The impact of activating an empathic focus during COVID19 on healthcare workers motivation for hand hygiene compliance in moments serving the protection of others: a randomized controlled trial study.

Aim: The "Five moments of hand hygiene" (World Health Organization 2009) can be classified into moments of hand hygiene before and after patient care. Based on research indicating that hand hygiene compliance differs with regard to moments before and after patient care, this research evaluates the effectiveness of an empathy-based intervention in motivating hand hygiene compliance with regard to moments before patient care which protect vulnerable individuals from contamination and infection. Subjects and method: An online experiment involving 68 healthcare professionals working at a German hospital during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic investigates whether instructing healthcare professionals to consider consequences for others (vs for themselves) if they contracted SARS-CoV-2 promotes hand hygiene compliance referring to moments before (vs after) patient care. Results: In the condition in which healthcare professionals considered consequences for others if they contracted SARS-CoV-2 (other-focus condition), ratings of importance increased (M = 3.49, SD = 1.30) compared to the condition in which healthcare professionals considered consequences for themselves (M = 2.68, SD = 1.24), F(1,66) = 6.87, p = .011, partη2 = .09. Participants in the other-focus condition reported more intentions to comply with "before moments" in the future (M = 3.34, SD = 1.14) compared to participants in the self-focus condition (M = 2.77, SD = 0.80), F(1,66) = 6.15, p = .016, partη2 = .09. Conclusion: Results indicate that activating an empathic focus in the context of the current pandemic promotes perceived importance and motivation of healthcare professionals to comply with moments aiming at protecting vulnerable others. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10389-022-01725-z.

Conserved E1B-55K SUMOylation in Different Human Adenovirus Species Is a Potent Regulator of Intracellular Localization.

Over the past decades, studies on the biology of human adenoviruses (HAdVs) mainly focused on the HAdV prototype species C type 5 (HAdV-C5) and revealed fundamental molecular insights into mechanisms of viral replication and viral cell transformation. Recently, other HAdV species are gaining more and more attention in the field. Reports on large E1B proteins (E1B-55K) from different HAdV species showed that these multifactorial proteins possess strikingly different features along with highly conserved functions. In this work, we identified potential SUMO-conjugation motifs (SCMs) in E1B-55K proteins from HAdV species A to F. Mutational inactivation of these SCMs demonstrated that HAdV E1B-55K proteins are SUMOylated at a single lysine residue that is highly conserved among HAdV species B to E. Moreover, we provide evidence that E1B-55K SUMOylation is a potent regulator of intracellular localization and p53-mediated transcription in most HAdV species. We also identified a lysine residue at position 101 (K101), which is unique to HAdV-C5 E1B-55K and specifically regulates its SUMOylation and nucleo-cytoplasmic shuttling. Our findings reveal important new aspects on HAdV E1B-55K proteins and suggest that different E1B-55K species possess conserved SCMs while their SUMOylation has divergent cellular effects during infection. IMPORTANCE E1B-55K is a multifunctional adenoviral protein and its functions are highly regulated by SUMOylation. Although functional consequences of SUMOylated HAdV-C5 E1B-55K are well studied, we lack information on the effects of SUMOylation on homologous E1B-55K proteins from other HAdV species. Here, we show that SUMOylation is a conserved posttranslational modification in most of the E1B-55K proteins, similar to what we know about HAdV-C5 E1B-55K. Moreover, we identify subcellular localization and regulation of p53-dependent transcription as highly conserved SUMOylation-regulated E1B-55K functions. Thus, our results highlight how HAdV proteins might have evolved in different HAdV species with conserved domains involved in virus replication and differing alternative functions and interactions with the host cell machinery. Future research will link these differences and similarities to the diverse pathogenicity and organ tropism of the different HAdV species.

Degradation of a Novel DNA Damage Response Protein, Tankyrase 1 Binding Protein 1, following Adenovirus Infection.

Infection by most DNA viruses activates a cellular DNA damage response (DDR), which may be to the detriment or advantage of the virus. In the case of adenoviruses, they neutralize antiviral effects of DDR activation by targeting a number of proteins for rapid proteasome-mediated degradation. We have now identified a novel DDR protein, tankyrase 1 binding protein 1 (TNKS1BP1) (also known as Tab182), which is degraded during infection by adenovirus serotype 5 and adenovirus serotype 12. In both cases, degradation requires the action of the early region 1B55K (E1B55K) and early region 4 open reading frame 6 (E4orf6) viral proteins and is mediated through the proteasome by the action of cullin-based cellular E3 ligases. The degradation of Tab182 appears to be serotype specific, as the protein remains relatively stable following infection with adenovirus serotypes 4, 7, 9, and 11. We have gone on to confirm that Tab182 is an integral component of the CNOT complex, which has transcriptional regulatory, deadenylation, and E3 ligase activities. The levels of at least 2 other members of the complex (CNOT3 and CNOT7) are also reduced during adenovirus infection, whereas the levels of CNOT4 and CNOT1 remain stable. The depletion of Tab182 with small interfering RNA (siRNA) enhances the expression of early region 1A proteins (E1As) to a limited extent during adenovirus infection, but the depletion of CNOT1 is particularly advantageous to the virus and results in a marked increase in the expression of adenovirus early proteins. In addition, the depletion of Tab182 and CNOT1 results in a limited increase in the viral DNA level during infection. We conclude that the cellular CNOT complex is a previously unidentified major target for adenoviruses during infection.IMPORTANCE Adenoviruses target a number of cellular proteins involved in the DNA damage response for rapid degradation. We have now shown that Tab182, which we have confirmed to be an integral component of the mammalian CNOT complex, is degraded following infection by adenovirus serotypes 5 and 12. This requires the viral E1B55K and E4orf6 proteins and is mediated by cullin-based E3 ligases and the proteasome. In addition to Tab182, the levels of other CNOT proteins are also reduced during adenovirus infection. Thus, CNOT3 and CNOT7, for example, are degraded, whereas CNOT4 and CNOT1 are not. The siRNA-mediated depletion of components of the complex enhances the expression of adenovirus early proteins and increases the concentration of viral DNA produced during infection. This study highlights a novel protein complex, CNOT, which is targeted for adenovirus-mediated protein degradation. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the CNOT complex has been identified as an adenoviral target.

Humanized Mice Reproduce Acute and Persistent Human Adenovirus Infection.

Severe human adenovirus (HAdV) infections are an increasing threat for immunosuppressed individuals, particularly those who have received stem cell transplants. It has been previously hypothesized that severe infections might be due to reactivation of a persistent infection, but this hypothesis has been difficult to test owing to the lack of a permissive in vivo model of HAdV infection. Here we established a humanized mouse model that reproduces features of acute and persistent HAdV infection. In this model, acute infection correlated with high mortality, weight loss, liver pathology, and expression of viral proteins in several organs. In contrast, persistent infection was asymptomatic and led to establishment of HAdV-specific adaptive immunity and expression of early viral genes exclusively in the bone marrow. These findings validate the use of humanized mice to study acute and persistent HAdV infection and strongly suggest the presence of cellular reservoirs in the bone marrow.