Project description:The absence of a robust disease model currently hinders the evaluation of countermeasures for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). While a rhesus macaque model of MERS-CoV that results in mild-to-moderate disease has been utilized to describe the pathogenesis of this virus and for the evaluation of therapeutics, the inability to produce uniform disease with substantial virus replication complicates analysis in countermeasure studies. In an attempt to identify a more robust disease model, DPP4 sequences of various non-human primates were aligned. Modeling of the interactions between the receptor binding domain of MERS-CoV and its cognate receptor DPP4 predicted a "good fit" with complete conservation of all of the critical residues. To determine the feasibility of the marmoset as a MERS-CoV disease model, common marmosets were inoculated with MERS-CoV via combined intratracheal, intranasal, oral and ocular routes. Marmosets developed signs of moderate to severe illness with progressive serious to severe pneumonia. Progressive gross lesions were evident in animals necropsied at 3, 4 and 6 days post inoculation and two animals were euthanized during the study due to disease severity. This is the first description of a moderate-to-severe, with potentially lethality, disease model of MERS-CoV and as such will have utility for vaccine and other countermeasure efficacy evaluations in addition to further pathogenesis studies. Lung tissue samples were isolated and sequenced at 3, 4 and 6 days post inoculation. Two animals were euthanized during the study due to disease severity.
Project description:The absence of a robust disease model currently hinders the evaluation of countermeasures for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). While a rhesus macaque model of MERS-CoV that results in mild-to-moderate disease has been utilized to describe the pathogenesis of this virus and for the evaluation of therapeutics, the inability to produce uniform disease with substantial virus replication complicates analysis in countermeasure studies. In an attempt to identify a more robust disease model, DPP4 sequences of various non-human primates were aligned. Modeling of the interactions between the receptor binding domain of MERS-CoV and its cognate receptor DPP4 predicted a "good fit" with complete conservation of all of the critical residues. To determine the feasibility of the marmoset as a MERS-CoV disease model, common marmosets were inoculated with MERS-CoV via combined intratracheal, intranasal, oral and ocular routes. Marmosets developed signs of moderate to severe illness with progressive serious to severe pneumonia. Progressive gross lesions were evident in animals necropsied at 3, 4 and 6 days post inoculation and two animals were euthanized during the study due to disease severity. This is the first description of a moderate-to-severe, with potentially lethality, disease model of MERS-CoV and as such will have utility for vaccine and other countermeasure efficacy evaluations in addition to further pathogenesis studies.
Project description:Human circular RNAs can function in competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network by sponging miRNA and regulating gene expression. Viruses are evolved to regulate noncoding RNAs such as miRNAs and circRNAs to facilitate their propagation and pathogenesis. Studies on how host ceRNAs upon human coronavirus infection were scarce, and the functions of circRNAs during the infection of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has not been deeply revealed. Therefore, we conducted a whole transcriptional profile (RNA-seq) analysis to compare the expression of circRNAs, miRNAs and mRNAs between the mock-infected and MERS-CoV-infected human lung adenocarcinoma (Calu-3) cells. Integrated analysis of ceRNAs revealed putative viral pathogenic circRNAs induced by MERS-CoV and their interplay with miRNAs and genes. Our study offered new insights into the mechanisms of interplays of MERS-CoVs and hosts, and established a model promising to be applied to other coronavirus or other viruses for the identification of novel host factors.
Project description:We will use the EMC/2012 strain of the novel beta Coronavirus called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). It was initially passaged on Vero E6 cells in Saudi Arabia before being sequenced at the Erasmus Medical College in Rotterdam, Netherlands by Dr Ron Fouchier. We propose to perform a time course of infection of hCoV-EMC on MRC5 cells (Human Lung origin) and Vero cells (African Green Monkey Kidney cells). Both cell lines readily grow and replicate the virus. Importantly these cell lines show signs of Cytopathic effect (CPE), such as cell rounding and release from the petri dish that coincide with time points high virus replication demonstrating the effects of virus replication on the cells. Transcriptomic analysis will be performed after infection with MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV (Urbani strain) to compare the host gene induction that occurs during infection.