Cellular and humoral immunity following two AZD1222 and two booster vaccinations in hemodialysis patients.

Background: Dialysis patients are vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection and subsequent complications. However, the vaccine-induced immunity, especially against new variants, following two AZD1222 and two booster doses in hemodialysis patients remain largely unknown.

Methods: In this observational cohort study, we monitored immune responses in 127 hemodialysis patients receiving the 3 and 4th vaccinations until three months after the 4th immunization.

Severe enterovirus A71 pathogenesis and immune responses in human nucleolin transgenic mice.

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) infection is known to cause hand-foot-mouth disease, which may develop severe symptoms such as encephalitis, herpangina, and paralysis, leading to pulmonary edema and even death in children under five years old. Existing animal models for EV-A71 pathogenesis have limitations, necessitating novel models to study human-relevant disease mechanisms. Using glycoproteomic profiling to identify EV-A71-interacting proteins, we previously discovered human nucleolin (hNCL) as an attachment molecule that enhances viral binding and infection in vitro.

Plasminogen deficiency reduces disease severity and immune responses in enterovirus A71-infected mice.

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is a causative agent of hand, foot, and mouth diseases. EV-A71 infections may result in severe neurological complications in children. Although several receptors or attachment molecules for EV-A71 have been identified, EV-A71 can still infect host cells even after blocking these receptors with antibodies.

Infection of Neuronal Cells by Severe Case Enterovirus A71 Enhances NF-κB Activity and Increases NF-κB Related Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines.

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is the main pathogen of hand-foot-and-mouth disease and sometimes causes neurological disease complications in severe cases. The most recent large EV-A71 outbreak in Taiwan occurred in 2012. We aimed to investigate the gene expression profile of human neuroblastoma cells infected with mild and severe case EV-A71 isolates.

A non-structural protein 1 substitution of dengue virus enhances viral replication by interfering with the antiviral signaling pathway.

Background: The largest dengue virus 2 (DENV2) outbreak occurred in Taiwan in 2015, resulting in many fatalities. We therefore aim to identify crucial genetic variations which determine the virulence of the 2015 Taiwan outbreak strains.

Methods: We compared the 2015 Taiwan DENV2 sequences to the pre-2015 sequences.

The molecular epidemiology of a dengue virus outbreak in Taiwan: population wide versus infrapopulation mutation analysis.

Dengue virus (DENV) causes approximately 390 million dengue infections worldwide every year. There were 22,777 reported DENV infections in Tainan, Taiwan in 2015. In this study, we sequenced the C-prM-E genes from 45 DENV 2015 strains, and phylogenetic analysis based on C-prM-E genes revealed that all strains were classified as DENV serotype 2 Cosmopolitan genotype.

VP1 codon deoptimization and high-fidelity substitutions in 3D polymerase as potential vaccine strategies for eliciting immune responses against enterovirus A71.

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) can induce severe neurological complications and even fatal encephalitis in children, and it has caused several large outbreaks in Taiwan since 1998. We previously generated VP1 codon-deoptimized (VP1-CD) reverse genetics (rg) EV-A71 viruses (rgEV-A71s) that harbor a high-fidelity (HF) 3D polymerase. These VP1-CD-HF rgEV-A71s showed lower replication kinetics and decreased virulence in an Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mouse model of EV-A71 infection, while still retaining their antigenicity in comparison to the wild-type virus.

Acyclovir-resistant HSV-1 isolates among immunocompromised patients in southern Taiwan: Low prevalence and novel mutations.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) can establish latency in humans and easily relapse in immunocompromised patients, with significant mortality. Treatment with acyclovir (ACV) can result in the emergence of HSV resistance. A total of 440 frozen HSV-1 isolates collected from 318 patients from January 2014 to July 2019 were obtained from National Cheng Kung University Hospital in southern Taiwan.

Detection of live SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants by specially designed SERS-active substrates and spectroscopic analyses.

A method using label-free surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) based on substrate design is provided for an early detection and differentiation of spike glycoprotein mutation sites in live SARS-CoV-2 variants. Two SERS-active substrates, Au nanocavities (Au NCs) and Au NPs on porous ZrO (Au NPs/pZrO), were used to identify specific peaks of A.3, Alpha, and Delta variants at different concentrations and demonstrated the ability to provide their SERS spectra with detection limits of 0.

Propagation and immunological characterization of coxsackievirus A10 in a serum-free HEK293A cell culture system.

Coxsackievirus A10 (CVA10) is one of enteroviral pathogens that cause the hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). Since CVA10 was reported to be not easily propagated in the Vero cell culture, a feasible manufacture process for producing formalin-inactivated CVA10 vaccine is urgently needed. Several cell lines that commonly used for viral vaccine production was tested for CVA10 (M2014 strain) culture in this study, and our result showed that CVA10 could be easily propagated in the HEK293A cells.

Negative regulation of type I interferon signaling by integrin-linked kinase permits dengue virus replication.

Dengue virus (DENV) infection can induce life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome in infected patients. DENV is a threat to global health due to its growing numbers and incidence of infection in the last 50 years. During infection, DENV expresses ten structural and nonstructural proteins modulating cell responses to benefit viral replication.

Antigenic mapping of enterovirus A71 from Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is a non-enveloped virus possessing 4 capsid proteins: VP1-VP4. The outermost capsid protein, VP1, plays roles in both antigenicity and virulence of the virus. The concept of generating other EV-A71 genotypes of reverse genetics (rg) viruses by replacing VP1 can be made possible with synthetic biotechnology, allowing us to redesign organisms, creating unavailable ones.

Trajectory of Humoral Responses to Two Doses of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Vaccination in Patients Receiving Maintenance Hemodialysis.

The ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine is one of the most commonly delivered SARS-CoV-2 vaccines worldwide; however, few clinical studies have investigated its immunogenicity in dialysis patients. We prospectively enrolled 123 patients on maintenance hemodialysis at a medical center in Taiwan. All patients were infection-naive, had received two doses of the AZD1222 vaccine, and were monitored for 7 months.

Serological responses triggered by different SARS-CoV-2 vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 variants in Taiwan.

Broadly neutralizing ability is critical for developing the next-generation SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. We collected sera samples between December 2021-January 2022 from 113 Taiwan naïve participants after their second dose of homologous vaccine (AZD1222, mRNA-1273, BNT162-b2, and MVC-COV1901) and compared the differences in serological responses of various SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Compared to AZD1222, the two mRNA vaccines could elicit a higher level of anti-S1-RBD binding antibodies with higher broadly neutralizing ability evaluated using pseudoviruses of various SARS-CoV-2 lineages.

Simultaneous detection of antibody responses to multiple SARS-CoV-2 antigens by a Western blot serological assay.

The nucleic acid test is still the standard assessment for the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by human infection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In addition to supporting the confirmation of disease cases, serological assays are used for the analysis of antibody status and epidemiological surveys. In this study, a single Western blot strip (WBS) coated with multiple Escherichia coli (E.

Antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 S1-RBD cross-react with dengue virus and hinder dengue pathogenesis.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread globally since December 2019. Several studies reported that SARS-CoV-2 infections may produce false-positive reactions in dengue virus (DENV) serology tests and vice versa. However, it remains unclear whether SARS-CoV-2 and DENV cross-reactive antibodies provide cross-protection against each disease or promote disease severity.