Leveraging publicly available coronavirus data to identify new therapeutic targets for COVID-19.

Many important questions remain regarding severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the viral pathogen responsible for COVID-19. These questions include the mechanisms explaining the high percentage of asymptomatic but highly infectious individuals, the wide variability in disease susceptibility, and the mechanisms of long-lasting debilitating effects. Bioinformatic analysis of four coronavirus datasets representing previous outbreaks (SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV), as well as SARS-CoV-2, revealed evidence of diverse host factors that appear to be coopted to facilitate virus-induced suppression of interferon-induced innate immunity, promotion of viral replication and subversion and/or evasion of antiviral immune surveillance. These host factors merit further study given their postulated roles in COVID-19-induced loss of smell and brain, heart, vascular, lung, liver, and gut dysfunction.

Exploiting the Legacy of the Arbovirus Hunters.

In recent years, it has become evident that a generational gap has developed in the community of arbovirus research. This apparent gap is due to the dis-investment of training for the next generation of arbovirologists, which threatens to derail the rich history of virus discovery, field epidemiology, and understanding of the richness of diversity that surrounds us. On the other hand, new technologies have resulted in an explosion of virus discovery that is constantly redefining the virosphere and the evolutionary relationships between viruses. This paradox presents new challenges that may have immediate and disastrous consequences for public health when yet to be discovered arboviruses emerge. In this review we endeavor to bridge this gap by providing a historical context for the work being conducted today and provide continuity between the generations. To this end, we will provide a narrative of the thrill of scientific discovery and excitement and the challenges lying ahead.

Upregulation of Cystathionine-ß-Synthase in Colonic Epithelia Reprograms Metabolism and Promotes Carcinogenesis.

The trans-sulfuration enzyme cystathionine-ß-synthase (CBS) and its product hydrogen sulfide (H2S) are aberrantly upregulated in colorectal cancers, where they contribute to tumor growth and progression by both autocrine and paracrine mechanisms. However, it is unknown whether the CBS/H2S axis plays a role in colorectal carcinogenesis. Here, we report upregulation of CBS in human biopsies of precancerous adenomatous polyps and show that forced upregulation of CBS in an adenoma-like colonic epithelial cell line is sufficient to induce metabolic and gene expression profiles characteristic of colorectal cancer cells. Differentially expressed metabolites (65 increased and 20 decreased) clustered into the glycolytic pathway, nucleotide sugars, intermediates of the pentose phosphate pathway, and lipogenesis, including primarily phospholipids, sphingolipids, and bile acids. CBS upregulation induced broad changes in the NCM356 cell transcriptome with over 350 differentially expressed genes. These genes overlapped significantly with gene sets related to glycolysis, hypoxia, and a colon cancer cell phenotype, including genes regulated by NF-κB, KRAS, p53, and Wnt signaling, genes downregulated after E-cadherin knockdown, and genes related to increased extracellular matrix, cell adhesion, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. The CBS-induced switch to an anabolic metabolism was associated with increased NCM356 cell bioenergetics, proliferation, invasion through Matrigel, resistance to anoikis, and CBS-dependent tumorigenesis in immunocompromised mice. Genetic ablation of CBS in CBS heterozygous mice (CBS+/- ) reduced the number of mutagen-induced aberrant colonic crypt foci. Taken together, these results establish that activation of the CBS/H2S axis promotes colon carcinogenesis. Cancer Res; 77(21); 5741-54. ©2017 AACR.

Patient-derived Xenografts from Colorectal Carcinoma: A Temporal and Hierarchical Study of Murine Stromal Cell Replacement.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Patient-derived xenografting (PDX) of human colorectal cancer (CRC) is the preferred experimental model to study tumor response to therapeutic agents. Gradually, human stromal cells are replaced by mouse stromal cells; however, the exact timing of the replacement of human with murine stromal cells in human CRC xenograft has not been fully elucidated. We hypothesize that orthologous murine transcripts functionally substitutes for the loss due to replacement of human stromal genes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human CRC were implanted in athymic nude mice in replicates and followed-up over time. Using next-generation sequencing, we determined the temporal kinetics of human stromal cell replacement with the orthologous murine transcripts. RESULTS: CRC cell-induced re-organization of the normal, quiescent murine stromal cells into a protumorigenic phenotype supporting human CRC growth occurs at initial implantation. CONCLUSION: Murine cell replacement occurs in a time- and size-dependent manner.

Identification of a new Newcastle disease virus isolate from Indonesia represents an ancestral lineage of class II genotype XIII.

An unknown virus was isolated from a mosquito pool collected in Jakarta during routine surveillance in 1979. Analysis of the sample using the Illumina platform resulted in the identification of a Newcastle disease virus (NDV) isolate. The sequence of the isolate indicated that it is an ancestral lineage of class II, genotype XIII. The source of the isolate is unusual, as newcastle disease virus is not believed to be vector-borne, although this mosquito pool was processed in a laboratory also handling samples for avian influenza surveillance and it is possible that this resulted in cross-contamination. This NDV isolate is still ancestral to most extant genotype XIII strains and provides a useful insight into historic NDV evolution.