Search

The novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) is a highly infectious acute respiratory disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Related Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) (Prec Clin Med 2020;3:9-13, Lancet 2020;395:497-506, N. Engl J Med 2020a;382:1199-207, Nature 2020;579:270-3). SARS-CoV-2 surveillance is essential to controlling widespread transmission. However, there are several challenges associated with the diagnostic of the COVID-19 during the current outbreak (Liu and Li (2019), Nature 2020;579:265-9, N. Engl J Med 2020;382:727-33). Firstly, the high number of cases overwhelms diagnostic test capacity and proposes the need for a rapid solution for sample processing (Science 2018;360:444-8). Secondly, SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to other important coronavirus species and subspecies, so detection assays can give false-positive results if they are not efficiently specific to SARS-CoV-2. Thirdly, patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection sometimes have a different respiratory viral infection or co-infections with SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses (MedRxiv 2020a;1-18). Confirmation of the COVID-19 is performed mainly by virus isolation followed by RT-PCR and sequencing (N. Engl J Med 2020;382:727-33, MedRxiv 2020a, Turkish J Biol 2020;44:192-202). The emergence and outbreak of the novel coronavirus highlighted the urgent need for new therapeutic technologies that are fast, precise, stable, easy to manufacture, and target-specific for surveillance and treatment. Molecular biology tools that include gene-editing approaches such as CRISPR-Cas12/13-based SHERLOCK, DETECTR, CARVER and PAC-MAN, antisense oligonucleotides, antisense peptide nucleic acids, ribozymes, aptamers, and RNAi silencing approaches produced with cutting-edge scientific advances compared to conventional diagnostic or treatment methods could be vital in COVID-19 and other future outbreaks. Thus, in this review, we will discuss potent the molecular biology approaches that can revolutionize diagnostic of viral infections and therapies to fight COVID-19 in a highly specific, stable, and efficient way.

Additional file 1: Figure S1. Karyotype analysis of healthy donor and GS-2 iPSC clones. For karyotyping, iPSC cultures were trypsinized and treated with a hypotonic salt solution. 10 metaphases were captured and analysed. Shown here are the karyotypes of a healthy donor (left, GP) and the 3 GS-2 patient-derived iPSCs (IK, YF, YKÇ). Figure S2. Upper panel: iPSCs were co-cultured with Op9 cells in presence of HDM2 medium (StemMACS HSC expansion medium, 1X STF, 10 μg/mL rhBMP-4), resulting in low level expression of CD34. Lower panel: further expansion of iPSC-derived HSCs in StemMACS HSC expansion medium, 1X STF for 21 days resulted in expansion of CD43+, CD34+, CD45+ HSCs. Table S1. Primer sequences used for RT-PCR. Table S2. Differentiation capacity of healthy donor and GS-2 BM-MSCs. For adipogenic differentiation, MSCs were cultured in DMEM-LG, supplemented with 10% FBS, 1 μM dexamethasone, 60 μM indometacin, 500 μM 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine and 5 μg/mL insulin. After 3 weeks, cells were stained with 2 mg/mL Oil Red O (ORO, Sigma-Aldrich O0625). ORO dye was extracted from the cells using %2 Igepal and measured at 496 nm on a microplate reader. For osteogenic differentiation, MSCs were cultured in DMEM-LG, 10% FBS, 100 nM dexamethasone, 10 mM beta-glycerophosphate and 0,2 mM L-ascorbic acid. Calcium levels were measured using the Quantichrom Calcium Analysis kit (BioAssay Systems, DICA-500). Table S3. Immunophenotype of healthy donor and GS-2 BM-MSCs. MSCs from healthy donors and GS-2 patients were generally positive for MSC-specific surface antigens (CD29, CD44, CD73, CD90, CD105 and CD166) and negative for hematopoietic and endothelial cell markers. No significant differences were found in expression of cell surface antigens by MSCs between the healthy donors and GS-2 patients.

Stem cell therapy offers a great advantage for the development of new treatments in the field of regenerative and restorative medicine. However, the use of stem cell therapies and their clinical indications can even be further improved using genetic modification of the cells. Due to the high level of consanguineous marriages in Turkey, the country suffers from an increased frequency of inborn genetically inherited diseases. Treatment of these diseases is difficult, since 1) diagnosis is often delayed in rural areas, 2) distance to specialized centers may be considerable, 3) treatment may require frequent hospital visits and 4) treatment procedures are often both invasive and expensive. Here, we discuss the current status of gene therapy of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for rare, inherited monogenic diseases and the advantages to use these cells as an alternative treatment option for patients in Turkey. We discuss results of clinical trials using retroviral and lentiviral gene therapy for the treatment of immune deficiencies, hemoglobinopathies and several enzyme deficiencies, new developments in the field of the HSC gene therapy to improve safety and efficacy and recommendations for the future. Kök hücre tedavisi rejeneratif tıp ve restoratif tıp alanlarında yeni tedavilerin geliştirilmesi için büyük avantaj sağlamaktadır. Böylelikle, kök hücre tedavilerinin kullanımı ve bunların klinik endikasyonları hücrelerin genetik modifikasyonu ile geliştirilebilmektedir. Türkiye’deki akraba evlilik oranının fazla olmasından dolayı, yenidoğan genetik kalıtsal hastalıkların insidası artmaktadır ve bu durum bir sorun teşkil etmektedir. Bu hastalıkların tedavi edilmesi; 1) kırsal bölgelerde hastalığın sıklıkla geç teşhisi, 2) Özel merkezlerin uzak olması, 3) Tedavilerin sık hastane kontrolü gerektirmesi, 4) Tedavi prosedürlerinin hem pahalı hem de invazif olması nedenleriyle zordur. Bu makalede nadir kalıtsal monogenik hastalıklar için hematopoetik kök hücre (HKH) gen tedavisinin güncel durumları ve Türkiye’deki hastalar için alternatif bir tedavi seçeneği olarak kullanımının avantajları tartışılacaktır. İmmun yetmezlikler, hemoglobinopatiler, birçok enzim eksikliklerinde retroviral ve lentiviral gen tedavi klinik çalışma sonuçları, HKH gen tedavisi alanındaki yeni gelişmeler, güvenlik ve etkinliğin artırılması ve gelecekteki öneriler tartışılacaktır.

Background: Griscelli syndrome type 2 (GS-2) is a rare, autosomal recessive immune deficiency syndrome caused by a mutation in the RAB27A gene, which results in the absence of a protein involved in vesicle trafficking and consequent loss of function of in particular cytotoxic T and NK cells. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) express genes associated with pluripotency, have the capacity for infinite expansion, and can differentiate into cells from all three germ layers. They can be induced using integrative or non-integrative systems for transfer of the Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and cMyc (OSKM) transcription factors. To better understand the pathophysiology of GS-2 and to test novel treatment options, there is a need for an in vitro model of GS-2. Methods: here, we generated iPSCs from 3 different GS-2 patients using lentiviral vectors. The iPSCs were characterized using flow cytometry and RT-PCR and tested for the expression of pluripotency markers. In vivo differentiation to cells from all three germlines was tested using a teratoma assay. In vitro differentiation of GS-2 iPSCs into hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells was done using Op9 feeder layers and specified media. Results: all GS-2 iPSC clones displayed a normal karyotype (46XX or 46XY) and were shown to express the same RAB27A gene mutation that was present in the original somatic donor cells. GS-2 iPSCs expressed SSEA1, SSEA4, TRA-1-60, TRA-1-81, and OCT4 proteins, and SOX2, NANOG, and OCT4 expression were confirmed by RT-PCR. Differentiation capacity into cells from all three germ layers was confirmed using the teratoma assay. GS-2 iPSCs showed the capacity to differentiate into cells of the hematopoietic lineage. Conclusions: using the lentiviral transfer of OSKM, we were able to generate different iPSC clones from 3 GS-2 patients. These cells can be used in future studies for the development of novel treatment options and to study the pathophysiology of GS-2 disease., Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK)

Soluble ACE2 (sACE2) decoys are promising agents to inhibit SARS-CoV-2, as their efficiency is unlikely to be affected by escape mutations. However, their success is limited by their relatively poor potency. To address this challenge, multimeric sACE2 consisting of SunTag or MoonTag systems is developed. These systems are extremely effective in neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 in pseudoviral systems and in clinical isolates, perform better than the dimeric or trimeric sACE2, and exhibit greater than 100-fold neutralization efficiency, compared to monomeric sACE2. SunTag or MoonTag fused to a more potent sACE2 (v1) achieves a sub-nanomolar IC50, comparable with clinical monoclonal antibodies. Pseudoviruses bearing mutations for variants of concern, including delta and omicron, are also neutralized efficiently with multimeric sACE2. Finally, therapeutic treatment of sACE2(v1)-MoonTag provides protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in an in vivo mouse model. Therefore, highly potent multimeric sACE2 may offer a promising treatment approach against SARS-CoV-2 infections., Koç University Isbank Center for Infectious Diseases (KUISCID); Koç University Research Center for Transla-tional Medicine (KUTTAM)