Scientists completed a combined examination of all three branches of adaptive immunity at the level of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell and neutralizing antibody responses in acute and convalescent subjects. [Cell]
Researchers report a series of 17 consecutive patients with profound B-cell lymphopenia and prolonged COVID-19 symptoms, negative IgG-IgM SARS-CoV-2 serology and a positive RNAemia measured by digital PCR who were treated with four units of COVID-19 convalescent plasma. [Blood]
The authors demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 was found in lymph nodes (LNs) even in mild disease along with a strong expansion of terminally differentiated effector memory CD4+ T-cells, a cell population that was practically absent in LN. [Clinical infectious Diseases]
Scientists validated cleavage at a putative furin substrate motif at SARS-CoV-2 spike by expressing it in VeroE6 cells and found prominent syncytium formation. [Cell Reports]
Researchers investigated the effects of HIV infection on immune cell exhaustion at the transcriptomic level by analyzing single-cell RNA sequencing of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from four healthy subjects and six HIV-infected donors. [Emerging Microbes & Infections]
Scientists showed that Epstein–Barr virus could promote the expression of p-ATR and M2-type TAMs transformation in clinical nasopharyngeal carcinoma specimens. [Cell Death & Disease]
Investigators used human induced pluripotent stem cell derived macrophages (iPSDM) to study the human macrophage response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection induced by the ESX-1 Type-VII secretion system. [Journal of Cell Science]
Researchers characterized the gastric mucosal inflammatory response associated with gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma (GML) and identified APRIL-producing cells in two model systems: an APRIL transgenic mouse model of GML induced by Helicobacter infection and human gastric biopsy samples from Helicobacter pylori-infected GML patients. [Scientific Reports]
Divalent cations Cu2+ and Zn2+ could prevent the viral growth in mammalian cells during influenza infection, and viral titers decreased significantly on a copper surface. The underlying mechanisms included DNA damage by radicals, modulation of viral protease, M1 or neuraminidase, and morphological changes in viral particles. [Scientific Reports]
Histologic examination of infected IL-2rα-/-, IL-2rβ-/-, and IL-2rγ-/- mice showed demyelination in the CNS of IL-2rα-/- and IL-2rβ-/- mice but not in the CNS of IL-2rγ-/- infected mice. [iScience]
The authors summarize current knowledge of how T-cell exhaustion occurs, and discuss how metabolic insufficiency and prolonged stress responses may affect signaling cascades and epigenetic reprogramming, thus locking T cells into an exhausted state via specialized differentiation programming. [Nature Metabolism]
A fourth Phase III clinical trial evaluating an investigational vaccine for COVID-19 has begun enrolling adult volunteers. The trial is designed to evaluate if the investigational Janssen COVID-19 vaccine can prevent symptomatic COVID-19 after a single dose regimen. Up to 60,000 volunteers will be enrolled in the trial at up to nearly 215 clinical research sites in the United States and internationally. [National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases]
Otsuka Novel Products GmbH announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency recommends approval of extension of the indication for Deltyba® for children. [Otsuka Novel Products GmbH]
Since 2015, the China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has ramped up recruitment of scientists, and investment in the field as part of its strategy to modernize its military. Now, the coronavirus pandemic is showcasing the PLA’s growing expertise in medical research, including a major role in developing the coronavirus vaccine that was the first in the world to be approved for restricted use. [Nature News]
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