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Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-28T19:47:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2022-01-15 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos The SARS-CoV-2 alpha VOC (also known as lineage B.1.1.7) initially described in the autumn, 2020 in UK, rapidly became the dominant lineage across much of Europe. Despite multiple studies reporting molecular evidence suggestive of its circulation in Brazil, much is still unknown about its genomic diversity in the state of São Paulo, the main Brazilian economic and transportation hub. To get more insight regarding its transmission dynamics into the State we performed phylogenetic analysis on all alpha VOC strains obtained between February and August 2021 from the Sao Paulo state Network for Pandemic Alert of Emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. The performed phylogenetic analysis showed that most of the alpha VOC genomes were interspersed with viral strains sampled from different Brazilian states and other countries suggesting that multiple independent Alpha VOC introductions from Brazil and overseas have occurred in the São Paulo State over time. Nevertheless, large monophyletic clusters were also observed especially from the Central-West part of the São Paulo State (the city of Bauru) and the metropolitan region of the São Paulo city. Our results highlight the Alpha VOC molecular epidemiology in the São Paulo state and reinforce the need for continued genomic surveillance strategies for the real-time monitoring of potential emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants during the ever-growing vaccination process. University of São Paulo Ribeirão Preto Medical School Blood Center of Ribeirão Preto Butantan Institute University of São Paulo Centro de Genômica Funcional da ESALQ NGS Soluções Genômicas Mendelics Análise Genômica SA São Paulo State University (UNESP) School of Agricultural Sciences Department of Bioprocesses and Biotechnology Department of Veterinary Medicine School of Animal Science and Food Engineering University of Sao Paulo Medicine School of São José do Rio Preto (FAMERP) São José do Rio Preto Molecular Biology Laboratory Applied Biotechnology Laboratory Clinical Hospital of the Botucatu Medical School Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Belo Horizonte Instituto Oswaldo Cruz FIOCRUZ Rio de Janeiro University of São Paulo Ribeirão Preto Medical School São Paulo State University (UNESP) School of Agricultural Sciences Department of Bioprocesses and Biotechnology Molecular Biology Laboratory Applied Biotechnology Laboratory Clinical Hospital of the Botucatu Medical School FAPESP: 2017/26950–6 FAPESP: 2018/15826–5 FAPESP: 2019/08528–0 FAPESP: 2020/10127; 2020/05367–3 Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos: 207.234

The typical characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be affected by inflammatory microenvironment; however, the exact contribution of HTLV-1 to MSC dysfunction remains to be elucidated. In this study, we demonstrated that MSC cell surface molecules VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 are upregulated by contact with HTLV-1, and HLA-DR was most highly expressed in MSCs co-cultured with MT2 cells. The expression levels of VCAM-1 and HLA-DR were increased in MSCs cultured in the presence of PBMCs isolated from HTLV-1-infected symptomatic individuals compared with those cultured with cells from asymptomatic infected individuals or healthy subjects. HTLV-1 does not impair the MSC differentiation process into osteocytes and adipocytes. In addition, MSCs were efficiently infected with HTLV-1 in vitro through direct contact with HTLV-1-infected cells; however, cell-free virus particles were not capable of causing infection. In summary, HTLV-1 can alter MSC function, and this mechanism may contribute to the pathogenesis of this viral infection.