring is needed due to the continuous emergence of ARV variants.
Article
Virology
Shigeru Tajima, Michiyo Kataoka, Yuki Takamatsu, Hideki Ebihara, Chang-Kweng Lim
Summary: Yokose virus (YOKV), a bat-associated flavivirus, was found to replicate at a slower rate in mosquito cells compared to other mosquito-borne flaviviruses. Specific nucleotide mutations in the virus were identified to enhance its proliferation ability in mosquito cells.
Article
Virology
Alejandra Borjabad, Baojun Dong, Wei Chao, David J. Volsky, Mary Jane Potash
Summary: This study investigated HIV brain disease using a mouse model, and found that poly I:C can reverse associated cognitive impairment and reduce virus burden. The results also revealed transcriptional changes related to neuronal function and innate immune responses.
Article
Virology
Ching-Hung Lin, Feng-Cheng Hsieh, Meilin Wang, Chieh Hsu, Hsuan-Wei Hsu, Chun-Chun Yang, Cheng-Yao Yang, Hung-Yi Wu
Summary: This study demonstrates that the synthesis of coronavirus subgenomic mRNA is not solely determined by the sequence homology between the leader TRS and TRS-B, but also by the disassociation of the coronavirus polymerase from the viral genome. This finding provides a new insight into the transcription mechanism of coronaviruses.
Article
Virology
Nicholas S. Kron, Benjamin W. Neuman, Sathish Kumar, Patricia L. Blackwelder, Dayana Vidal, Delphina Z. Walker-Phelan, Patrick D. I. Gibbs, Lynne A. Fieber, Michael C. Schmale
Summary: Two recent studies documented the genome of a novel virus in marine animals, finding that the virus is widespread in apparently healthy animals but not highly expressed in neurons. The studies also identified viral replication factories and high levels of defective genomes in chronically infected animals.
Article
Virology
Andrew M. Ramey, Laura C. Scott, Christina A. Ahlstrom, Evan J. Buck, Alison R. Williams, Mia Kim Torchetti, David E. Stallknecht, Rebecca L. Poulson
Summary: We successfully detected and characterized highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses in hunter-harvested wild waterfowl samples from western Alaska. Genomic analysis revealed three independent viral introductions into Alaska. Our findings demonstrate the utility and potential limitations of using molecular processing approaches directly on original swab samples for viral research and monitoring.
Article
Virology
Ting Gong, Dongdong Wu, Yongzhi Feng, Xing Liu, Qi Gao, Xiaoyu Zheng, Zebu Song, Heng Wang, Guihong Zhang, Lang Gong
Summary: This study discovered that quercetin can inhibit PEDV replication both in vivo and in vitro, and alleviate the clinical symptoms and intestinal injury caused by the virus. This provides a new direction for the development of PED antiviral drugs.
Article
Virology
Min Zhu, Hao Zeng, Jianqiao He, Yaohui Zhu, Pingping Wang, Jianing Guo, Jinfan Guo, Huabo Zhou, Yifeng Qin, Kang Ouyang, Zuzhang Wei, Weijian Huang, Ying Chen
Summary: The reassortment between avian H9N2 and Eurasian avian-like (EA) H1N1 viruses may have potentially changed from avian-to-mammals adaptation. This study found that the introduction of EA H1N1 internal genes into H9N2 virus restored the replication capability and resulted in extreme virulence in some cases. This raises new concerns for public health due to the possible coexistence of H9N2 and EA H1N1 viruses in dogs.
