Comparison of rhesus and cynomolgus macaques as an infection model for COVID-19.

A novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has been identified as the causative agent of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Animal models, and in particular non-human primates, are essential to understand the pathogenesis of emerging diseases and to assess the safety and efficacy of novel vaccines and therapeutics. Here, we show that SARS-CoV-2 replicates in the upper and lower respiratory tract and causes pulmonary lesions in both rhesus and cynomolgus macaques. Immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 are also similar in both species and equivalent to those reported in milder infections and convalescent human patients. This finding is reiterated by our transcriptional analysis of respiratory samples revealing the global response to infection. We describe a new method for lung histopathology scoring that will provide a metric to enable clearer decision making for this key endpoint. In contrast to prior publications, in which rhesus are accepted to be the preferred study species, we provide convincing evidence that both macaque species authentically represent mild to moderate forms of COVID-19 observed in the majority of the human population and both species should be used to evaluate the safety and efficacy of interventions against SARS-CoV-2. Importantly, accessing cynomolgus macaques will greatly alleviate the pressures on current rhesus stocks.

Functional characterization and gene expression profiling of Drosophila melanogaster short dADA2b isoform-containing dSAGA complexes.

BACKGROUND: ADA2 proteins, together with ADA3, SGF29 and GCN5 form the acetyltransferase module of GNAT-type histone acetyltransferase complexes. ADA2b is present in the SAGA complex, which plays roles in various chromatin-related processes via histone H3 modifications and by other mechanisms. RESULTS: In this report we present findings showing that during Drosophila melanogaster development two dADA2b isoforms (dADA2bS and dADA2bL) - which differ in their C-terminal domains - are expressed at various levels. Genetic complementation experiments indicate that dADA2bS alone can support development but cannot fully complement dAda2b mutations. In the presence of dADA2bS, the SAGA-specific histone H3 acetylation level is partially restored in dAda2b mutants. Comparison of whole transcriptome profiles of dAda2b null and dAda2bS transgene-carrier dAda2b null larvae indicates partial overlap between affected genes. mRNA levels corresponding to selected genes which are either up- or down-regulated in dAda2b mutants are altered by dADA2bS expression to different extents, ranging from complete restoration to wild type levels to no restoration at all. The short (dADA2bS) isoform of dADA2b seems to be more capable of restoring lost dSAGA functions that cause mRNA level up-regulation than those that lead to decreased mRNA levels. CONCLUSIONS: The data presented here are in accord with results of genetic complementation experiments, and support the hypothesis that different isoforms of dADA2b contribute to the functional variations of dSAGA multiprotein HAT complexes.

The C-terminal domains of ADA2 proteins determine selective incorporation into GCN5-containing complexes that target histone H3 or H4 for acetylation.

ADA2 adaptor proteins are essential subunits of GCN5-containing histone acetyltransferase (HAT) complexes. In metazoa ADA2a is present in the histone H4-specific ATAC, and ADA2b in the histone H3-specific SAGA complex. Using domain-swapped ADA2 chimeras, we determined that the in vivo function of Drosophila melanogaster SAGA and ATAC HAT complexes depend on the C-terminal region of the ADA2 subunit they contain. Our findings demonstrate that the ADA2 C-terminal regions play an important role in the specific incorporation of ADA2 into SAGA- or ATAC-type complexes, which in turn determines H3- or H4-specific histone targeting.

In vivo effects of abolishing the single canonical sumoylation site in the C-terminal region of Drosophila p53.

Using yeast two-hybrid screens we determined that Drosophila (Dm)p53 interacts with proteins involved in sumoylation (UBA2, UBC9 and PIAS) through different regions of its C-terminal domain. A K302R point mutation within a single canonical sumoylation site of Dmp53 did not abolish the observed interactions. These observations prompted us to analyze whether Dmp53 sumoylation at this site has any functional role in vivo. Genetic assays showed that deleting one copy of genes involved in sumoylation (lwr, Su(var)2-10 or smt3 heterozygosity) enhanced slightly the mutator phenotype of Dmp53. We compared the in vivo effects of wild type and K302R Dmp53 overproduced from transgenes and determined that similar levels of expression of the mutant and wild type proteins resulted in similar phenotype, and the two proteins showed similar cellular localization. The half life and the trans-activator activity of K302R mutant and wild type Dmp53 were also comparable. Lastly, by analyzing wild type and K302R Dmp53 expressed at different levels in animals and in S2 cells we detected no differences between the mobility of the mutant and wild-type protein. From these data we conclude that under normal developmental conditions the loss of SUMO modification at K302 does not affect Dmp53 function significantly.

The dissociable RPB4 subunit of RNA Pol II has vital functions in Drosophila.

RNA polymerase II (Pol II) is composed of a ten subunit core and a two subunit dissociable subcomplex comprising the fourth and seventh largest subunits, RPB4 and RPB7. The evolutionary highly conserved RPB4/7 heterodimer is positioned in the Pol II such that it can make contact with various factors involved in RNA biogenesis and is believed to play roles both during the process of transcription and post-transcription. A detailed analysis of RPB4/7 function in a multicellular eukaryote, however, is lacking partly because of the lack of a suitable genetic system. Here, we describe generation and initial analysis of Drosophila Rpb4 mutants. In the fly, RPB4 is a product of a bicistronic gene together with the ATAC histone acetyltransferase complex constituent ADA2a. DmAda2a and DmRpb4 are expressed during fly development at different levels. The structure of mature mRNA forms suggests that the production of DmADA2a and DmRPB4-specific mRNAs is ensured by alternative splicing. Genetic analysis indicates that both DmRPB4 and DmADA2a play essential roles, because their absence results in lethality in early and late larval stages, respectively. Upon stress of high temperature or nutritional starvation, the levels of RPB4 and ADA2a messages change differently. RPB4 colocalizes with Pol II to several sites on polytene chromosomes, however, at selected locus, the abundances of Pol II and RPB4 vary greatly. Our data suggest no tight functional link between DmADA2a and DmRPB4, and reveal differences in the abundances of Pol II core subunits and RPB4 localized at specific regions on polytene chromosomes, supporting the suggested role of RPB4 outside of transcription-engaged Pol II complexes.