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Augustine G, Sisila V, Indhu M, Gupta D, Tandel D, Harshan KH, Shanmugam G, Padmapriya P, Sivasubramanian S, Kaveri K, Ramudu KN, Ayyadurai N. Redirecting the JAK-STAT signal blocks the SARS-CoV-2 replication. J Med Virol 2023; 95:e28965. [PMID: 37488710 DOI: 10.1002/jmv.28965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2023] [Revised: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023]
Abstract
The distinct disease progression patterns of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus clade 2 (SARS-CoV-2) indicate diverse host immune responses. SARS-CoV-2 severely impairs type I interferon (IFN) cell signaling, resulting in uncontrolled late-phase lung damage in patients. For better pharmacological properties, cytokine modifications may sometimes result in a loss of biological activity against the virus. Here, we employed the genetic code expansion and engineered IFN-β, a phase II clinical cytokine with 3-amino tyrosine (IFN-β-A) that reactivates STAT2 expression in virus-infected human cells through JAK/STAT cell signaling without affecting signal activation and serum half-life. This study identified that genetically encoded IFN-β-A might stabilize the protein-receptor complex and trigger JAK-STAT cell signaling, which is a promising modality for controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- George Augustine
- Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Leather Research Institute (CSIR-CLRI), Chennai, India
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
| | - Valappil Sisila
- Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Leather Research Institute (CSIR-CLRI), Chennai, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
| | - Mohan Indhu
- Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Leather Research Institute (CSIR-CLRI), Chennai, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
| | - Divya Gupta
- Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, India
| | - Dixit Tandel
- Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, India
| | - Krishnan Harinivas Harshan
- Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, India
| | - Ganesh Shanmugam
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
- Department of Bio-Organic Chemistry, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Leather Research Institute (CSIR-CLRI), Chennai, India
| | - Padmanabhan Padmapriya
- Department of Virology, King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research, Chennai, India
| | | | - Krishnaswamy Kaveri
- Department of Virology, King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research, Chennai, India
| | - Kamini Numbi Ramudu
- Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Leather Research Institute (CSIR-CLRI), Chennai, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
| | - Niraikulam Ayyadurai
- Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Leather Research Institute (CSIR-CLRI), Chennai, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
- Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, India
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2
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Parthasarathy H, Tandel D, Siddiqui AH, Harshan KH. Metformin suppresses SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture. Virus Res 2023; 323:199010. [PMID: 36417940 PMCID: PMC9676078 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2022.199010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2022] [Revised: 11/10/2022] [Accepted: 11/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Comorbidities such as diabetes worsen COVID-19 severity and recovery. Metformin, a first-line medication for type 2 diabetes, has antiviral properties and certain studies have also indicated its prognostic potential in COVID-19. Here, we report that metformin significantly inhibits SARS-CoV-2 growth in cell culture models. First, a steady increase in AMPK phosphorylation was detected as infection progressed, suggesting its important role during viral infection. Activation of AMPK in Calu3 and Caco2 cell lines using metformin revealed that metformin suppresses SARS-CoV-2 infectious titers up to 99%, in both naïve as well as infected cells. IC50 values from dose-variation studies in infected cells were found to be 0.4 and 1.43 mM in Calu3 and Caco2 cells, respectively. Role of AMPK in metformin's antiviral suppression was further confirmed using other pharmacological compounds, AICAR and Compound C. Collectively, our study demonstrates that metformin is effective in limiting the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture and thus possibly could offer double benefits as diabetic COVID-19 patients by lowering both blood glucose levels and viral load.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Dixit Tandel
- CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500007, India; Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | | | - Krishnan H Harshan
- CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500007, India; Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India.
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Tandel D, Sah V, Singh NK, Potharaju PS, Gupta D, Shrivastava S, Sowpati DT, Harshan KH. SARS-CoV-2 Variant Delta Potently Suppresses Innate Immune Response and Evades Interferon-Activated Antiviral Responses in Human Colon Epithelial Cells. Microbiol Spectr 2022; 10:e0160422. [PMID: 36073824 PMCID: PMC9602719 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.01604-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has caused more severe infections than its previous variants. We studied the host innate immune response to Delta, Alpha, and two earlier variants to map the evolution of the recent ones. Our biochemical and transcriptomic studies in human colon epithelial cell line Caco2 reveal that Alpha and Delta have progressively evolved over the ancestral variants by silencing the innate immune response, thereby limiting cytokine and chemokine production. Though Alpha silenced the retinoic acid-inducible gene (RIG)-I-like receptor (RLR) pathway just like Delta did, it failed to persistently silence the innate immune response, unlike Delta. Both Alpha and Delta have evolved to resist interferon (IFN) treatment, while they are still susceptible to RLR activation, further highlighting the importance of RLR-mediated, IFN-independent mechanisms in restricting SARS-CoV-2. Our studies reveal that SARS-CoV-2 Delta has integrated multiple mechanisms to silence the host innate immune response and evade the IFN response. We speculate that Delta's silent replication and sustained suppression of the host innate immune response, thereby resulting in delayed or reduced intervention by the adaptive immune response, could have potentially contributed to the severe symptoms and poor recovery index associated with it. It is likely that this altered association with the host would play an important role in the coevolution of SARS-CoV-2 with humans. IMPORTANCE Viruses generally learn to coexist with the host during the process of evolution. It is expected that SARS-CoV-2 would also evolve to coexist in humans by trading off its virulence for longer persistence, causing milder disease. Clinically, the fatality associated with COVID-19 has been declining due to vaccination and preinfections, but the Delta variant caused the most severe disease and fatality across several parts of the world. Our study identified an evolving trend of SARS-CoV-2 variants where the variants that emerged during early parts of the pandemic caused a more robust innate immune response, while the later emerging variant Delta showed features of suppression of the response. The features that Delta has acquired could have strongly influenced the distinct pathophysiology associated with its infection. How these changed associations with the host influence the long-term evolution of the virus and the disease outcome should be closely studied to understand the process of viral evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dixit Tandel
- CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
- Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Vishal Sah
- CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
- Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Nitesh Kumar Singh
- CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
| | - Poojitha Sai Potharaju
- CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
- Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Divya Gupta
- CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
| | | | - Divya Tej Sowpati
- CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
- Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Krishnan H. Harshan
- CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
- Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
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Moharir SC, Thota SC, Goel A, Thakur B, Tandel D, Reddy SM, Vodapalli A, Singh Bhalla G, Kumar D, Singh Naruka D, Kumar A, Tuli A, Suravaram S, Chander Bingi T, Srinivas M, Mesipogu R, Reddy K, Khosla S, Harshan KH, Bharadwaj Tallapaka K, Mishra RK. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the air in Indian hospitals and houses of COVID-19 patients. J Aerosol Sci 2022; 164:106002. [PMID: 35495416 PMCID: PMC9040488 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaerosci.2022.106002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Revised: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/17/2022] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
To understand the transmission characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) through air, samples from different locations occupied by coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients were analyzed. Three sampling strategies were used to understand the presence of virus in the air in different environmental conditions. In the first strategy, which involved hospital settings, air samples were collected from several areas of hospitals like COVID-intensive-care units (ICUs), nurse-stations, COVID-wards, corridors, non-COVID-wards, personal protective equipment (PPE) doffing areas, COVID rooms, out-patient (OP) corridors, mortuary, COVID casualty areas, non-COVID ICUs and doctors' rooms. Out of the 80 air samples collected from 6 hospitals from two Indian cities- Hyderabad and Mohali, 30 samples showed the presence of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acids. In the second sampling strategy, that involved indoor settings, one or more COVID-19 patients were asked to spend a short duration of time in a closed room. Out of 17 samples, 5 samples, including 4 samples collected after the departure of three symptomatic patients from the room, showed the presence of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acids. In the third strategy, involving indoor settings, air samples were collected from rooms of houses of home-quarantined COVID-19 patients and it was observed that SARS-CoV-2 RNA could be detected in the air in the rooms occupied by COVID-19 patients but not in the other rooms of the houses. Taken together, we observed that the air around COVID-19 patients frequently showed the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in both hospital and indoor residential settings and the positivity rate was higher when 2 or more COVID-19 patients occupied the room. In hospitals, SARS-CoV-2 RNA could be detected in ICUs as well as in non-ICUs, suggesting that the viral shedding happened irrespective of the severity of the infection. This study provides evidence for the viability of SARS-CoV-2 and its long-range transport through the air. Thus, airborne transmission could be a major mode of transmission for SARS-CoV-2 and appropriate precautions need to be followed to prevent the spread of infection through the air.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shivranjani C Moharir
- CSIR- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, 500007, India
- The Tata Institute for Genetics and Society, Bangalore, 560065, India
| | - Sharath Chandra Thota
- CSIR- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, 500007, India
| | - Arushi Goel
- CSIR- Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR-IMTech), Chandigarh, 160036, India
| | - Bhuwaneshwar Thakur
- CSIR- Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR-IMTech), Chandigarh, 160036, India
| | - Dixit Tandel
- CSIR- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, 500007, India
| | - S Mahesh Reddy
- CSIR- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, 500007, India
| | - Amareshwar Vodapalli
- CSIR- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, 500007, India
| | | | - Dinesh Kumar
- CSIR- Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR-IMTech), Chandigarh, 160036, India
| | | | - Ashwani Kumar
- CSIR- Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR-IMTech), Chandigarh, 160036, India
| | - Amit Tuli
- CSIR- Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR-IMTech), Chandigarh, 160036, India
| | | | | | - M Srinivas
- ESI Hospital and Medical College, Hyderabad, 500018, India
| | | | - Krishna Reddy
- Durgabai Deshmukh Hospital, Hyderabad, 500044, India
| | - Sanjeev Khosla
- CSIR- Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR-IMTech), Chandigarh, 160036, India
| | - Krishnan H Harshan
- CSIR- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, 500007, India
| | | | - Rakesh K Mishra
- CSIR- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, 500007, India
- The Tata Institute for Genetics and Society, Bangalore, 560065, India
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Gupta D, Ahmed F, Tandel D, Parthasarathy H, Vedagiri D, Sah V, Krishna Mohan B, Khan RA, Kondiparthi C, Savari P, Jain S, Reddy S, Kumar JM, Khan N, Harshan KH. Equine immunoglobulin fragment F(ab') 2 displays high neutralizing capability against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants. Clin Immunol 2022; 237:108981. [PMID: 35306171 PMCID: PMC8926440 DOI: 10.1016/j.clim.2022.108981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2021] [Revised: 02/02/2022] [Accepted: 03/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Neutralizing antibody-based passive immunotherapy could be an important therapeutic option against COVID-19. Herein, we demonstrate that equines hyper-immunized with chemically inactivated SARS-CoV-2 elicited high antibody titers with a strong virus-neutralizing potential, and F(ab')2 fragments purified from them displayed strong neutralization potential against five different SARS-CoV-2 variants. F(ab')2 fragments purified from the plasma of hyperimmunized horses showed high antigen-specific affinity. Experiments in rabbits suggested that the F(ab')2 displays a linear pharmacokinetics with approximate plasma half-life of 47 h. In vitro microneutralization assays using the purified F(ab')2 displayed high neutralization titers against five different variants of SARS-CoV-2 including the Delta variant, demonstrating its potential efficacy against the emerging viral variants. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that F(ab')2 generated against SARS-CoV-2 in equines have high neutralization titers and have broad target-range against the evolving variants, making passive immunotherapy a potential regimen against the existing and evolving SARS-CoV-2 variants in combating COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Divya Gupta
- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India
| | - Farhan Ahmed
- School of Life Sciences, Department of Animal Biology, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad 500046, Telangana, India
| | - Dixit Tandel
- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India,Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | | | - Dhiviya Vedagiri
- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India,Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Vishal Sah
- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India,Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | | | - Rafiq Ahmad Khan
- School of Life Sciences, Department of Animal Biology, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad 500046, Telangana, India
| | | | | | - Sandesh Jain
- VINS Bio Products Limited, Hyderabad 500034, Telangana, India
| | - Shashikala Reddy
- Department of Microbiology, Osmania Medical College, Koti, Hyderabad 500096, Telangana, India
| | - Jerald Mahesh Kumar
- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India
| | - Nooruddin Khan
- School of Life Sciences, Department of Animal Biology, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad 500046, Telangana, India,Corresponding authors
| | - Krishnan Harinivas Harshan
- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India,Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India,Corresponding authors
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Gupta D, Parthasarathy H, Sah V, Tandel D, Vedagiri D, Reddy S, Harshan KH. Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 by β-propiolactone causes aggregation of viral particles and loss of antigenic potential. Virus Res 2021; 305:198555. [PMID: 34487766 PMCID: PMC8416322 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2021.198555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Inactivated viral preparations are important resources in vaccine and antisera industry. Of the many vaccines that are being developed against COVID-19, inactivated whole-virus vaccines are also considered effective. β-propiolactone (BPL) is a widely used chemical inactivator of several viruses. Here, we analyze various concentrations of BPL to effectively inactivate SARS-CoV-2 and their effects on the biochemical properties of the virion particles. BPL at 1:2000 (v/v) concentrations effectively inactivated SARS-CoV-2. However, higher BPL concentrations resulted in the loss of both protein content as well as the antigenic integrity of the structural proteins. Higher concentrations also caused substantial aggregation of the virion particles possibly resulting in insufficient inactivation, and a loss in antigenic potential. We also identify that the viral RNA content in the culture supernatants can be a direct indicator of their antigenic content. Our findings may have important implications in the vaccine and antisera industry during COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Divya Gupta
- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500007, India
| | | | - Vishal Sah
- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500007, India; Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Dixit Tandel
- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500007, India; Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Dhiviya Vedagiri
- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500007, India; Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Shashikala Reddy
- Department of Microbiology, Osmania Medical College, Koti, Hyderabad 500095, Telangana, India
| | - Krishnan H Harshan
- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500007, India; Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India.
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