Xinyi Huang, Yaming Jiu and colleagues find a positive correlation between host cell contractility and Zika virus infection efficacy.
https://journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/136/17/jcs261301/328138/Actomyosin-dependent-cell-contractility
#zika #virology #cellbiology

#IDMastodon #virology These observations suggest that BA.2.86 is more closely related to sequences from Southern Africa than other regions & so may have evolved there, and that evolution led to escape from #neutralizingantibodies similar in scale to recently circulating strains of #SARSCoV2.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.09.08.23295250v1.full.pdf

The US quietly terminates a controversial $125m wildlife virus hunting program amid safety fears

A flagship project for the controversial practice of hunting viruses among wildlife in South East Asia, Africa, and Latin America to prevent human outbreaks and pandemics is being quietly dropped by the United States Agency for International Development after private and bipartisan criticism over the safety of such research.
#virology #pandemic #zoonoses #USAID
https://www.bmj.com/content/382/bmj.p2002

SBGrid's eLife paper was cited by SBGrid member M. Gordon Joyce U.S. Military HIV Research Program in Journal of Virology.

Read more at: Targeting the Spike Receptor Binding Domain Class V Cryptic Epitope by an Antibody with Pan-Sarbecovirus Activity

https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/jvi.01596-22?utm_source=AdaptiveMailer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SBGrid%20Newsletters&org=1935&lvl=100&ite=457&lea=24537&ctr=0&par=1&trk=a0N3s00000PtIByEAN

<ALT= Crystal structure and epitope analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 RBD with WRAIR-2063 Fab>

#Science #virology #antibodies #SBGrid

Half of Vaccinated People Never Stop Producing Spike Protein, Study Found
https://www.igor-chudov.com/p/half-of-vaccinated-people-never-stop
#news #covid #vaccine #vax #shot #jab #virus #corona #pandemic #mrna #spike #medicine #health #depopulation #crime #study #virology #sars #dna #science

Online now: A CRISPR Screen of HIV Dependency Factors Reveals That CCNT1 Is Non-Essential in T Cells but Required for HIV-1 Reactivation from Latency https://doi.org/10.3390/v15091863. We screened a CRISPR guide library of host genes necessary for HIV replication to identify host factors that are also necessary for HIV to emerge from latency. The top hit, CCNT1, aka CyclinT1, is absolutely necessary for HIV reactivation over a wide range of activation pathways. #virology #HIV #science #CRISPR

@watson what's more there is no virus
https://odysee.com/@TimTruth:b/Virology-on-trial-part-9:c
#virology

"The levels of R-loops were found to be increased up to 50-fold in cells that maintain high-risk HPV genomes and were readily detected in squamous cell cervical carcinomas in vivo but not in normal cells."
#Virology #HPV

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2305907120

Now online: Primate TRIM34 is a broadly-acting, TRIM5-dependent lentiviral restriction factor https://doi.org/10.1186/s12977-023-00629-4 TRIM5 recognizes retroviral capsids and leads to their abberant uncoating on viral entry. TRIM34, a paralog, restricts a subset of capsids in a manner that relies on an interaction with TRIM5. We find that TRIM34 alleles from a broad spectrum of primates, when paired with TRIM5, are able to restrict capsids that neither TRIM is able to restrict on its own. #virology #HIV

Hey ya'll

The department of Microbiology and immunology at UM is hiring a tenure track faculty member. The deadline is Sept 1!

https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/microbiology-immunology/news/archive/202305/virology-bacteriology-focused-assistantassociate-professor-positions-microbiology-immunology

#AcademicJobs #Academia #Immunology #microbiology #virology #FacultyJobs #UM

@firefoxx66 @jbloom_lab

Also, This Week In Virology (TWiV podcast) is a professional source of information on all things #virology related. https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/

"Most USUV infections in humans were asymptomatic and rarely associated with neuroinvasive disease and the impact of USUV on public health was much lower than for WNV. However, this could be because of lack of testing for USUV or not including USUV in the differential diagnosis of probable WNV cases."

Epidemiology, surveillance and diagnosis of Usutu virus infection in the EU/EEA, 2012 to 2021

https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.33.2200929

#virology

We are looking for an experienced molecular biologist/virologist to join our team. A lot of exciting discovery efforts in the RNA vaccine space as we build upon our first-generation repRNA clinical experience to iterate and innovate. If you are interested in being a part of a dynamic and innovative team, please apply 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/3689250025

#molecularbiology #virology #RNAvaccine #jobposting

If you are interested in detailed rebuttals of "lab leak" conspiracy theories, your best resource is probably @flodebarre -- her threads are collected on PingThread (older) and ThreadReaderApp (newer).

These threads also document the many journalists who amplified these conspiracy theories and often refused to admit their errors even when faced with clear documentation.

https://pingthread.com/author/flodebarre

https://threadreaderapp.com/user/flodebarre

#covid #conspiracy #science #virology #politics #health #journalism #media

In my mind, broadly compatible that faster viral clearance with #COVID19 #vaccination 👉 less antigen 👉 lower inflammatory response.

Further supports hypothesis that #vaccine works by dampening excessive #inflammation to #SarsCoV2, which drives severe disease.
#Immunology #medicine #virology

Dynamics of inflammatory responses after SARS-CoV-2 infection by vaccination status in the USA: a prospective cohort study

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanmic/article/PIIS2666-5247(23)00171-4/fulltext?dgcid=raven_jbs_aip_email

Scientists Discover a Genetic Variant That Seems to Limit HIV Infection

HEALTH

Source: Science Alert

11 August 2023

By CLARE WATSON

A tiny fraction of people are naturally resistant to HIV infections, and scientists want to understand why.

Now an international team of researchers has discovered a new genetic variant in people of African ancestries that appears to restrict HIV replication after an infection sets in.

Though more research is needed to confirm their findings, the discovery is a huge step forward for HIV research, which has long neglected African populations.

"The findings may explain why certain people in these populations have a lower viral load, which slows down the virus from replicating and transmitting," says pathologist and study author Simon Mallal from Murdoch University in Perth, Australia.

The discovery, from a combined analysis of nearly 3,900 individuals, could also pave the way to developing new antiviral drugs as previously identified genetic variants have done in the past.

Today HIV affects around 39 million people worldwide, though it's clear the virus doesn't affect everybody in the same way. But aside from genetic flukes in one gene called CCR5, the other known genetic variants thought to confer some resistance to HIV have not always stood up to scrutiny when scientists tried to replicate results.

What's more, genetic studies have mainly been conducted in Caucasian populations of European descent, while most infections occur in Africa, overwhelmingly affecting people of African ancestry.

Researchers have more recently begun studying African populations. In 2021 genetic variants were uncovered in Botswana that appear to either make people more susceptible to HIV infections or drive disease progression.

In this new study of African people living with HIV-1 – the most common type of the virus – researchers found the opposite: a collection of 16 genetic variants that seems to limit HIV replication.

The variants clustered around a gene on chromosome 1 called CHD1L. One particular genetic substitution topped the list of variants associated with low levels of the virus at the most chronic period of infection.

That's good news because this level, known as a set-point viral load, is an indicator of transmission risk and the likelihood of disease progression in chronic HIV infections.

"By studying a large sample of people of African ancestry, we've been able to identify a new genetic variant that only exists in this population and which is linked to lower HIV viral loads," says Paul McLaren, a research scientist at the Canadian National Microbiology Laboratory for HIV genetics.

McLaren and colleagues estimate between 4 and 13 percent of people of African ancestries carry the top-ranking variant in CHD1L.

Although researchers don't yet know how CHD1L controls viral load, they're keen to find out because it could lead to new treatment options.

"Every time we discover something new about HIV control, we learn something new about the virus and something new about the cell," says University of Cambridge virologist Harriet Groom.

Investigating a little further, the researchers found that HIV replication ramped up if CHD1L was switched off in macrophages, a well-known reservoir of HIV-1. Yet there was no effect in T-cells, another type of immune cell, in which HIV usually replicates.

Despite the promising discovery, researchers are well aware that genetic resistance to HIV most likely involves a complex interaction between two or more genetic variants, rather than one exceptional quirk.

It also remains unclear just how much genetics contributes to the variability in HIV infections.

Systemic and social factors, such as racial inequities and access to treatment, also impact which groups are more likely to be diagnosed with HIV, how quickly HIV progresses to AIDS, or whether the virus is controlled at levels below what can be transmitted to other people.

#hiv #microbiology #virology #sciencenews #QOTO #stem #FreePressWithoutBorders

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-discover-a-genetic-variant-that-seems-to-limit-hiv-infection

Water temps were unbelievably hot, but we had a great day in the field today sampling for our #seagrass #virus #research - Im so lucky to work with this incredible group of #USFCMS and #FWC scientists! #science #florida #virology #ocean #snorkel

My good friend and colleague Mark Martin just started a new #microbiology #podcast. If you’re microbe-curious, check it out, you’ll get hooked! First episode features an interview with Vincent Racaniello - and although that’s a tough act to follow, tune in to next week’s podcast where I was lucky enough to be a guest. #science #micro #virology #phage
https://www.microbe.tv/mm/mm-001/

Recently learned of the passing of Michael Oldstone at age 91 a few weeks ago https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2023/20230719-oldstone-obit.html. Among many accomplishments in his long career, his lab pioneered the LCMV system to study viral persistence and T cell immunity, described viral-induced autoimmunity by viral mimicry of host antigens, and characterized viral pathogenesis due to cytokine storms in influenza models. Also wrote a popular book, Viruses, Plagues, and History https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/573801.Viruses_Plagues_and_History #virology

Feel free to talk at me. I am merely an unlettered but avid reader.

"Sequencing results suggested that the ancestor of the 1918 virus infected humans sometime between 1900 and 1915."

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/reconstruction-1918-virus.html

#influenza
#h1n1
#SpanishFlu
#1918Flu
#EvolutionaryHistory
#virology