Currently, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) has spread worldwide as an Omicron variant. This variant is a heavily mutated virus and designated as a variant of concern by ...the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO cautioned that the Omicron variant of SARS‐CoV‐2 held a very high risk of infection, reigniting anxieties about the economy's recovery from the 2‐year pandemic. The extensively mutated Omicron variant is likely to spread internationally, posing a high risk of infection surges with serious repercussions in some areas. According to preliminary data, the Omicron variant of SARS‐CoV‐2 has a higher risk of reinfection. On the other hand, whether the current COVID‐19 vaccines could effectively resist the new strain is still under investigation. However, there is very limited information on the current situation of the Omicron variant, such as genomics, transmissibility, efficacy of vaccines, treatment, and management. This review focused on the genomics, transmission, and effectiveness of vaccines against the Omicron variant, which will be helpful for further investigation of a new variant of SARS‐CoV‐2.
Highlights
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) Omicron variant is a heavily mutated virus and designated as a variant of concern.
This variant may evade vaccine‐induced immunity.
There might have increased risk of SARS‐CoV‐2 reinfection by the Omicron variant.
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.
The host–guest chemistry of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) has enabled the derivation of numerous new functionalities. However, intrinsically chiral MOFs (CMOFs) with helical channels have not been ...used to realize crystalline circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials. Herein, enantiomeric pairs of MOF crystals are reported, where achiral fluorophores adhere to the inner surface of helical channels via biology‐like H‐bonds and hence inherit the helicity of the host MOFs, eventually amplifying the luminescence dissymmetry factor (glum) of the host l/d‐CMOF (±1.50 × 10−3) to a maximum of ±0.0115 for the composite l/d‐CMOF⊃fluorophores. l/d‐CMOF⊃fluorophores in pairs generate bright color‐tunable CPL and almost ideal white CPL (0.33, 0.32) with a record‐high photoluminescence quantum yield of ≈30%, which are further assembled into a white circularly polarized light‐emitting diode. The present strategy opens a new avenue for propagating the chirality of MOFs to realize universal chiroptical materials.
Achiral‐aggregation‐caused quenching fluorophores are helically arranged in the chiral channels of enantiomeric metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) for color‐tunable and bright white circularly polarized luminescence (photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY), ≈33%). The experimental results indicate that the helical arrangement is superior to the ET process in the amplification of the luminescence dissymmetry factor. Also, the MOF‐based composites are assembled into a bright white circularly polarized light‐emitting diode (PLQY, ≈30%).
The polybasic furin cleavage site insertion with four amino acid motifs (PRRA) in spike protein's S1/S2 junction site is important in determining viral infectivity, transmission, and host range. ...However, there is no review so far explaining the effect of the furin cleavage site of the spike protein on SARS‐CoV‐2 replication and pathogenesis in the host and immune responses and vaccination. Therefore, here we specifically focused on genomic evolution and properties of the cleavage site of spike protein in the context of SARS‐CoV‐2 followed by its effect on viral entry, replication, and pathogenesis. We also explored whether the spike protein furin cleavage site affected the host immune responses and SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccination. This review will help to provide novel insights into the effects of polybasic furin cleavage site on the current COVID‐19 pandemic.
Highlights
The genomic evolution and properties of the cleavage site of spike protein in the context of SARS‐CoV‐2 are discussed.
The effects of furin cleavage site of spike protein on viral entry, replication, and pathogenesis are reviewed.
Whether the host immune responses and SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccination are affected by the spike protein furin cleavage site was also discussed.
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 gut microbiota regulates the biological processes of organisms acting like 'another' genome, affecting the health and disease of the host. MicroRNAs, as important physiological regulators, have ...been found to be involved in health and disease. Recently, the gut microbiota has been reported to affect host health by regulating host miRNAs. For example, Fusobacterium nucleatum could aggravate chemoresistance of colorectal cancer by decreasing the expression of miR-18a* and miR-4802. What's more, miRNAs can shape the gut microbiota composition, ultimately affecting the host's physiology and disease. miR-515-5p and miR-1226-5p could promote the growth of Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) and Escherichia coli (E.coli), which have been reported to drive colorectal cancer. Here, we will review current findings of the interactions between the gut microbiota and microRNAs and discuss how the gut microbiota-microRNA interactions affect host pathophysiology including intestinal, neurological, cardiovascular, and immune health and diseases.
Increasing evidence suggests that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play crucial roles in various biological processes. However, little is known about the effects of lncRNAs on autophagy. Here we report ...that a lncRNA, termed cardiac autophagy inhibitory factor (CAIF), suppresses cardiac autophagy and attenuates myocardial infarction by targeting p53-mediated myocardin transcription. Myocardin expression is upregulated upon H
O
and ischemia/reperfusion, and knockdown of myocardin inhibits autophagy and attenuates myocardial infarction. p53 regulates cardiomyocytes autophagy and myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury by regulating myocardin expression. CAIF directly binds to p53 protein and blocks p53-mediated myocardin transcription, which results in the decrease of myocardin expression. Collectively, our data reveal a novel CAIF-p53-myocardin axis as a critical regulator in cardiomyocyte autophagy, which will be potential therapeutic targets in treatment of defective autophagy-associated cardiovascular diseases.
Gut microbiota, an integral part of the human body, comprise bacteria, fungi, archaea, and protozoa. There is consensus that the disruption of the gut microbiota (termed “gut dysbiosis”) is ...influenced by host genetics, diet, antibiotics, and inflammation, and it is closely linked to the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases, such as obesity and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Macrophages are the key players in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis by eliminating invading pathogens and exhibit extreme plasticity of their phenotypes, such as M1 or M2, which have been demonstrated to exert pro- and anti-inflammatory functions. Microbiota-derived metabolites, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and Gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS), exert anti-inflammatory or pro-inflammatory effects by acting on macrophages. Understanding the role of macrophages in gut microbiota-inflammation interactions might provide us a novel method for preventing and treating inflammatory diseases. In this review, we summarize the recent research on the relationship between gut microbiota and inflammation and discuss the important role of macrophages in this context.
The gut microbiota, as the main member in gut microecology, is an essential mediator in health and disease. The gut microbiota interacts with various organs and systems in the body, including brain, ...lung, liver, bone, cardiovascular system, and others. Microbiota-derived metabolites such as the short chain fatty acid (SCFA) butyrate are primary signals, which link the gut microbiota and physiology. Recently, the gut microbiota has been identified as the origin of a number of diseases by influencing the related cell signaling pathways such as WNT/beta-catenin pathway in colorectal cancer and T cell receptor signaling in the central nervous system. Moreover, several microRNAs participate in signaling networks through the intervention of the gut microbiota. The interaction between the gut microbiota and miRNAs plays a crucial role in vascular dysfunction and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this review, we will report and discuss recent findings about the crosstalk between the gut microbiota and physical organs and how the gut microbiota and miRNAs regulate each other while influencing the host via genes, proteins, or metabolites.
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