Ebola-specific therapeutic antibodies from lab to clinic: The example of ZMapp.

In the 1990s, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) progressed from scientific tools to advanced therapeutics, particularly for the treatment of cancers and autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. In the arena of infectious disease, the inauguration of mAbs as a post-exposure treatment in humans against Ebola virus (EBOV) occurred in response to the 2013-2016 West Africa outbreak. This review recounts the history of a candidate mAb treatment, ZMapp, beginning with its emergency use in the 2013-2016 outbreak and advancing to randomized controlled trials into the 2018-2020 African outbreak. We end with a brief discussion of the hurdles and promise toward mAb therapeutic use against infectious disease.

Rapid Detection of the Varicella-Zoster Virus Using a Recombinase-Aided Amplification-Lateral Flow System.

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is the etiological agent of varicella (chickenpox) and herpes zoster (shingles). VZV infections are ubiquitous and highly contagious, and diagnosis is mostly based on the assessment of signs and symptoms. However, monkeypox, an emerging infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV), has clinical manifestations that are similar to those of VZV infections. With the recent monkeypox outbreak in non-endemic regions, VZV infections are likely to be misdiagnosed in the absence of laboratory testing. Considering the lack of accessible diagnostic tests that discriminate VZV from MPXV or other poxviruses, a handy and affordable detection system for VZV is crucial for rapid differential diagnosis. Here, we developed a new detection method for VZV using recombinase-aided amplification technology, combined with the lateral flow system (RAA-LF). Given the prevalence of VZV worldwide, this method can be applied not only to distinguish VZV from other viruses causing rash, but also to foster early detection, contributing substantially to disease control.

Myotis fimbriatus Virome, a Window to Virus Diversity and Evolution in the Genus Myotis.

Significant efforts have been made to characterize viral diversity in bats from China. Many of these studies were prospective and focused mainly on Rhinolophus bats that could be related to zoonotic events. However, other species of bats that are part of ecosystems identified as virus diversity hotspots have not been studied in-depth. We analyzed the virome of a group of Myotis fimbriatus bats collected from the Yunnan Province during 2020. The virome of M. fimbriatus revealed the presence of families of pathogenic viruses such as Coronavirus, Astrovirus, Mastadenovirus, and Picornavirus, among others. The viral sequences identified in M. fimbriatus were characterized by significant divergence from other known viral sequences of bat origin. Complex phylogenetic landscapes implying a tendency of co-specificity and relationships with viruses from other mammals characterize these groups. The most prevalent and abundant virus in M. fimbriatus individuals was an alphacoronavirus. The genome of this virus shows evidence of recombination and is likely the product of ancestral host-switch. The close phylogenetic and ecological relationship of some species of the Myotis genus in China may have played an important role in the emergence of this alphacoronavirus.

PIMGAVir and Vir-MinION: Two Viral Metagenomic Pipelines for Complete Baseline Analysis of 2nd and 3rd Generation Data.

The taxonomic classification of viral sequences is frequently used for the rapid identification of pathogens, which is a key point for when a viral outbreak occurs. Both Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) MinION and the Illumina (NGS) technology provide efficient methods to detect viral pathogens. Despite the availability of many strategies and software, matching them can be a very tedious and time-consuming task. As a result, we developed PIMGAVir and Vir-MinION, two metagenomics pipelines that automatically provide the user with a complete baseline analysis. The PIMGAVir and Vir-MinION pipelines work on 2nd and 3rd generation data, respectively, and provide the user with a taxonomic classification of the reads through three strategies: assembly-based, read-based, and clustering-based. The pipelines supply the scientist with comprehensive results in graphical and textual format for future analyses. Finally, the pipelines equip the user with a stand-alone platform with dedicated and various viral databases, which is a requirement for working in field conditions without internet connection.

Ecological distribution of extremely thermophilic bacteria belonging to the genus Calditerricola using the novel enrichment MPN-PCR method.

A unique compost called Satsuma soil is produced from sewage sludge by a hyperthermal composting process in Kagoshima City, Japan. The composting process is carried out at a controlled temperature of at least 80°C and the resulting compost might be useful for recycling sustainable agricultural products. The extremely thermophilic bacterial genus Calditerricola was initially isolated from the high-temperature compost. Likewise, the bacteria were previously isolated from material sludge. It is believed that bacteria in this genus might be involved in the hyperthermal composting process. Calditerricola bacteria are distributed not only in compost, but also in all of its material sludge, and are more abundant in material sludge than in compost. Moreover, based on investigations of samples near geothermal areas in high temperature conditions, such as volcanoes, Calditerricola was presumed to originate in the volcanic ash of Mt. Sakurajima in Kagoshima City, Japan. However, its precise origin and ecology are unclear. Thus, in this study, a new molecular biological method called enrichment most probable number (MPN)-PCR (eMPN-PCR) was established and used to quantitatively investigate the population and distribution of the extreme thermophile Calditerricola in environmental samples using genus-specific PCR primers. The eMPN-PCR method was an effective quantitative detection method with high sensitivity, yielding MPN estimates that were highly correlated with colony forming unit (CFU) estimates but a low detection threshold value.