Featured Publications
Unadjuvanted intranasal spike vaccine elicits protective mucosal immunity against sarbecoviruses
Mao T, Israelow B, Peña-Hernández MA, Suberi A, Zhou L, Luyten S, Reschke M, Dong H, Homer RJ, Saltzman WM, Iwasaki A. Unadjuvanted intranasal spike vaccine elicits protective mucosal immunity against sarbecoviruses. Science 2022, 378: eabo2523. PMID: 36302057, PMCID: PMC9798903, DOI: 10.1126/science.abo2523.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsRespiratory mucosaSystemic immunityLethal SARS-CoV-2 infectionAcute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemicSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemicSARS-CoV-2 infectionProtective mucosal immunityCross-reactive immunityT cell responsesCoronavirus 2 pandemicPrimary vaccinationParenteral vaccinesMucosal immunityVaccine strategiesRespiratory tractImmunoglobulin AMemory BImmune memoryPartial immunityCell responsesPoor immunityImmunitySpike proteinMucosaVaccine
2022
Mild respiratory COVID can cause multi-lineage neural cell and myelin dysregulation
Fernández-Castañeda A, Lu P, Geraghty AC, Song E, Lee MH, Wood J, O'Dea MR, Dutton S, Shamardani K, Nwangwu K, Mancusi R, Yalçın B, Taylor KR, Acosta-Alvarez L, Malacon K, Keough MB, Ni L, Woo PJ, Contreras-Esquivel D, Toland AMS, Gehlhausen JR, Klein J, Takahashi T, Silva J, Israelow B, Lucas C, Mao T, Peña-Hernández MA, Tabachnikova A, Homer RJ, Tabacof L, Tosto-Mancuso J, Breyman E, Kontorovich A, McCarthy D, Quezado M, Vogel H, Hefti MM, Perl DP, Liddelow S, Folkerth R, Putrino D, Nath A, Iwasaki A, Monje M. Mild respiratory COVID can cause multi-lineage neural cell and myelin dysregulation. Cell 2022, 185: 2452-2468.e16. PMID: 35768006, PMCID: PMC9189143, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.06.008.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsSARS-CoV-2 infectionMicroglial reactivityCognitive impairmentCSF cytokines/chemokinesCytokines/chemokinesSARS-CoV-2Early time pointsCCL11 levelsMild COVIDRespiratory influenzaHippocampal neurogenesisOligodendrocyte lossHippocampal pathologyMyelin lossNeurological symptomsImpaired neurogenesisCOVID survivorsNeurobiological effectsNeural dysregulationMyelin dysregulationCCL11Neural cellsTime pointsNeurogenesisMiceInflammasome activation in infected macrophages drives COVID-19 pathology
Sefik E, Qu R, Junqueira C, Kaffe E, Mirza H, Zhao J, Brewer JR, Han A, Steach HR, Israelow B, Blackburn HN, Velazquez SE, Chen YG, Halene S, Iwasaki A, Meffre E, Nussenzweig M, Lieberman J, Wilen CB, Kluger Y, Flavell RA. Inflammasome activation in infected macrophages drives COVID-19 pathology. Nature 2022, 606: 585-593. PMID: 35483404, PMCID: PMC9288243, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04802-1.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsInflammasome activationLung inflammationInflammatory responseInfected macrophagesSARS-CoV-2 infectionHuman macrophagesChronic lung pathologyPersistent lung inflammationSevere COVID-19Immune inflammatory responseInflammatory cytokine productionHumanized mouse modelNLRP3 inflammasome pathwayCOVID-19 pathologyCOVID-19SARS-CoV-2Productive viral cycleHyperinflammatory stateChronic stageIL-18Cytokine productionInflammatory cytokinesLung pathologyInflammasome pathwayInterleukin-1High-affinity, neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 can be made without T follicular helper cells
Chen JS, Chow RD, Song E, Mao T, Israelow B, Kamath K, Bozekowski J, Haynes WA, Filler RB, Menasche BL, Wei J, Alfajaro MM, Song W, Peng L, Carter L, Weinstein JS, Gowthaman U, Chen S, Craft J, Shon JC, Iwasaki A, Wilen CB, Eisenbarth SC. High-affinity, neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 can be made without T follicular helper cells. Science Immunology 2022, 7: eabl5652. PMID: 34914544, PMCID: PMC8977051, DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abl5652.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsSARS-CoV-2 infectionSARS-CoV-2Follicular helper cellsB cell responsesHelper cellsAntibody productionCell responsesSARS-CoV-2 vaccinationB-cell receptor sequencingSevere COVID-19Cell receptor sequencingIndependent antibodiesT cell-B cell interactionsViral inflammationAntiviral antibodiesImmunoglobulin class switchingVirus infectionGerminal centersViral infectionClonal repertoireInfectionAntibodiesClass switchingCOVID-19Patients
2021
A humanized mouse model of chronic COVID-19
Sefik E, Israelow B, Mirza H, Zhao J, Qu R, Kaffe E, Song E, Halene S, Meffre E, Kluger Y, Nussenzweig M, Wilen CB, Iwasaki A, Flavell RA. A humanized mouse model of chronic COVID-19. Nature Biotechnology 2021, 40: 906-920. PMID: 34921308, PMCID: PMC9203605, DOI: 10.1038/s41587-021-01155-4.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsChronic COVID-19Humanized mouse modelImmune responseMouse modelAcute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infectionSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infectionSyndrome coronavirus 2 infectionCOVID-19Adaptive human immune responsesInterferon-stimulated gene signaturePersistent viral RNACoronavirus 2 infectionPatient-derived antibodiesT-cell lymphopeniaHuman immune responseHyperactive immune responseCoronavirus disease 2019Inflammatory macrophage responseImmunological injuryLung pathologyCell lymphopeniaDisease 2019Severe diseaseRodent modelsInflammatory macrophagesA stem-loop RNA RIG-I agonist protects against acute and chronic SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice
Mao T, Israelow B, Lucas C, Vogels CBF, Gomez-Calvo ML, Fedorova O, Breban MI, Menasche BL, Dong H, Linehan M, Alpert T, Anderson F, Earnest R, Fauver J, Kalinich C, Munyenyembe K, Ott I, Petrone M, Rothman J, Watkins A, Wilen C, Landry M, Grubaugh N, Pyle A, Iwasaki A. A stem-loop RNA RIG-I agonist protects against acute and chronic SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice. Journal Of Experimental Medicine 2021, 219: e20211818. PMID: 34757384, PMCID: PMC8590200, DOI: 10.1084/jem.20211818.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsSARS-CoV-2 infectionChronic SARS-CoV-2 infectionVariants of concernLethal SARS-CoV-2 infectionPost-infection therapyLower respiratory tractPost-exposure treatmentType I interferonSARS-CoV-2Effective medical countermeasuresAdaptive immune systemBroad-spectrum antiviralsContext of infectionSingle doseRespiratory tractViral controlImmunodeficient miceSevere diseaseMouse modelI interferonViral infectionImmune systemInnate immunityDisease preventionConsiderable efficacyAdaptive immune determinants of viral clearance and protection in mouse models of SARS-CoV-2
Israelow B, Mao T, Klein J, Song E, Menasche B, Omer SB, Iwasaki A. Adaptive immune determinants of viral clearance and protection in mouse models of SARS-CoV-2. Science Immunology 2021, 6: eabl4509. PMID: 34623900, PMCID: PMC9047536, DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abl4509.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsSARS-CoV-2Viral clearanceImmune determinantsMouse modelSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2Acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2Respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2Cellular adaptive immunitySyndrome coronavirus 2Vivo protective capacityVariants of concernMRNA vaccinationHomologous infectionCellular immunityConvalescent miceCoronavirus 2Antibody responsePrimary infectionEffective vaccineAdaptive immunityConfer protectionInfectionNatural infectionProtective capacityClearanceDiverse functional autoantibodies in patients with COVID-19
Wang EY, Mao T, Klein J, Dai Y, Huck JD, Jaycox JR, Liu F, Zhou T, Israelow B, Wong P, Coppi A, Lucas C, Silva J, Oh JE, Song E, Perotti ES, Zheng NS, Fischer S, Campbell M, Fournier JB, Wyllie AL, Vogels CBF, Ott IM, Kalinich CC, Petrone ME, Watkins AE, Dela Cruz C, Farhadian S, Schulz W, Ma S, Grubaugh N, Ko A, Iwasaki A, Ring A. Diverse functional autoantibodies in patients with COVID-19. Nature 2021, 595: 283-288. PMID: 34010947, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03631-y.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsPeripheral immune cell compositionSARS-CoV-2 infectionCOVID-19Effects of autoantibodiesTissue-associated antigensSpecific clinical characteristicsInnate immune activationImmune cell compositionCOVID-19 exhibitCOVID-19 manifestsAnalysis of autoantibodiesSARS-CoV-2Functional autoantibodiesMouse surrogateClinical characteristicsVirological controlClinical outcomesImmune activationMild diseaseAsymptomatic infectionAutoantibody reactivityDisease progressionHealthcare workersHigh prevalenceAutoantibodiesNeuroinvasion of SARS-CoV-2 in human and mouse brain
Song E, Zhang C, Israelow B, Lu-Culligan A, Prado AV, Skriabine S, Lu P, Weizman OE, Liu F, Dai Y, Szigeti-Buck K, Yasumoto Y, Wang G, Castaldi C, Heltke J, Ng E, Wheeler J, Alfajaro MM, Levavasseur E, Fontes B, Ravindra NG, Van Dijk D, Mane S, Gunel M, Ring A, Kazmi SAJ, Zhang K, Wilen CB, Horvath TL, Plu I, Haik S, Thomas JL, Louvi A, Farhadian SF, Huttner A, Seilhean D, Renier N, Bilguvar K, Iwasaki A. Neuroinvasion of SARS-CoV-2 in human and mouse brain. Journal Of Experimental Medicine 2021, 218: e20202135. PMID: 33433624, PMCID: PMC7808299, DOI: 10.1084/jem.20202135.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsSARS-CoV-2Central nervous systemSARS-CoV-2 neuroinvasionImmune cell infiltratesCOVID-19 patientsType I interferon responseMultiple organ systemsCOVID-19I interferon responseHuman brain organoidsNeuroinvasive capacityCNS infectionsCell infiltrateNeuronal infectionPathological featuresCortical neuronsRespiratory diseaseDirect infectionCerebrospinal fluidNervous systemMouse brainInterferon responseOrgan systemsHuman ACE2Infection
2020
Mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 reveals inflammatory role of type I interferon signaling
Israelow B, Song E, Mao T, Lu P, Meir A, Liu F, Alfajaro MM, Wei J, Dong H, Homer RJ, Ring A, Wilen CB, Iwasaki A. Mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 reveals inflammatory role of type I interferon signaling. Journal Of Experimental Medicine 2020, 217: e20201241. PMID: 32750141, PMCID: PMC7401025, DOI: 10.1084/jem.20201241.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeSH KeywordsAngiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2AnimalsBetacoronavirusCell Line, TumorCoronavirus InfectionsCOVID-19DependovirusDisease Models, AnimalFemaleHumansInflammationInterferon Type ILungMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLMice, TransgenicPandemicsParvoviridae InfectionsPeptidyl-Dipeptidase APneumonia, ViralSARS-CoV-2Signal TransductionVirus ReplicationConceptsSARS-CoV-2Type I interferonMouse modelI interferonRobust SARS-CoV-2 infectionSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2Acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2SARS-CoV-2 infectionRespiratory syndrome coronavirus 2SARS-CoV-2 replicationCOVID-19 patientsSyndrome coronavirus 2Patient-derived virusesSignificant fatality ratePathological findingsInflammatory rolePathological responseEnzyme 2Receptor angiotensinFatality rateVaccine developmentGenetic backgroundViral replicationCoronavirus diseaseMice