Publications

Animal models recapitulating COVID-19 are critical to enhance our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis. Intranasally inoculated transgenic mice expressing human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 under the cytokeratin 18 promoter (K18-hACE2) represent a lethal model of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We evaluated the clinical and virological dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 using two intranasal doses (104 and 106 PFUs), with a detailed spatiotemporal pathologic analysis of the 106 dose cohort.

Hepatitis B virus infections are the main reason for hepatocellular carcinoma development. Current treatment reduces the viral load but rarely leads to virus elimination. Despite its medical importance, little is known about infection dynamics on the cellular level not at least due to technical obstacles. Regardless of infections leading to extreme viral loads, which may reach 1010 virions per mL serum, hepatitis B viruses are of low abundance and productivity in individual cells.

Felis catus gammaherpesvirus-1 (FcaGHV1), a novel candidate oncogenic virus, infects cats worldwide. Whether the oropharynx is a site of virus shedding and persistence, and whether oronasal carcinomas harbor FcaGHV1 nucleic acid were investigated. In a prospective molecular epidemiological study, FcaGHV1 DNA was detected by cPCR in oropharyngeal swabs from 26/155 (16.8%) of cats.

Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor (Gipr) gene expression has been reported in mouse spermatids and Gipr knockout male mice have previously been reported to have decreased in vitro fertilization, although the role of Gipr signaling in male mouse fertility is not well understood.The purposes of these studies were to determine the role of glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor in male fertility using Gipr knockout mice and anti-glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor antibody-treated wild-type mice and to determine if the expression of Gipr in m

Two years after the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, our understanding of COVID-19 disease pathogenesis is still incomplete. Despite unprecedented global collaborative scientific efforts and rapid vaccine development, an uneven vaccine roll-out and the emergence of novel variants of concern such as omicron underscore the critical importance of identifying the mechanisms that contribute to this disease.

The exact etiopathology of chilblains observed during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is still unclear. Initially, SARS-CoV-2 appeared as the obvious causing agent, but two years of various investigations have failed to convincingly support its direct implication. Most affected individuals have no detectable virus, no anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and no symptoms of COVID-19. Analyses of skin biopsies similarly failed to unambiguously demonstrate presence of the virus or its genome.

Usher syndrome (USH) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by sensorineural hearing loss, progressive pigmentary retinopathy, and vestibular dysfunction. The degree and onset of hearing loss vary among subtypes I, II, and III, while blindness often occurs in the second to fourth decades of life. Usher type III (USH3), characterized by postlingual progressive sensorineural hearing loss, varying levels of vestibular dysfunction, and varying degrees of visual impairment, typically manifests in the first to second decades of life.

Proper thyroid hormone signaling via the TRα1 nuclear receptor is required for normal neurodevelopmental processes. The specific downstream mechanisms mediated by TRα1 that impact brain development remain to be investigated.In this study, the structure, function, and transcriptome of hippocampal tissue in a mouse model expressing the first RTHα mutation discovered in a patient, THRAE403X, were analyzed. RNAscope was used to visualize the spatial and temporal expression of Thra1 mRNA in the hippocampus of wild-type mice, which corresponds to THRA1 mRNA in humans.

Podocalyxin (PODXL) is a newly identified key negative regulator of human endometrial receptivity, specifically down-regulated in the luminal epithelium at receptivity to permit embryo implantation. Here, we bioinformatically compared the molecular characteristics of PODXL among the human, rhesus macaque and mouse, determined by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization (mouse tissues) whether endometrial PODXL expression is conserved across the three species, and examined if PODXL inhibits mouse embryo attachment in vitro.

Diabetes leads to intestinal barrier dysfunction. 5-Hydroxytryptamine receptor 4 (5-HT4R) is distributed in the colonic mucosa, but little is known about the role of 5-HT4R activation in diabetes-evoked colonic barrier dysfunction. This study investigates whether activation of 5-HT4Rs on goblet cells (GCs) protects the colon from commensal bacterial translocation in diabetic mice. Expression of 5-HT4R detected inside the colonic epithelium by RNAscope in situ hybridization was further observed within the mucin 2 (MUC2)-immunoreactive GCs.