Project description:The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has affected millions of people worldwide and has significant implications for public health. Host transcriptomics profiling provides comprehensive understanding of how the virus interacts with host cells and how the host responds to the virus. COVID-19 disease alters the host transcriptome, affecting cellular pathways and key molecular functions. To contribute to the global effort to understand the virus’s effect on host cell transcriptome, we have generated a dataset from nasopharyngeal swabs of 35 individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 from the Campania region in Italy during the three outbreaks, with different clinical conditions. This dataset will help to elucidate the complex interactions among genes and can be useful in the development of effective therapeutic pathways
Project description:The SARS-CoV-2 virus is continuously evolving, with appearance of new variants characterized by multiple genomic mutations, some of which can affect functional properties, including infectivity, interactions with host immunity, and disease severity. The rapid spread of new SARS-CoV-2 variants has highlighted the urgency to trace the virus evolution, to help limit its diffusion, and to assess effectiveness of containment strategies. We propose here a PCR-based rapid, sensitive and low-cost allelic discrimination assay panel for the identification of SARS-CoV-2 genotypes, useful for detection in different sample types, such as nasopharyngeal swabs and wastewater. The tests carried out demonstrate that this in-house assay, whose results were confirmed by SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequencing, can detect variations in up to 10 viral genome positions at once and is specific and highly sensitive for identification of all tested SARS-CoV-2 clades, even in the case of samples very diluted and of poor quality, particularly difficult to analyze.
Project description:Healthcare workers were recruited at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, UK in the week of lockdown in the United Kingdom (between 23rd and 31st March 2020). Participants underwent weekly evaluation using a questionnaire and biological sample collection (including serological assays) for up to 16 weeks when attending for work and self-declared as fit to attend work at each visit, with further follow up samples collected at 24 weeks. Blood RNA sequencing data was to be used to identify host-response biomarkers of early SARS-CoV-2 infection, to evaluate existing blood transcriptomic signatures of viral infection, and to describe the underlying biology during SARS-CoV-2 infection. This submission includes a total of 172 blood RNA samples from 99 participants. Of these, 114 samples (including 16 convalescent samples collected 6 months after infection) were obtained from 41 SARS-CoV-2 cases, with the remaining 58 from uninfected controls. Participants with available blood RNA samples who had PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection during follow-up were included as ‘cases’. Those without evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection on nasopharyngeal swabs and who remained seronegative by both Euroimmun anti S1 spike protein and Roche anti nucleocapsid protein throughout follow-up were included as uninfected controls. ‘Cases’ include all available RNA samples, including convalescent samples at week 24 of follow-up for a subset of participants. For uninfected controls, we included baseline samples only. Sample class denotes weekly interval to positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR; non-infected controls (NIC); convalescent samples (Conv)_.
Project description:Respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 are pathogens that can reach pandemic proportions. The early human response to respiratory viruses are in the nasal cavity and nasopharyngeal regions. Defining biomarkers of disease trajectory at the time of a positive test is important for opting for treatment and monitoring decisions. We hypothesize that the nasopharyngeal tRNA profiles can be used to predict symptom severity resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection. We carried out multiplex small RNA sequencing (MSR-seq) on nasopharyngeal swaps to measure the human tRNA response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our result simultaneously measured full-length tRNA abundance, tRNA modifications, and tRNA fragmentation among individuals that went on to develop no/mild or severe symptoms. We identified distinct tRNA signatures that can predict the clinical outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infected individual at the time of a positive test. These results highlight the utility of using host tRNA properties as biomarkers for clinical applications.
Project description:The spread of SARS-CoV-2 and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need for new treatments. Here we report that cannabidiol (CBD) inhibits infection of SARS-CoV-2 in cells and mice. CBD and its metabolite 7-OH-CBD, but not THC or other congeneric cannabinoids tested, potently block SARS-CoV-2 replication in lung epithelial cells. CBD acts after viral entry, inhibiting viral gene expression and reversing many effects of SARS-CoV-2 on host gene transcription. CBD inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication in part by up-regulating the host IRE1a RNase endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response and interferon signaling pathways. In matched groups of human patients from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative, CBD (100 mg/ml oral solution per medical records) had a significant negative association with positive SARS-CoV-2 tests. This study highlights CBD as a potential preventative agent for early-stage SARS-CoV-2 infection and merits future clinical trials. We caution against use of non-medical formulations including edibles, inhalants or topicals as a preventative or treatment therapy at the present time.
Project description:To further investigate the underlying mechanisms of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pathogenesis and evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of potential drugs and vaccines it is necessary to use an animal model that is highly representative of the human condition in terms of respiratory anatomy, physiology and clinical sequelae. The ferret, Mustela putorius furo, supports SARS-CoV replication and displays many of the symptoms and pathological features seen in SARS-CoV-infected humans. We have recently established a SARS-CoV infection-challenge ferret platform for use in evaluating potential therapeutics to treat SARS. The main objective of the current study was to extend our previous results and identify early host immune responses upon infection and determine immune correlates of protection upon challenge with SARS-CoV in ferrets. Keywords: time course This study is a simple time course (58 day) examination of host responses in 35 SARS-CoV (TOR2) infected ferrets with the addition of a challenge inoculation of SARS CoV (TOR2) at day 29 post infection. Three mock-infected ferrets are included as negative controls. Due to the unavailability of ferret microarrays, Affymetrix Canine 2.0 oligonucleotide arrays were chosen following sequence analysis of our ferret cDNA library (~5000 clones) and demonstration of high levels of homology (>80%) between dog and ferret.
Project description:Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), continues to be a pressing health concern. In this study, we investigated the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on host microRNA (miRNA) populations in three human lung-derived cell lines, as well as in nasopharyngeal swabs from SARS-CoV-2–infected individuals. We did not detect any major and consistent differences in host miRNA levels after SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, we unexpectedly discovered a viral miRNA-like small RNA, named CoV2-miR-O7a (for SARS-CoV-2 miRNA-like ORF7a-derived small RNA). Its abundance ranges from low to moderate as compared to host miRNAs and it associates with Argonaute proteins—core components of the RNA interference pathway. We identify putative targets for CoV2-miR-O7a, including Basic Leucine Zipper ATF-Like Transcription Factor 2 (BATF2), which participates in interferon signaling. We demonstrate that CoV2-miR-O7a production relies on cellular machinery, yet is independent of Drosha protein, and is enhanced by the presence of a strong and evolutionarily conserved hairpin formed within the ORF7a sequence.
Project description:To search for host factors regulating SARS-COV-2 infection, we performed a genome-wide loss-of-function CRISPR/Cas9 screen in haploid human ESCs. The regulators were identified by the quantification of enrichment of their mutant clones within a pooled loss-of-function library upon SARS-COV-2 infection.