Scholarly Works, Entomology

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https://hdl.handle.net/10919/24305
Research articles, presentations, and other scholarship

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Browsing Scholarly Works, Entomology by Department "Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology"

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    La Crosse Virus Shows Strain-Specific Differences in Pathogenesis
    Wilson, Sarah N.; López, Krisangel; Coutermarsh-Ott, Sheryl; Auguste, Dawn I.; Porier, Danielle L.; Armstrong, Philip M.; Andreadis, Theodore G.; Eastwood, Gillian; Auguste, A. Jonathan (MDPI, 2021-03-29)
    La Crosse virus (LACV) is the leading cause of pediatric viral encephalitis in North America, and is an important public health pathogen. Historically, studies involving LACV pathogenesis have focused on lineage I strains, but no former work has explored the pathogenesis between or within lineages. Given the absence of LACV disease in endemic regions where a robust entomological risk exists, we hypothesize that some LACV strains are attenuated and demonstrate reduced neuroinvasiveness. Herein, we compared four viral strains representing all three lineages to determine differences in neurovirulence or neuroinvasiveness using three murine models. A representative strain from lineage I was shown to be the most lethal, causing >50% mortality in each of the three mouse studies. However, other strains only presented excessive mortality (>50%) within the suckling mouse neurovirulence model. Neurovirulence was comparable among strains, but viruses differed in their neuroinvasive capacities. Our studies also showed that viruses within lineage III vary in pathogenesis with contemporaneous strains, showing reduced neuroinvasiveness compared to an ancestral strain from the same U.S. state (i.e., Connecticut). These findings demonstrate that LACV strains differ markedly in pathogenesis, and that strain selection is important for assessing vaccine and therapeutic efficacies.
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    Noble Metal Organometallic Complexes Display Antiviral Activity against SARS-CoV-2
    Chuong, Christina; DuChane, Christine M.; Webb, Emily M.; Rai, Pallavi; Marano, Jeffrey M.; Bernier, Chad M.; Merola, Joseph S.; Weger-Lucarelli, James (MDPI, 2021-05-25)
    SARS-CoV-2 emerged in 2019 as a devastating viral pathogen with no available preventative or treatment to control what led to the current global pandemic. The continued spread of the virus and increasing death toll necessitate the development of effective antiviral treatments to combat this virus. To this end, we evaluated a new class of organometallic complexes as potential antivirals. Our findings demonstrate that two pentamethylcyclopentadienyl (Cp*) rhodium piano stool complexes, Cp*Rh(1,3-dicyclohexylimidazol-2-ylidene)Cl2 (complex 2) and Cp*Rh(dipivaloylmethanato)Cl (complex 4), have direct virucidal activity against SARS-CoV-2. Subsequent in vitro testing suggests that complex 4 is the more stable and effective complex and demonstrates that both 2 and 4 have low toxicity in Vero E6 and Calu-3 cells. The results presented here highlight the potential application of organometallic complexes as antivirals and support further investigation into their activity.