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1. Interactions of heparin with key glycoproteins of human respiratory syncytial virus

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2023.1151174  

   Shi, Deling; He, Peng; Song, Yuefan; Linhardt, Robert J; Dordick, Jonathan S; Chi, Lianli; Zhang, Fuming (April 2023, Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences)

   Introduction:The unexpected surge of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases following pandemic phase of COVID-19 has drawn much public attention. Drawing on the latest antiviral research, revisiting this heightened annual outbreak of respiratory disease could lead to new treatments. The ability of sulfated polysaccharides to compete for a variety of viruses binding to cell surface heparan sulfate, suggests several drugs that might have therapeutic potential for targeting RSV–glycosaminoglycan interactions. Methods:In the current study, the binding affinity and kinetics of two RSV glycoproteins (RSV-G protein and RSV-F protein) to heparin were investigated by surface plasmon resonance. Furthermore, solution competition studies using heparin oligosaccharides of different lengths indicated that the binding of RSV-G protein to heparin is size-dependent, whereas RSV-F protein did not show any chain length preference. Results and discussion:The two RSV glycoproteins have slightly different preferences for heparin sulfation patterns, but theN-sulfo group in heparin was most critical for the binding of heparin to both RSV-G protein and RSV-F protein. Finally, pentosan polysulfate and mucopolysaccharide polysulfate were evaluated for their inhibition of the RSV-G protein and RSV-F protein–heparin interaction, and both highly negative compounds showed strong inhibition. 

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2. Single-Cell Transcriptomics of Epstein-Barr Virus and Human Herpesvirus 6 Coinfection

   https://doi.org/10.1128/mra.00342-23  

   Miranda, JJ L. (July 2023, Microbiology Resource Announcements)

   Roux, Simon (Ed.)

   ABSTRACT Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) infections are widespread in human populations. Here, I describe single-cell RNA sequencing of two lymphoblastoid cell lines harboring both episomal EBV and inherited chromosomally integrated HHV-6. Rare instances of HHV-6 expression appear enriched with EBV reactivation. 

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3. Climate Change Impact on Human-Rodent Interfaces: Modeling Junin Virus Reservoir Shifts

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-025-01723-z  

   Flores-Pérez, Nuri; Kulkarni, Pranav; Uhart, Marcela; Pandit, Pranav_S (June 2025, EcoHealth)

   Abstract The drylands vesper mouse (Calomys musculinus)is the primary host forJunin mammarenavirus(JUNV), the etiological agent of Argentine hemorrhagic fever in humans. We assessed the potential distribution ofC. musculinusand identified disease transmission hotspots under current climatic conditions and projected future scenarios, including severe (Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5) and intermediate (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5) climate change scenarios in 2050 and 2070. Utilizing tree-based machine learning algorithms, we modeledC. musculinusdistribution by incorporating bioclimatic and landscape predictors. The model showed strong performance, achievingF-scores between 80.22 and 83.09%. Key predictors indicated thatC. musculinusprefers warm temperatures, moderate annual precipitation, low precipitation variability, and low pasture coverage. Under the severe climate change scenario, suitable areas for the rodent and hotspots for potential disease decreased. The intermediate scenario showed an expansion inC. musculinusdistribution alongside increased potential hotspot zones. Despite the complexity of ecological systems and the limitations of the model, our findings offer a framework for preventive measures and ecological studies in regions prone to the expansion ofC. musculinusand in hotspots for disease transmission driven by climate change. 

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4. Fate of the Urinary Tract Virus BK Human Polyomavirus in Source-Separated Urine

   https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02374-17  

   Goetsch, Heather E.; Zhao, Linbo; Gnegy, Mariah; Imperiale, Michael J.; Love, Nancy G.; Wigginton, Krista R.; Elkins, Christopher A. (April 2018, Applied and Environmental Microbiology)

   ABSTRACT Human polyomaviruses are emerging pathogens that infect a large percentage of the human population and are excreted in urine. Consequently, urine that is collected for fertilizer production often has high concentrations of polyomavirus genes. We studied the fate of infectious double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) BK human polyomavirus (BKPyV) in hydrolyzed source-separated urine with infectivity assays and quantitative PCR (qPCR). Although BKPyV genomes persisted in the hydrolyzed urine for long periods of time ( T 90 [time required for 90% reduction in infectivity or gene copies] of >3 weeks), the viruses were rapidly inactivated ( T 90 of 1.1 to 11 h) in most of the tested urine samples. Interestingly, the infectivity of dsDNA bacteriophage surrogate T3 ( T 90 of 24 to 46 days) was much more persistent than that of BKPyV, highlighting a major shortcoming of using bacteriophages as human virus surrogates. Pasteurization and filtration experiments suggest that BKPyV virus inactivation was due to microorganism activity in the source-separated urine, and SDS-PAGE Western blots showed that BKPyV protein capsid disassembly is concurrent with inactivation. Our results imply that stored urine does not pose a substantial risk of BKPyV transmission, that qPCR and infectivity of the dsDNA surrogate do not accurately depict BKPyV fate, and that microbial inactivation is driven by structural elements of the BKPyV capsid. IMPORTANCE We demonstrate that a common urinary tract virus has a high susceptibility to the conditions in hydrolyzed urine and consequently would not be a substantial exposure route to humans using urine-derived fertilizers. The results have significant implications for understanding virus fate. First, by demonstrating that the dsDNA (double-stranded DNA) genome of the polyomavirus lasts for weeks despite infectivity lasting for hours to days, our work highlights the shortcomings of using qPCR to estimate risks from unculturable viruses. Second, commonly used dsDNA surrogate viruses survived for weeks under the same conditions that BK polyomavirus survived for only hours, highlighting issues with using virus surrogates to predict how human viruses will behave in the environment. Finally, our mechanistic inactivation analysis provides strong evidence that microbial activity drives rapid virus inactivation, likely through capsid disassembly. Overall, our work underlines how subtle structural differences between viruses can greatly impact their environmental fate. 

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5. Spatial Modeling and Analysis of Human Traffic and Infectious Virus Spread in Community Networks

   https://doi.org/10.1109/EMBC46164.2021.9630798  

   Zhang, Siqi; Yang, Hui (November 2021, 2021 43rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBC))

   The use of network models to study the spread of infectious diseases is gaining increasing interests. They allow the flexibility to represent epidemic systems as networks of components with complex and interconnected structures. However, most of previous studies are based on networks of individuals as nodes and their social relationships (e.g., friendship, workplace connections) as links during the virus spread process. Notably, the transmission and spread of infectious viruses are more pertinent to human dynamics (e.g., their movements and interactions with others) in the spatial environment. This paper presents a novel network-based simulation model of human traffic and virus spread in community networks. We represent spatial points of interests (POI) as nodes where human subjects interact and perform activities, while edges connect these POIs to form a community network. Specifically, we derive the spatial network from the geographical information systems (GIS) data to provide a detailed representation of the underlying community network, on which human subjects perform activities and form traffics that impact the process of virus transmission and spread. The proposed framework is evaluated and validated in a community of university campus. Experimental results showed that the proposed simulation model is capable of describing interactive human activities at an individual level, as well as capturing the spread dynamics of infectious diseases. This framework can be extended to a wide variety of infectious diseases and shows strong potentials to aid the design of intervention policies for epidemic control. 

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