New preprint on flavivirus-host interactions with friend and collaborator Armando who spent a couple of months visiting the lab to do the interactomics with us.

Buscamos candidatos para solicitar un contrato predoctoral durante la próxima convocatoria que publicará la UCLM. Si estás interesado manda un DM o un correo a armando.arias@uclm.es y adjunta CV y expediente académico

Detection of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) in wastewater samples: a wake-up call, Finland, Germany, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, 2024 In 2024, circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) was detected in wastewater samples in Finland, Germany, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom (UK). All strains were genetically linked, ...

"The simultaneous detection of genetically related cVDPV2 strains in different sites in Europe further justifies keeping the PHEIC active"

www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2...

De novo designed proteins neutralize lethal snake venom toxins - Nature Deep learning methods have been used to design proteins that can neutralize the effects of three-finger toxins found in snake venom, which could lead to the development of safer and more accessible an...

EXTREMELY cool and demonstrates clearly the promise of deep learning + bio.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Germany confirms first case of foot-and-mouth disease in nearly 40 years German authorities confirmed the country's first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in nearly 40 years on Friday in a herd of water buffalo on the outskirts of Berlin.

Let's hope this has been/will be contained

'Germany confirms first case of foot-and-mouth disease in nearly 40 years'

www.reuters.com/business/hea...

Want to keep track of the H5 viruses that are circulating so widely, and infecting so many animals now - including cows and humans!

Identification and characterization of novel bat coronaviruses in Spain

One of the viruses can use human and bat ACE2, highlighting its zoonotic potential !
https://buff.ly/407W983

In summary, UBA1-NS5 interaction plays a significant role during flavivirus replication, and constitutes an attractive target for antiviral strategies

Treatment of infected cells with UBA1 inhibitors, including TAK243 which is being clinically trialled against other human diseases, showed an antiviral effect

UBA1 knockdown restricted Zika (and Usutu) virus replication. UBA1 overexpression led to significant increases in virus titres and viral protein levels. These data supported a proviral role for UBA1

We identified host UBA1, the main E1 enzyme participating in the ubiquitylation cascade, as an interacting factor of different flavivirus NS5s. We confirmed that UBA1 and NS5 colocalise in Zika-infected cells

Ubiquitin-like modifier-activating enzyme 1 interacts with Zika virus NS5 and promotes viral replication in the infected cell Translation errors, impaired folding or environmental stressors (e.g. infection) can all lead to an increase in the presence of misfolded proteins. These activate cellular responses to their removal, ...

Glad to see our work on the proviral activity exhibited by UBA1, a host protein interacting with Zika virus NS5, finally published on JGV doi.org/10.1099/jgv....

PhDs in biochemistry, structural biology, pharmacology, or similar, located in the US and with strong publication track records and a high motivation to solve Parkinson's, please send CV directly to me at jimhurley@berkeley.edu.
Repost appreciated.

It won’t end with COVID: Countering the next phase of American antivaccine activism 2025–29

Peter Hotez writes on how to counter the next wave of anti-vaccine activism in @plosglobalpublichealth.org

🧪
journals.plos.org/globalpublic...

Phenotypic evolution of SARS-CoV-2 spike during the COVID-19 pandemic - Nature Microbiology Systematic comparison of SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins from pre- and post-Omicron variants in cell lines, primary respiratory epithelial cells and Syrian hamsters show distinct phenotypic trajectories in ...

For those interested in how SARS-CoV-2 is evolving, I found this paper to be interesting: Furnon et al, “Phenotypic evolution of SARS-CoV-2 spike during the COVID-19 pandemic”, Nature Microbiology, www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Some of my notes about this paper: (1/13)