Target genes used for biosensor development in COVID-19 diagnosis

A novel biomarker of COVI-19: MMP8 emerged by integrated bulk RNAseq and single-cell sequencing

COVID-19 has been emerging as the most influential illness which has caused great costs to the heath of population and social economy. Sivelestat sodium (SS) is indicated as an effective cure for lung dysfunction, a characteristic symptom of COVID-19 infection, but its pharmacological target is still unclear. Therefore, a deep understanding of the pathological progression and molecular alteration is an urgent issue for settling the diagnosis and therapy problems of COVID-19. In this study, the bulk ribonucleic acid sequencing (RNA-seq) data of healthy donors and non-severe and severe COVID-19 patients were collected. Then, target differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened through integrating sequencing data and the pharmacological database. Besides, with the help of functional and molecular interaction analyses, the potential effect of target gene alteration on COVID-19 progression was investigated. Single-cell sequencing was performed to evaluate the cell distribution of target genes, and the possible interaction of gene-positive cells with other cells was explored by intercellular ligand-receptor pattern analysis. The results showed that matrix metalloproteinase 8 (MMP8) was upregulated in severe COVID-19 patients, which was also identified as a targeting site to SS. Additionally, MMP8 took a core part in the regulatory interaction network of the screened DEGs in COVID-19 and was dramatically correlated with the inflammatory signaling pathway. The further investigations indicated that MMP8 was mainly expressed in myelocytes with a high degree of heterogeneity. MMP8-positive myelocytes interacted with other cell types through RETN-TLR4 and RETN-CAP1 ligand-receptor patterns. These findings emphasize the important role of MMP8 in COVID-19 progression and provide a potential therapeutic target for COVID-19 patients.

Co-infection of SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A: a report from in Southwestern Iran

Background

Since December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) started in China, and quickly spread worldwide. To date, SARS-CoV-2 infection has become a global concern and health problem.

Method

In this study, we evaluated the co-infection of SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza viruses in confirmed COVID-19 patients in Abadan, Iran. They referred to the centers for COVID-19 detection at Abadan University of Medical Sciences in Southwest Iran. Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal throat swabs were collected from each person and tested for Influenza A using a multiplex Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction.

Results

In this study, among 40 SARS-CoV-2-positive cases, 2 patients (5%) were co-infected with influenza A virus.

Conclusion

The low frequency of influenza in our study could be due to the small sample size, which is one of the main limitations of our study Also, other respiratory tract infections were not investigated in this study.

Multiple E3 ligases act as antiviral factors against SARS-CoV-2 via inducing the ubiquitination and degradation of ORF9b

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) open reading frame 9b (ORF9b) antagonizes the antiviral type I and III interferon (IFN) responses and is ubiquitinated and degraded via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. However, E3 ubiquitin ligases that mediate the polyubiquitination and degradation of ORF9b remain unknown. In this study, we identified 14 E3 ligases that specifically bind to SARS-CoV-2 ORF9b. Specifically, three E3 ligases, HECT, UBA, and WWE domain-containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 1 (HUWE1), ubiquitin protein ligase E3 component n-recognin 4 (UBR4), and UBR5, induced K48-linked polyubiquitination and degradation of ORF9b, thereby attenuating ORF9b-mediated inhibition of the IFN response and SARS-CoV-2 replication. Moreover, each E3 ligase performed this function independent of the other two E3 ligases. Therefore, the three E3 ligases identified in this study as anti-SARS-CoV-2 host factors provide novel molecular insight into the virus-host interaction.IMPORTANCEUbiquitination is an important post-translational modification that regulates multiple biological processes, including viral replication. Identification of E3 ubiquitin ligases that target viral proteins for degradation can provide novel targets for antagonizing viral infections. Here, we identified multiple E3 ligases, including HECT, UBA, and WWE domain-containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 1 (HUWE1), ubiquitin protein ligase E3 component n-recognin 4 (UBR4), and UBR5, that ubiquitinated and induced the degradation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) open reading frame 9b (ORF9b), an interferon (IFN) antagonist, thereby enhancing IFN production and attenuating SARS-CoV-2 replication. Our study provides new possibilities for drug development targeting the interaction between E3 ligases and ORF9b.

Investigation of Bucillamine as anti-COVID-19 drug: DFT study, molecular docking, molecular dynamic simulation and ADMET analysis

The novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, is a global health pandemic beginning in early December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. The effective drug target among coronaviruses is the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro), because of its crucial role in processing viral polyproteins translated from the viral RNA. In this study, the bioactivity of the selected thiol drug named Bucillamine (BUC) was evaluated as a potential drug for COVID-19 treatment by using computational modeling strategies. First, the molecular electrostatic potential density (ESP) calculation was performed to estimate the chemically active atoms of BUC. Additionally, BUC was docked to the Mpro (PDB: 6LU7) to evaluate the protein-ligand binding affinities. Besides, the estimated ESP results by density functional theory (DFT) were used to illustrate the molecular docking findings. Moreover, the frontier orbitals analysis was calculated to determine the charge transfer between the Mpro and BUC. Then, the stability of protein-ligand complex was subjected to the molecular dynamic simulations. Finally, an in silico study was performed to predict drug-likeness and absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity profiles (ADMET) of BUC. These results propose that BUC can be a potential drug candidate against the COVID-19 disease progression.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Recent progress on rapid diagnosis of COVID-19 by point-of-care testing platforms

The outbreak of COVID-19 has drawn great attention around the world. SARS-CoV-2 is a highly infectious virus with occult transmission by many mutations and a long incubation period. In particular, the emergence of asymptomatic infections has made the epidemic even more severe. Therefore, early diagnosis and timely management of suspected cases are essential measures to control the spread of the virus. Developing simple, portable, and accurate diagnostic techniques for SARS-CoV-2 is the key to epidemic prevention. The advantages of point-of-care testing technology make it play an increasingly important role in viral detection and screening. This review summarizes the point-of-care testing platforms developed by nucleic acid detection, immunological detection, and nanomaterial-based biosensors detection. Furthermore, this paper provides a prospect for designing future highly accurate, cheap, and convenient SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic technology.

Biopolymer-based electrospun fibers in electrochemical devices: versatile platform for energy, environment, and health monitoring

Electrochemical power tools are regarded as essential keys in a world that is becoming increasingly reliant on fossil fuels in order to meet the challenges of rapidly depleting fossil fuel supplies. Additionally, due to the industrialization of societies and the growth of diseases, the need for sensitive, reliable, inexpensive, and portable sensors and biosensors for noninvasive monitoring of human health and environmental pollution is felt more than ever before. In recent decades, electrospun fibers have emerged as promising candidates for the fabrication of highly efficient electrochemical devices, such as actuators, batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors, and biosensors. Meanwhile, the use of synthetic polymers in the fabrication of versatile electrochemical devices has raised environmental concerns, leading to an increase in the quest for natural polymers. Natural polymers are primarily derived from microorganisms and plants. Despite the challenges of processing bio-based electrospun fibers, employing natural nanofibers in the fabrication of electrochemical devices has garnered tremendous attention in recent years. Here, various natural polymers and the strategies employed to fabricate various electrospun biopolymers are briefly covered. The recent advances and research strategies used to apply the bio-based electrospun membranes in different electrochemical devices are carefully summarized, along with the scopes in various advanced technologies. A comprehensive and critical discussion about the use of biopolymer-based electrospun fibers as the potential alternative to non-renewable ones in future technologies is briefly highlighted. This review will serve as a field opening platform for using different biopolymer-based electrospun fibers to advance the electrochemical device-based renewable and sustainable technologies, which will be of high interest to a large community. Accordingly, future studies should focus on feasible and cost-effective extraction of biopolymers from natural resources as well as fabrication of high-performance nanofibrous biopolymer-based components applicable in various electrochemical devices.