This study describes possible transmission of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from an asymptomatic Wuhan resident to 5 family members in Anyang, a Chinese city in the neighboring province ...of Hubei.
Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have recently emerged as a type of uniformly and periodically atom‐distributed precursor and efficient self‐sacrificial template to fabricate hierarchical ...porous‐carbon‐related nanostructured functional materials. For the first time, a Cu‐based MOF, i.e., Cu‐NPMOF is used, whose linkers contain nitrogen and phosphorus heteroatoms, as a single precursor and template to prepare novel Cu3P nanoparticles (NPs) coated by a N,P‐codoped carbon shell that is extended to a hierarchical porous carbon matrix with identical uniform N and P doping (termed Cu3P@NPPC) as an electrocatalyst. Cu3P@NPPC demonstrates outstanding activity for both the hydrogen evolution and oxygen reduction reaction, representing the first example of a Cu3P‐based bifunctional catalyst for energy‐conversion reactions. The high performances are ascribed to the high specific surface area, the synergistic effects of the Cu3P NPs with intrinsic activity, the protection of the carbon shell, and the hierarchical porous carbon matrix doped by multiheteroatoms. This strategy of using a diverse MOF as a structural and compositional material to create a new multifunctional composite/hybrid may expand the opportunities to explore highly efficient and robust non‐noble‐metal catalysts for energy‐conversion reactions.
Cu3P nanoparticles coated by a N,P‐codoped carbon shell (hierarchical porous carbon matrix) are prepared using a novel Cu‐based metal–organic framework (MOF) containing dual linkers as a template and single precursor. The Cu3P@NPPC catalyst demonstrates a high specific surface area and affords remarkable bifunctional electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen reduction reaction with long‐term durability for both reactions.
The COVID-19 pandemic is the third outbreak this century of a zoonotic disease caused by a coronavirus, following the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003
and Middle East ...respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012
. Treatment options for coronaviruses are limited. Here we show that clofazimine-an anti-leprosy drug with a favourable safety profile
-possesses inhibitory activity against several coronaviruses, and can antagonize the replication of SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV in a range of in vitro systems. We found that this molecule, which has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, inhibits cell fusion mediated by the viral spike glycoprotein, as well as activity of the viral helicase. Prophylactic or therapeutic administration of clofazimine in a hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis led to reduced viral loads in the lung and viral shedding in faeces, and also alleviated the inflammation associated with viral infection. Combinations of clofazimine and remdesivir exhibited antiviral synergy in vitro and in vivo, and restricted viral shedding from the upper respiratory tract. Clofazimine, which is orally bioavailable and comparatively cheap to manufacture, is an attractive clinical candidate for the treatment of outpatients and-when combined with remdesivir-in therapy for hospitalized patients with COVID-19, particularly in contexts in which costs are an important factor or specialized medical facilities are limited. Our data provide evidence that clofazimine may have a role in the control of the current pandemic of COVID-19 and-possibly more importantly-in dealing with coronavirus diseases that may emerge in the future.
Under these rules, a newly emerged virus is normally assigned to a species based on phylogeny and taxonomy.4 Through DivErsity pArtitioning by hieRarchical Clustering-based analyses,5 the newly ...emerged coronavirus was deemed not sufficiently novel but is a sister virus to SARS-CoV, the primary viral isolate defining the species. For various reasons, the name of a disease and its causative viral pathogen can be different, as exemplified by acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Given that SARS-CoV-2 is already being used in the scientific literature, a name change at this stage would cause confusion in the scientific community.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an ongoing global health emergency. Here we highlight nine most important research ...questions concerning virus transmission, asymptomatic and presymptomatic virus shedding, diagnosis, treatment, vaccine development, origin of virus and viral pathogenesis.
Continuing research on the preparation and structural determination of monolayer-protected silver clusters has been performed. The compounds include mixed-valence Ag
0/1+
clusters and single-valence ...Ag
1+
clusters, which contain a few to tens or hundreds of Ag atoms that are protected by organic ligands. Sometimes, counter ions and extraneous species appear in their crystalline state. These non-metal parts define the shell layers of silver clusters. Strong coordination bonds and weak supramolecular interactions have been employed not only to modify the shell configurations and components of discrete silver clusters but also to hierarchically assemble silver clusters, producing novel cluster-based functional materials with unexpected physical and chemical properties. Atomically-precise structures help to map out definite electronic structures and structure-property correlations, enabling precise control of shell layers to achieve desired stability and specific functionalities. In this Tutorial Review, based on classic silver cluster paradigms, we first summarize the strategies and recent advances in precise modification and hierarchical assembly of well-defined silver clusters through shell engineering. Second, the correlations of structure-property and structure-functionality are summarized. Of these, the most important is structure-luminescence relationship, which is discussed in detail. In this topic, the uniqueness and prospect of silver clusters as potential lighting materials are scrutinized. Finally, the existing challenges and perspectives of functional silver clusters are presented. The general strategic design presented in this Review will motivate researchers to exploit the development of functionality-oriented materials based on nanosized building blocks in the enrichment of nanotechnology and material science.
This tutorial review focuses on the modification and assembly of atomically-precise silver clusters by changing shell layers for more stability and functionalities, especially for brighter luminescence.
The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus, is now causing a tremendous global health concern. Since its first appearance in December 2019, the outbreak ...has already caused over 5.8 million infections worldwide (till 29 May 2020), with more than 0.35 million deaths. Early virus-mediated immune suppression is believed to be one of the unique characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infection and contributes at least partially to the viral pathogenesis. In this study, we identified the key viral interferon antagonists of SARS-CoV-2 and compared them with two well-characterized SARS-CoV interferon antagonists, PLpro and orf6. Here we demonstrated that the SARS-CoV-2 nsp13, nsp14, nsp15 and orf6, but not the unique orf8, could potently suppress primary interferon production and interferon signalling. Although SARS-CoV PLpro has been well-characterized for its potent interferon-antagonizing, deubiquitinase and protease activities, SARS-CoV-2 PLpro, despite sharing high amino acid sequence similarity with SARS-CoV, loses both interferon-antagonising and deubiquitinase activities. Among the 27 viral proteins, SARS-CoV-2 orf6 demonstrated the strongest suppression on both primary interferon production and interferon signalling. Orf6-deleted SARS-CoV-2 may be considered for the development of intranasal live-but-attenuated vaccine against COVID-19.
World Health Organization has declared the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The virus was named severe acute respiratory ...syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Human infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to a wide range of clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic, mild, moderate to severe. The severe cases present with pneumonia, which can progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome. The outbreak provides an opportunity for real-time tracking of an animal coronavirus that has just crossed species barrier to infect humans. The outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection is largely determined by virus-host interaction. Here, we review the discovery, zoonotic origin, animal hosts, transmissibility and pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 in relation to its interplay with host antiviral defense. A comparison with SARS-CoV, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, community-acquired human coronaviruses and other pathogenic viruses including human immunodeficiency viruses is made. We summarize current understanding of the induction of a proinflammatory cytokine storm by other highly pathogenic human coronaviruses, their adaptation to humans and their usurpation of the cell death programmes. Important questions concerning the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 and host antiviral defence, including asymptomatic and presymptomatic virus shedding, are also discussed.
The novel SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (B.1.1.529), first found in early November 2021, has sparked considerable global concern and it has >50 mutations, many of which are known to affect ...transmissibility or cause immune escape. In this study, we sought to investigate the virological characteristics of the Omicron variant and compared it with the Delta variant which has dominated the world since mid-2021. Omicron variant replicated more slowly than the Delta variant in transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2)-overexpressing VeroE6 (VeroE6/TMPRSS2) cells. Notably, the Delta variant replicated well in Calu3 cell line which has robust TMPRSS2 expression, while the Omicron variant replicated poorly in this cell line. Competition assay showed that Delta variant outcompeted Omicron variant in VeroE6/TMPRSS2 and Calu3 cells. To confirm the difference in entry pathway between the Omicron and Delta variants, we assessed the antiviral effect of bafilomycin A1, chloroquine (inhibiting endocytic pathway), and camostat (inhibiting TMPRSS2 pathway). Camostat potently inhibited the Delta variant but not the Omicron variant, while bafilomycin A1 and chloroquine could inhibit both Omicron and Delta variants. Moreover, the Omicron variant also showed weaker cell-cell fusion activity when compared with Delta variant in VeroE6/TMPRSS2 cells. Collectively, our results suggest that Omicron variant infection is not enhanced by TMPRSS2 but is largely mediated via the endocytic pathway. The difference in entry pathway between Omicron and Delta variants may have an implication on the clinical manifestations or disease severity.
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