Orally administered BZL-s RNA-20 oligonucleotide targeting TLR4 effectively ameliorates acute lung injury in mice

The global COVID-19 pandemic emerged at the end of December 2019.Acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS)and acute lung injury(ALI)are common lethal outcomes of bacterial lipopolysaccharide(LPS),avian influenza virus,and SARS-Co V-2.Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4)is a key target in the pathological pathway of ARDS and ALI.Previous studies have reported that herbal small RNAs(s RNAs)are a functional medical component.BZL-s RNA-20(Accession number:B59471456;Family ID:F2201.Q001979.B11)is a potent inhibitor of Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4)and pro-inflammatory cytokines.Furthermore,BZLs RNA-20 reduces intracellular levels of cytokines induced by lipoteichoic acid(LTA)and polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid(poly(I:C)).We found that BZL-s RNA-20 rescued the viability of cells infected with avian influenza H5N1,SARS-Co V-2,and several of its variants of concern(VOCs).Acute lung injury induced by LPS and SARS-Co V-2 in mice was significantly ameliorated by the oral medical decoctosome mimic(bencaosome;sphinganine(d22:0)+BZL-s RNA-20).Our findings suggest that BZLs RNA-20 could be a pan-anti-ARDS/ALI drug.

Tauroursodeoxycholic acid(TUDCA) inhibits influenza A viral infection by disrupting viral proton channel M2

Influenza is a persistent threat to human health and there is a continuing requirement for updating antiinfluenza strategies. Initiated by observations of different endoplasmic reticulum(ER) responses of host to seasonal H1N1 and highly pathogenic avian influenza(HPAI) A H5N1 infections, we identified an alternative antiviral role of tauroursodeoxycholic acid(TUDCA), a clinically available ER stress inhibitor, both in vitro and in vivo. Rather than modulating ER stress in host cells, TUDCA abolished the proton conductivity of viral M2 by disrupting its oligomeric states, which induces inefficient viral infection. We also showed that M2 penetrated cells, whose intracellular uptake depended on its proton channel activity,an effect observed in both TUDCA and M2 inhibitor amantadine. The identification and application of TUDCA as an inhibitor of M2 proton channel will expand our understanding of IAV biology and complement current anti-IAV arsenals.

Development of a ferritin-based nanoparticle vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

Dear Editor,The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on global health,resulting in over 6.2 million deaths worldwide.Continuous emergence of adaptive mutations of SARS-CoV-2 alters its pathogenicity and transmissibility,and renders its resistance to current vaccines and antiviral drugs.1 A new variant named Omicron discovered initially in South Africa has recently been proposed as a variant of concern(VOC)by the World Health Organization,because of its high transmissibility and resistance to current vaccines and therapeutic antibodies.2 Therefore,development of vaccines against prevalent variants including Omicron is urgently needed for COVID-19 prevention.

Avian influenza viruses suppress innate immunity by inducingtrans-transcriptional readthrough via SSU72

Innate immunity plays critical antiviral roles. The highly virulent avian influenza viruses (AIVs) H5N1, H7N9, and H5N6 can betterescape host innate immune responses than the less virulent seasonal H1N1 virus. Here, we report a mechanism by whichtranscriptional readthrough (TRT)-mediated suppression of innate immunity occurs post AIV infection. By using cell lines, mouselungs, and patient PBMCs, we showed that genes on the complementary strand (“trans” genes) influenced by TRT were involved inthe disruption of host antiviral responses during AIV infection. The trans-TRT enhanced viral lethality, and TRT abolishmentincreased cell viability and STAT1/2 expression. The viral NS1 protein directly bound to SSU72, and degradation of SSU72 inducedTRT. SSU72 overexpression reduced TRT and alleviated mouse lung injury. Our results suggest that AIVs infection induce TRT byreducing SSU72 expression, thereby impairing host immune responses, a molecular mechanism acting through the NS1-SSU72-trans-TRT-STAT1/2 axis. Thus, restoration of SSU72 expression might be a potential strategy for preventing AIV pandemics.

Corrigendum to"Tauroursodeoxycholic acid(TUDCA)inhibits influenza A viral infection by disrupting viral proton channel M2"[Sci.Bull.,64(3)(2019)180-188]

Following the published article[1].the authors noticed an error duplication of image of DAPI in Fig.2c"AF"and"No pretreated and without TUDCA".The correct DAPI image was in the merged image of"No pretreated and without TUDCA"of the published article.Therefore,the corrected Fig.2c should be as follows:The online version of the original artice can be found at https://doi.org/10.101/j.scib.2018.08.0131.