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 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 efficacyLongitudinal Immune Profiling of a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Reinfection in a Solid Organ Transplant Recipient
Klein J, Brito AF, Trubin P, Lu P, Wong P, Alpert T, Peña-Hernández MA, Haynes W, Kamath K, Liu F, Vogels CBF, Fauver JR, Lucas C, Oh J, Mao T, Silva J, Wyllie AL, Muenker MC, Casanovas-Massana A, Moore AJ, Petrone ME, Kalinich CC, Dela Cruz C, Farhadian S, Ring A, Shon J, Ko AI, Grubaugh ND, Israelow B, Iwasaki A, Azar MM, Team F. Longitudinal Immune Profiling of a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Reinfection in a Solid Organ Transplant Recipient. The Journal Of Infectious Diseases 2021, 225: 374-384. PMID: 34718647, PMCID: PMC8807168, DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiab553.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reinfectionLongitudinal immune profilingTransplant recipientsImmune profilingPrimary SARS-CoV-2 infectionCD4 T cell poolMale renal transplant recipientSolid organ transplant recipientsSARS-CoV-2 reinfectionSARS-CoV-2 antibodiesSARS-CoV-2 infectionWhole viral genome sequencingRenal transplant recipientsImmune escape mutationsOrgan transplant recipientsT cell poolTime of reinfectionCoronavirus disease 2019Lower neutralization titersHumoral memory responsesViral genome sequencingInitial diagnosisImmunologic deficiencyHumoral responseImmunologic investigationsReply to: A finding of sex similarities rather than differences in COVID-19 outcomes
Takahashi T, Ellingson MK, Wong P, Israelow B, Lucas C, Klein J, Silva J, Mao T, Oh JE, Tokuyama M, Lu P, Venkataraman A, Park A, Liu F, Meir A, Sun J, Wang EY, Casanovas-Massana A, Wyllie AL, Vogels CBF, Earnest R, Lapidus S, Ott IM, Moore AJ, Shaw A, Fournier JB, Odio CD, Farhadian S, Dela Cruz C, Grubaugh ND, Schulz WL, Ring AM, Ko AI, Omer SB, Iwasaki A. Reply to: A finding of sex similarities rather than differences in COVID-19 outcomes. Nature 2021, 597: e10-e11. PMID: 34552250, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03645-6.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAdaptive 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 capacityClearanceKynurenic acid may underlie sex-specific immune responses to COVID-19
Cai Y, Kim DJ, Takahashi T, Broadhurst DI, Yan H, Ma S, Rattray NJW, Casanovas-Massana A, Israelow B, Klein J, Lucas C, Mao T, Moore AJ, Muenker MC, Oh JE, Silva J, Wong P, team Y, Ko AI, Khan SA, Iwasaki A, Johnson CH. Kynurenic acid may underlie sex-specific immune responses to COVID-19. Science Signaling 2021, 14: eabf8483. PMID: 34230210, PMCID: PMC8432948, DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.abf8483.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsKynurenic acidImmune responseClinical outcomesSex-specific immune responsesT cell responsesPoor clinical outcomeCOVID-19 patientsCoronavirus disease 2019COVID-19Sex-related differencesMale patientsCytokine abundanceInflammatory cytokinesKynurenine ratioSerum metabolomeDisease 2019Sex-specific linkKynurenine aminotransferaseCell responsesOld malePatientsMalesOutcomesResponseMetabolitesRapid, reliable, and reproducible cell fusion assay to quantify SARS-Cov-2 spike interaction with hACE2
Zhao M, Su PY, Castro DA, Tripler TN, Hu Y, Cook M, Ko AI, Farhadian SF, Israelow B, Dela Cruz CS, Xiong Y, Sutton RE, Team T. Rapid, reliable, and reproducible cell fusion assay to quantify SARS-Cov-2 spike interaction with hACE2. PLOS Pathogens 2021, 17: e1009683. PMID: 34166473, PMCID: PMC8263067, DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009683.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchDelayed production of neutralizing antibodies correlates with fatal COVID-19
Lucas C, Klein J, Sundaram ME, Liu F, Wong P, Silva J, Mao T, Oh JE, Mohanty S, Huang J, Tokuyama M, Lu P, Venkataraman A, Park A, Israelow B, Vogels CBF, Muenker MC, Chang CH, Casanovas-Massana A, Moore AJ, Zell J, Fournier JB, Wyllie A, Campbell M, Lee A, Chun H, Grubaugh N, Schulz W, Farhadian S, Dela Cruz C, Ring A, Shaw A, Wisnewski A, Yildirim I, Ko A, Omer S, Iwasaki A. Delayed production of neutralizing antibodies correlates with fatal COVID-19. Nature Medicine 2021, 27: 1178-1186. PMID: 33953384, PMCID: PMC8785364, DOI: 10.1038/s41591-021-01355-0.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsDeceased patientsAntibody levelsAntibody responseDisease severityAnti-S IgG levelsCOVID-19 disease outcomesFatal COVID-19Impaired viral controlWorse clinical progressionWorse disease severitySevere COVID-19Length of hospitalizationImmunoglobulin G levelsHumoral immune responseCoronavirus disease 2019COVID-19 mortalityCOVID-19Domain (RBD) IgGSeroconversion kineticsDisease courseIgG levelsClinical parametersClinical progressionHumoral responseDisease onsetNeuroinvasion 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
SalivaDirect: A simplified and flexible platform to enhance SARS-CoV-2 testing capacity
Vogels CBF, Watkins AE, Harden CA, Brackney DE, Shafer J, Wang J, Caraballo C, Kalinich CC, Ott IM, Fauver JR, Kudo E, Lu P, Venkataraman A, Tokuyama M, Moore AJ, Muenker MC, Casanovas-Massana A, Fournier J, Bermejo S, Campbell M, Datta R, Nelson A, Team Y, Anastasio K, Askenase M, Batsu M, Bickerton S, Brower K, Bucklin M, Cahill S, Cao Y, Courchaine E, DeIuliis G, Earnest R, Geng B, Goldman-Israelow B, Handoko R, Khoury-Hanold W, Kim D, Knaggs L, Kuang M, Lapidus S, Lim J, Linehan M, Lu-Culligan A, Martin A, Matos I, McDonald D, Minasyan M, Nakahata M, Naushad N, Nouws J, Obaid A, Odio C, Oh J, Omer S, Park A, Park H, Peng X, Petrone M, Prophet S, Rice T, Rose K, Sewanan L, Sharma L, Shaw A, Shepard D, Smolgovsky M, Sonnert N, Strong Y, Todeasa C, Valdez J, Velazquez S, Vijayakumar P, White E, Yang Y, Dela Cruz C, Ko A, Iwasaki A, Krumholz H, Matheus J, Hui P, Liu C, Farhadian S, Sikka R, Wyllie A, Grubaugh N. SalivaDirect: A simplified and flexible platform to enhance SARS-CoV-2 testing capacity. Med 2020, 2: 263-280.e6. PMID: 33521748, PMCID: PMC7836249, DOI: 10.1016/j.medj.2020.12.010.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsEmergency use authorizationSARS-CoV-2 testingSARS-CoV-2 screeningSARS-CoV-2 testing capacitySupply chain shortagesHospital cohortNasopharyngeal swabsHealthy individualsDrug AdministrationHigh positive agreementQRT-PCR assaysDiagnostic testsU.S. FoodSafe reopeningTesting capacityGlobal healthPositive agreementFast GrantLower ratesSalivaNucleic acid extractionSwabsValid alternativeAssay costsCollection tubesDetection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by multiplex RT-qPCR
Kudo E, Israelow B, Vogels CBF, Lu P, Wyllie AL, Tokuyama M, Venkataraman A, Brackney DE, Ott IM, Petrone ME, Earnest R, Lapidus S, Muenker MC, Moore AJ, Casanovas-Massana A, Team Y, Omer SB, Dela Cruz CS, Farhadian SF, Ko AI, Grubaugh ND, Iwasaki A. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by multiplex RT-qPCR. PLOS Biology 2020, 18: e3000867. PMID: 33027248, PMCID: PMC7571696, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000867.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeSH KeywordsBetacoronavirusCase-Control StudiesClinical Laboratory TechniquesCoronavirus InfectionsCOVID-19COVID-19 TestingDNA PrimersHEK293 CellsHumansLimit of DetectionMultiplex Polymerase Chain ReactionNasopharynxPandemicsPneumonia, ViralReagent Kits, DiagnosticReverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain ReactionRNA, ViralSARS-CoV-2United StatesConceptsSARS-CoV-2 RNAMultiplex RT-qPCRRT-qPCRSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testingSARS-CoV-2Quantitative reverse transcription PCRCycle threshold valuesReverse transcription-PCRRT-qPCR assaysDisease controlMultiplex RT-qPCR assayTranscription-PCRAssaysSingle assayLow copy numberSex differences in immune responses that underlie COVID-19 disease outcomes
Takahashi T, Ellingson MK, Wong P, Israelow B, Lucas C, Klein J, Silva J, Mao T, Oh JE, Tokuyama M, Lu P, Venkataraman A, Park A, Liu F, Meir A, Sun J, Wang EY, Casanovas-Massana A, Wyllie AL, Vogels CBF, Earnest R, Lapidus S, Ott IM, Moore AJ, Shaw A, Fournier J, Odio C, Farhadian S, Dela Cruz C, Grubaugh N, Schulz W, Ring A, Ko A, Omer S, Iwasaki A. Sex differences in immune responses that underlie COVID-19 disease outcomes. Nature 2020, 588: 315-320. PMID: 32846427, PMCID: PMC7725931, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2700-3.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsInnate immune cytokinesFemale patientsMale patientsImmune cytokinesDisease outcomeImmune responseCOVID-19COVID-19 disease outcomesPoor T cell responsesSARS-CoV-2 infectionSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirusAcute respiratory syndrome coronavirusSex-based approachModerate COVID-19Sex differencesRobust T cell activationT cell responsesWorse disease progressionWorse disease outcomesHigher plasma levelsNon-classical monocytesCoronavirus disease 2019T cell activationImmunomodulatory medicationsPlasma cytokinesMouse 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