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:For the assessment of host response dynamics to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 infections in human airway epithelial cells at ambient temperature corresponding to the upper or lower respiratory tract. We performed a temporal transcriptome analysis on human airway epithelial cell (hAEC) cultures infected with SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, as well as uninfected hAEC cultures, incubated either at 33°C or 37°C. hAEC cultures were harvested at 24, 48 72, 96 hpi and processed for Bulk RNA Barcoding and sequencing (BRB-seq), which allows a rapid and sensitive genome-wide transcriptomic analysis in a highly multiplexed manner. Transcriptome data was obtained from a total of 7 biological donors for pairwise comparisons of SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-2 virus-infected to unexposed hAEC cultures at respective time points and temperatures.
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:A recombinant SARS-CoV lacking the envelope (E) protein is attenuated in vivo. Here we report that E protein PDZ-binding motif (PBM), a domain involved in protein-protein interactions, is a major virulence determinant in vivo. Elimination of SARS-CoV E protein PBM by using reverse genetics led to attenuated viruses (SARS-CoV-mutPBM) and to a reduction in the deleterious exacerbate immune response triggered during infection with the parental virus (SARS-CoV-wt). Cellular protein syntenin bound E protein PBM during SARS-CoV infection. Syntenin activates p38 MAPK leading to overexpression of inflammatory cytokines, and we have shown that active p38 MAPK was reduced in lungs of mice infected with SARS-CoVs lacking E protein PBM (SARS-CoV-mutPBM) as compared with the parental virus (SARS-CoV-wt), leading to a decreased expression of inflammatory cytokines and to viral attenuation. Therefore, E protein PBM is a virulence factor that activates pathogenic immune response most likely by using syntenin as a mediator of p38 MAPK induced inflammation. Three biological replicates were independently hybridized (one channel per slide) for each sample type (SARS-CoV-wt, SARS-CoV-mutPBM, Mock). Slides were Sure Print G3 Agilent 8x60K Mouse (G4852A-028005)
Project description:In this study, we tested the efficacy of five commercial probes panels at detecting SARS-CoV-2 genome including panels from Illumina, Twist Bioscience and Arbor Bioscience. To do so, we used 19 patient nasal swab samples broken down into 5 series of 4 samples of equivalent SARS-CoV-2 viral load (cycle threshold (CT): low CT means a high viral load – CT26, CT29, CT32, CT35 and CT36+).
Project description:In this study, we tested the efficacy of five commercial probes panels at detecting SARS-CoV-2 genome including panels from Illumina, Twist Bioscience and Arbor Bioscience. To do so, we used 19 patient nasal swab samples broken down into 5 series of 4 samples of equivalent SARS-CoV-2 viral load (cycle threshold (CT): low CT means a high viral load – CT26, CT29, CT32, CT35 and CT36+).
Project description:In this study, we tested the efficacy of five commercial probes panels at detecting SARS-CoV-2 genome including panels from Illumina, Twist Bioscience and Arbor Bioscience. To do so, we used 19 patient nasal swab samples broken down into 5 series of 4 samples of equivalent SARS-CoV-2 viral load (cycle threshold (CT): low CT means a high viral load – CT26, CT29, CT32, CT35 and CT36+).
Project description:In this study, we tested the efficacy of five commercial probes panels at detecting SARS-CoV-2 genome including panels from Illumina, Twist Bioscience and Arbor Bioscience. To do so, we used 19 patient nasal swab samples broken down into 5 series of 4 samples of equivalent SARS-CoV-2 viral load (cycle threshold (CT): low CT means a high viral load – CT26, CT29, CT32, CT35 and CT36+).
Project description:In this study, we tested the efficacy of five commercial probes panels at detecting SARS-CoV-2 genome including panels from Illumina, Twist Bioscience and Arbor Bioscience. To do so, we used 19 patient nasal swab samples broken down into 5 series of 4 samples of equivalent SARS-CoV-2 viral load (cycle threshold (CT): low CT means a high viral load – CT26, CT29, CT32, CT35 and CT36+).
