Category Archives: Antiviral

A Non-Canonical Role for IRE1α Links ER and Mitochondria as Key Regulators of Astrocyte Dysfunction: Implications in Methamphetamine use and HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders

A Non-Canonical Role for IRE1α Links ER and Mitochondria as Key Regulators of Astrocyte Dysfunction: Implications in Methamphetamine use and HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders

By Jessica Proulx, Satomi Stacy, In-Woo Park, and Kathleen Borgmann Excerpt from the article published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, 17 June 2022, DOI https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.906651 Editor’s Highlights During human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection or (METH)amphetamine exposure, astrocytes shift their neuroprotective functions and can become neurotoxic. As common comorbidity among HIV-1 infected individuals (METH)amphetamine use can […]

Continue Reading

Accurate Prediction of Virus-Host Protein-Protein Interactions via a Siamese Neural Network Using Deep Protein Sequence Embeddings

Accurate Prediction of Virus-Host Protein-Protein Interactions via a Siamese Neural Network Using Deep Protein Sequence Embeddings

By Sumit Madan, Victoria Demina, Marcus Stapf, Oliver Ernst, and Holger Froehlich Excerpt from the preprint article published in bioRxiv 2022.05.31.494170; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.31.494170 Editor’s Highlights Prediction and understanding of tissue-specific virus-host interactions have relevance for the development of novel therapeutic intervention strategies. A novel deep learning approach to predict virus-host protein-protein interactions (PPIs), is the method (Siamese Tailored […]

Continue Reading

SARS-CoV-2 NSP3, NSP4 and NSP6 mutations and Epistasis during the pandemic in the world: Evolutionary Trends and Natural Selections in Six Continents

SARS-CoV-2 NSP3, NSP4 and NSP6 mutations and Epistasis during the pandemic in the world: Evolutionary Trends and Natural Selections in Six Continents

By Haniyeh fooladinezhad, Maryamsadat Shahidi, Mohammadamin Mahmanzar, Bahar Mahdavi, Samaneh Tokhanbigli, Mahsa Mollapour Sisakht, Bahman Moradi, Mohamad Reza Ganjalikhany, Karim Rahimian, and Mazdak Ganjndalikhani-Hakemi Excerpt from the article published in medRxiv 2022.05.22.22275422; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.22.22275422 Editor’s Highlights The key stage of the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle is virus replication in infected cells. During this process, several viral proteins facilitate […]

Continue Reading

Long COVID, neuropsychiatric disorders, psychotropics, present and future

Long COVID, neuropsychiatric disorders, psychotropics, present and future

By Siu Wa Tang, Brian E. Leonard, and Daiga Maret Helmeste Excerpt from the article published in Acta Neuropsychiatrica, 34(3), 109-126. DOI: 10.1017/neu.2022.6 Editor’s Highlights The term Long COVID is used to refer to the lingering or protracted illness, from 4 to 12 weeks after the acute illness and during recovery. Long-term psychological or adverse mental […]

Continue Reading

Interactions between SARS-CoV-2 N-Protein and α-Synuclein Accelerate Amyloid Formation

Interactions between SARS-CoV-2 N-Protein and α-Synuclein Accelerate Amyloid Formation

by Slav A Semerdzhiev, Mohammad A A Fakhree, Ine Segers-Nolten, Christian Blum, Mireille M A E Claessens Excerpt from the article published in ACS Chem Neuroscience. 2021 Dec 3. doi: 10.1021/acschemneuro.1c00666. Editor’s Highlights COVID-19 Protein Found to Speed Toxic Alpha-Synuclein Buildup which is believed to be central to the pathogenesis in Parkinson’s Disease. The most well-known example is the 1918 influenza […]

Continue Reading

Highly Specific Sigma Receptor Ligands Exhibit Anti-Viral Properties in SARS-CoV-2 Infected Cells

Highly Specific Sigma Receptor Ligands Exhibit Anti-Viral Properties in SARS-CoV-2 Infected Cells

By David A. Ostrov, Andrew P. Bluhm, Danmeng Li, Juveriya Qamar Khan, Megha Rohamare, Karthic Rajamanickam, Kalpana K. Bhanumathy, Jocelyne Lew, Darryl Falzarano, Franco J. Vizeacoumar, Joyce A. Wilson, Marco Mottinelli, Siva Rama Raju Kanumuri, Abhisheak Sharma, Christopher R. McCurdy, and Michael H. Norris Excerpt from the article published in Pathogens. 2021; 10(11):1514. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10111514 Editor’s […]

Continue Reading

Cal‘MAM’ity at the Endoplasmic Reticulum-Mitochondrial Interface: A Potential Therapeutic Target for Neurodegeneration and Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders

Cal‘MAM’ity at the Endoplasmic Reticulum-Mitochondrial Interface: A Potential Therapeutic Target for Neurodegeneration and Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders

By Jessica Proulx, In-Woo Park, and Kathleen Borgmann Excerpt from the article published in Frontiers in neuroscience, 15, 715945. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2021.715945 Editor’s Highlights Cooperation and communication between the ER and mitochondria are essential to ensure maintenance of neuronal and organelle homeostasis. Neurons are not directly infected by HIV-1; thus, indirect HIV-induced toxicity via infected glia is a key mechanism […]

Continue Reading

Highly Specific Sigma Receptor Ligands Exhibit Anti-Viral Properties in SARS-CoV-2 Infected Cells

Highly Specific Sigma Receptor Ligands Exhibit Anti-Viral Properties in SARS-CoV-2 Infected Cells

by Ostrov, D.A.; Bluhm, A.P.;Li, D.; Khan, J.Q.; Rohamare, M.;Rajamanickam, K.; K. Bhanumathy,K.; Lew, J.; Falzarano, D.;Vizeacoumar, F.J.; et al. Excerpt from the article published in Pathogens 2021,10, 1514. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10111514 Editor’s Highlights Background There is a strong need for prevention and treatment strategies for COVID-19 that are not impacted by SARS-CoV-2 mutations emerging in variants […]

Continue Reading

Differential gene expression by RNA-Seq in Sigma-2 Receptor/TMEM97 knockout cells reveals its role in complement activation and SARS-CoV-2 viral uptake

Differential gene expression by RNA-Seq in Sigma-2 Receptor/TMEM97 knockout cells reveals its role in complement activation and SARS-CoV-2 viral uptake

By Aladdin Riad, Yann Aubert, Chenbo Zeng, Thomas J. A. Graham, E. James Petersson, Brian C. Capell, and Robert H. Mach Excerpt from the article published in bioRxiv 2021.03.14.435180;  Posted March 15, 2021; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.14.435180 Editor’s Highlights Sigma-2R/TMEM97 has been shown to be involved with cholesterol homeostasis and metabolism through its interaction with the cholesterol transport-regulating protein Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) and through the sterol response element-binding protein (SREBP) pathway. Sigma-2R/TMEM97 regulates […]

Continue Reading