Biology subjects

Purcell, D. F. J.

Publications and source records attributed to Purcell, D. F. J..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

mRNA vaccines encoding membrane-anchored receptor-binding domains of SARS-CoV-2 mutants induce strong humoral responses and can overcome immune imprinting

To address the limitations of whole-spike COVID vaccines, we explored mRNA vaccines encoding membrane-anchored receptor-binding domain (RBD-TMs), each a fusion of a variant RBD, the transmembrane (TM) and cytoplasmic tail (CT) fragments of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. In naive mice, RBD-TM mRNA vaccines against ancestral SARS-CoV-2, Beta, Delta, Delta-plus, Kappa, Omicron BA.1 or BA.5, all induced strong humoral responses against the target RBD. Multiplex surrogate viral neutralization (sVNT) assays indicated broad neutralizing activity against a range of variant RBDs. In the setting of a heterologous boost, against the background of exposure to ancestral whole spike vaccines, sVNT studies suggested that RBD-TM vaccines were able to overcome the detrimental effects of immune imprinting. Omicron BA.1 and BA.5 RBD-TM booster vaccines induced serum antibodies with 12 and 22-fold higher neutralizing activity against the target RBD than their equivalent whole spike variants. Boosting with BA.1 or BA.5 RBD-TM provided good protection against more recent variants including XBB and XBB.1.5. Each RBD-TM mRNA is 28% of the length of its whole-spike equivalent. This advantage will enable tetravalent mRNA vaccines to be developed at well-tolerated doses of formulated mRNA. One Sentence SummarymRNA vaccines encoding membrane-anchored RBDs of SARS-CoV-2 mutants are effective vaccines that can overcome immune imprinting in mice

immunology↗

bioRxiv2021

SARS-CoV-2 Spike receptor-binding domain with a G485R mutation in complex with human ACE2

Since SARS-CoV-2 emerged in 2019, genomic sequencing has identified mutations in the viral RNA including in the receptor-binding domain of the Spike protein. Structural characterisation of the Spike carrying point mutations aids in our understanding of how these mutations impact binding of the protein to its human receptor, ACE2, and to therapeutic antibodies. The Spike G485R mutation has been observed in multiple isolates of the virus and mutation of the adjacent residue E484 to lysine is known to contribute to antigenic escape. Here, we have crystallised the SARS-CoV-2 Spike receptor-binding domain with a G485R mutation in complex with human ACE2. The crystal structure shows that while the G485 residue does not have a direct interaction with ACE2, its mutation to arginine affects the structure of the loop made by residues 480-488 in the receptor-binding motif, disrupting the interactions of neighbouring residues with ACE2 and with potential implications for antigenic escape from vaccines, antibodies and other biologics directed against SARS-CoV-2 Spike.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2020

Transcriptional and epi-transcriptional dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 during cellular infection

SARS-CoV-2 uses subgenomic (sg)RNA to produce viral proteins for replication and immune evasion. We applied long-read RNA and cDNA sequencing to in vitro human and primate infection models to study transcriptional dynamics. Transcription-regulating sequence (TRS)-dependent sgRNA was upregulated earlier in infection than TRS-independent sgRNA. An abundant class of TRS-independent sgRNA consisting of a portion of ORF1ab containing nsp1 joined to ORF10 and 3UTR was upregulated at 48 hours post infection in human cell lines. We identified double-junction sgRNA containing both TRS-dependent and independent junctions. We found multiple sites at which the SARS-CoV-2 genome is consistently more modified than sgRNA, and that sgRNA modifications are stable across transcript clusters, host cells and time since infection. Our work highlights the dynamic nature of the SARS-CoV-2 transcriptome during its replication cycle. Our results are available via an interactive web-app at http://coinlab.mdhs.unimelb.edu.au/.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2018

A Multiplex Droplet Digital PCR Assay for Quantification of HTLV-1c DNA Proviral Load and T-Cells from Blood and Respiratory Exudates Sampled in a Remote Setting

During human T-cell leukemia virus type-1 (HTLV-1) infection the frequency of cells harboring an integrated copy of viral cDNA, the proviral load (PVL), is the main risk factor for progression of HTLV-1-associated diseases. Accurate quantification of provirus by droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) is a powerful diagnostic tool with emerging uses for monitoring viral expression. Current ddPCR techniques quantify HTLV-1 PVL in terms of whole genomic cellular material, while the main target of HTLV-1 infection is the CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell. Our understanding of HTLV-1 proliferation and the amount of viral burden present in different compartments is limited. Recently a sensitive ddPCR assay was applied to quantifying T-cells by measuring loss of germline T-cell receptor genes as method of distinguishing non-T-cell from recombined T-cell DNA. In this study, we demonstrated and validated novel applications of the duplex ddPCR assay to quantify T-cells from various sources of human gDNA extracted from frozen material (PBMCs, bronchoalveolar lavage, and induced sputum) from a cohort of remote Indigenous Australians and then compared the T-cell measurements by ddPCR to the prevailing standard method of flow cytometry. The HTLV-1c PVL was then calculated in terms of extracted T-cell gDNA from various compartments. Because HTLV-1c preferentially infects CD4+ T-cells, and the amount of viral burden correlates with HTLV-1c disease pathogenesis, application of this ddPCR assay to accurately measure HTLV-1c-infected T-cells can be of greater importance for clinical diagnostics, prognostics as well as monitoring therapeutic applications.

microbiology↗