SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus with high nucleotide identity to SARS-CoV and SARS-related coronaviruses detected in horseshoe bats, has spread across the world and impacted global healthcare systems and economy 1,2 . A suitable small animal model is needed to support vaccine and therapy development. We report the pathogenesis and transmissibility of the SARS-CoV-2 in golden Syrian hamsters. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated viral antigens in nasal mucosa, bronchial epithelial cells, and in areas of lung consolidation on days 2 and 5 post-inoculation (dpi), followed by rapid viral clearance and pneumocyte hyperplasia on 7 dpi. Viral antigen was also found in the duodenum epithelial cells with viral RNA detected in feces. Notably, SARS-CoV-2 transmitted efficiently from inoculated hamsters to naïve hamsters by direct contact and via aerosols. Transmission via fomites in soiled cages was less efficient. Although viral RNA was continuously detected in the nasal washes of inoculated hamsters for 14 days, the communicable period was short and correlated with the detection of infectious virus but not viral RNA. Inoculated and naturally-infected hamsters showed apparent weight loss, and all animals recovered with the detection of neutralizing antibodies. Our results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection in golden Syrian hamsters resemble features found in humans with mild infections.SARS-CoV-2 was first detected from a cluster of pneumonia patients in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China in December 2019. Although 55% of the initial cases were linked to one seafood wholesale market where wild animals were also sold 3 , multiple viral (sustained human-to-human transmissibility by symptomatic and pre-symptomatic patients 4 ) and ecological factors (extensive domestic and international travel during Chinese Lunar New Year) have contributed to the rapid global spread of the virus. The clinical spectrum of patients with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is wide, 19% of 72,314 symptomatic patients in China progressed to severe and critical illness 5 with an estimated 1.4% symptomatic case fatality risk 6 . There is no approved vaccine or treatment against SARS-CoV-2, and the available interventions including country lock-down and social distancing have severely disrupted the global supply chain and economy.A suitable animal model is essential for understanding the pathogenesis of this disease and for evaluating vaccine and therapeutic candidates. Previous animal studies on SARS-CoV suggested the importance of the interaction between the viral spike protein and the host angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors 7-10 as well as age and innate immune status of the animals 11-14 in pathogenesis. As with SARS-CoV, the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 also utilizes ACE2 receptors that are distributed predominantly in the epithelial cells of the lungs and small intestine to gain entry into epithelial cells for viral replication 1,15 . SARS-CoV-2 showed good binding for human ACE2 but limited binding to murine ACE2 1 , which has limited...

An RNA virus, designated hepatitis G virus (HGV), was identified from the plasma of a patient with chronic hepatitis. Extension from an immunoreactive complementary DNA clone yielded the entire genome (9392 nucleotides) encoding a polyprotein of 2873 amino acids. The virus is closely related to GB virus C (GBV-C) and distantly related to hepatitis C virus, GBV-A, and GBV-B. HGV was associated with acute and chronic hepatitis. Persistent viremia was detected for up to 9 years in patients with hepatitis. The virus is transfusion-transmissible. It has a global distribution and is present within the volunteer blood donor population in the United States.

Recent studies have identified a genetic variant rs641738 near two genes encoding membrane bound O-acyltransferase domain-containing 7 (MBOAT7) and transmembrane channel-like 4 (TMC4) that associate with increased risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), alcohol-related cirrhosis, and liver fibrosis in those infected with viral hepatitis (Buch et al., 2015; Mancina et al., 2016; Luukkonen et al., 2016; Thabet et al., 2016; Viitasalo et al., 2016; Krawczyk et al., 2017; Thabet et al., 2017). Based on hepatic expression quantitative trait loci analysis, it has been suggested that MBOAT7 loss of function promotes liver disease progression (Buch et al., 2015; Mancina et al., 2016; Luukkonen et al., 2016; Thabet et al., 2016; Viitasalo et al., 2016; Krawczyk et al., 2017; Thabet et al., 2017), but this has never been formally tested. Here we show that Mboat7 loss, but not Tmc4, in mice is sufficient to promote the progression of NAFLD in the setting of high fat diet. Mboat7 loss of function is associated with accumulation of its substrate lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI) lipids, and direct administration of LPI promotes hepatic inflammatory and fibrotic transcriptional changes in an Mboat7-dependent manner. These studies reveal a novel role for MBOAT7-driven acylation of LPI lipids in suppressing the progression of NAFLD.

There is great interest in characterizing the proteins of the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori, especially those to which humans respond immunologically, because of the potential importance of such proteins in diagnosis and vaccine development. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis was used to separate and identify potential antigens of H. pylori ATCC 43504. Over 30 proteins were reactive in Western blots with pooled sera from 14 infected patients. These proteins were analyzed by N-terminal sequence analysis. Fourteen proteins were determined to be distinct from any proteins previously described from H. pylori; the others were previously isolated and characterized proteins. Analysis of eight distinct H. pylori strains showed that most of these antigens were produced by all of the strains. We propose that collection of new antigens such as those recognized here will be useful in serologic tests for detecting and monitoring H. pylori infection and may also serve as potential targets for antimicrobial agent or vaccine development.

A pandemic caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus with high nucleotide identity to SARS-CoV and SARS-related coronaviruses detected in horseshoe bats is spreading across the world and impacting the healthcare systems and global economy1,2. A suitable small animal model is urgently needed to support the development of vaccines and antiviral treatments against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We report the pathogenesis and transmissibility of the SARS-CoV-2 in the golden Syrian hamster model. The SARS-CoV-2 virus replicated in the epithelial cells of respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated viral antigens in the areas of lung consolidation on day 2 and 5 post- inoculation, followed by rapid viral clearance and tissue repairing on day 7. Viral antigen was also detected in the epithelial cells of duodenum without apparent inflammatory response on day 2. Notably, we observed that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be transmitted efficiently from the inoculated hamsters to co-housed naïve contact hamsters. The inoculated hamsters and naturally-infected hamsters lost greater than 10% of the body weight, and all animals recovered with the detection of neutralizing antibodies within 14 days. Our results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection in golden Syrian hamsters resemble features found in human patients with mild infections.Authors Sin Fun Sia, Li-Meng Yan, and Alex WH Chin contributed equally to this work.

We determined the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence of the 5' terminus of the hepatitis G virus (HGV) genome from isolates of varied geographical origins. Our analysis showed that the putative 5' non-coding region (NCR) contains several blocks of highly conserved sequences that may be useful for the development of a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay for detection of HGV RNA. Overall, the degree of conservation within the 669-nucleotide (nt) 5'terminal sequence was found to range from 99.5% to 86% sequence identity. We also showed that the HGV NCR from some isolates contained conserved insertions or deletions that altered the translational reading frames at the 5'-end of the genome, resulting in different sizes of predicted polyproteins encoded by genomes of individual isolates. Specifically, the insertions/deletions affected the size of the peptide preceding the putative first envelope (E1) protein. Phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequences suggested that the isolates examined can be classified into distinct groups that may be useful for studying the molecular evolution of HGV and possible relationships between isolate sequence characteristics and infection patterns.

No abstract

A transfusion-transmissible agent provisionally designated hepatitis G virus (HGV) was recently identified. In this study, we examined the variability of the HGV genome by analysing sequences in the putative envelope region from 72 isolates obtained from diverse geographical sources. The 1561 nucleotide sequence of the E1/E2/NS2a region of HGV was determined from 12 isolates, and compared with three published sequences. The most variability was observed in 400 nucleotides at the N terminus of E2. We next analysed this 400 nucleotide envelope variable region (EV) from an additional 60 HGV isolates. This sequence varied considerably among the 75 isolates, with overall