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Author

Qi Zhang

Bio: Qi Zhang is an academic researcher from Wuhan University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Inflammasome & Interferon. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 37 publications receiving 1919 citations.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results reveal distinct host inflammatory cytokine profiles to SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients, and highlight the association between COVID-19 pathogenesis and excessive cytokine release such as CCL2/MCP-1, CXCL10/IP-10, CCL3/MIP-1A, and CCL4/Mip1B.
Abstract: Circulating in China and 158 other countries and areas, the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has caused devastating mortality and posed a great threat to public health. However, efforts to identify effectively supportive therapeutic drugs and treatments has been hampered by our limited understanding of host immune response for this fatal disease. To characterize the transcriptional signatures of host inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2 (HCoV-19) infection, we carried out transcriptome sequencing of the RNAs isolated from the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) specimens of COVID-19 patients. Our results reveal distinct host inflammatory cytokine profiles to SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients, and highlight the association between COVID-19 pathogenesis and excessive cytokine release such as CCL2/MCP-1, CXCL10/IP-10, CCL3/MIP-1A, and CCL4/MIP1B. Furthermore, SARS-CoV-2 induced activation of apoptosis and P53 signalling pathway in lymphocytes may be the cause of patients' lymphopenia. The transcriptome dataset of COVID-19 patients would be a valuable resource for clinical guidance on anti-inflammatory medication and understanding the molecular mechansims of host response.

918 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A retrospective analysis of routine surveillance data involving children hospitalized in central Wuhan, China, for acute lower respiratory infection in early 2018 found that children with Covid-19 were more likely to be diagnosed with pneumonia than the general population.
Abstract: Children with Covid-19 in Wuhan, China A retrospective analysis of routine surveillance data involving children hospitalized in central Wuhan, China, for acute lower respiratory infection in early ...

574 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Phylogenetic analysis indicates that 2019-nCoV is close to coronaviruses (CoVs) circulating in Rhinolophus (Horseshoe bats), and Evolutionary analysis based on ORF1a/1b, S, and N genes suggests2019-n coV is more likely a novel CoV independently introduced from animals to humans.
Abstract: From December 2019, an outbreak of unusual pneumonia was reported in Wuhan with many cases linked to Huanan Seafood Market that sells seafood as well as live exotic animals. We investigated two pat...

470 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that the cGAS-STING-NLRP3 signaling is essential for host defense against HSV-1 infection.
Abstract: One of the fundamental reactions of the innate immune responses to pathogen infection is the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1β, processed by the NLRP3 inflammasome. The stimulator of interferon genes (STING) has the essential roles in innate immune response against pathogen infections. Here we reveal a distinct mechanism by which STING regulates the NLRP3 inflammasome activation, IL-1β secretion, and inflammatory responses in human cell lines, mice primary cells, and mice. Interestingly, upon HSV-1 infection and cytosolic DNA stimulation, STING binds to NLRP3 and promotes the inflammasome activation through two approaches. First, STING recruits NLRP3 and facilitates NLRP3 localization in the endoplasmic reticulum, thereby facilitating the inflammasome formation. Second, STING interacts with NLRP3 and attenuates K48- and K63-linked polyubiquitination of NLRP3, thereby promoting the inflammasome activation. Collectively, we demonstrate that the cGAS-STING-NLRP3 signaling is essential for host defense against HSV-1 infection.

95 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is proposed that EV71 infects astrocytes of the cerebral cortex in mice and human and triggers TLR7 signaling and IL-6 release, subsequently inducing neural pathogenesis in the brain.
Abstract: As a neurotropic virus, human Enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection causes hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) and may develop severe neurological disorders in infants. Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) acts as an innate immune receptor and is also a death receptor in the central nervous system (CNS). However, the mechanisms underlying the regulation of TLR7-mediated brain pathogenesis upon EV71 infection remain largely elusive. Here we reveal a novel mechanism by which EV71 infects astrocytes in the brain and induces neural pathogenesis via TLR7 and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in C57BL/6 mice and in human astroglioma U251 cells. Upon EV71 infection, wild-type (WT) mice displayed more significant body weight loss, higher clinical scores, and lower survival rates as compared with TLR7-/- mice. In the cerebral cortex of EV71-infected mice, neurofilament integrity was disrupted, and inflammatory cell infiltration and neurodegeneration were induced in WT mice, whereas these were largely absent in TLR7-/- mice. Similarly, IL-6 production, Caspase-3 cleavage, and cell apoptosis were significantly higher in EV71-infected WT mice as compared with TLR7-/- mice. Moreover, EV71 preferentially infected and induced IL-6 in astrocytes of mice brain. In U251 cells, EV71-induced IL-6 production and cell apoptosis were suppressed by shRNA-mediated knockdown of TLR7 (shTLR7). Moreover, in the cerebral cortex of EV71-infected mice, the blockade of IL-6 with anti-IL-6 antibody (IL-6-Ab) restored the body weight loss, attenuated clinical scores, improved survival rates, reduced the disruption of neurofilament integrity, decreased cell apoptotic induction, and lowered levels of Caspase-3 cleavage. Similarly, in EV71-infected U251 cells, IL-6-Ab blocked EV71-induced IL-6 production and cell apoptosis in response to viral infection. Collectively, it’s exhibited TLR7 upregulation, IL-6 induction and astrocytic cell apoptosis in EV71-infected human brain. Taken together, we propose that EV71 infects astrocytes of the cerebral cortex in mice and human and triggers TLR7 signaling and IL-6 release, subsequently inducing neural pathogenesis in the brain.

45 citations


Cited by
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28 Jul 2005
TL;DR: PfPMP1)与感染红细胞、树突状组胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用,在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作�ly.
Abstract: 抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1(PfPMP1)与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用,在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员,通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

18,940 citations

DOI
19 Mar 2020
TL;DR: The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noted that over the past 2 weeks, the number of cases outside China increased 13-fold and theNumber of countries with cases increased threefold, and further increases are expected.
Abstract: The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020, has declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic (1). At a news briefing , WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noted that over the past 2 weeks, the number of cases outside China increased 13-fold and the number of countries with cases increased threefold. Further increases are expected. He said that the WHO is "deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction," and he called on countries to take action now to contain the virus. "We should double down," he said. "We should be more aggressive." [...].

4,415 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Among patients with pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2 (novel coronavirus pneumonia or Wuhan pneumonia), fever was the most common symptom, followed by cough, and bilateral lung involvement with ground-glass opacity was themost common finding from computed tomography images of the chest.

4,318 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has affected hundreds of thousands of people and data on symptoms and prognosis in children are rare.
Abstract: Aim: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected hundreds of thousands of people. Data on symptoms and prognosis in children are rare.Methods: A systematic literature review was c ...

1,756 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
27 Apr 2020-Nature
TL;DR: It is proposed that room ventilation, open space, sanitization of protective apparel, and proper use and disinfection of toilet areas can effectively limit the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in aerosols, although the infectivity of the virus RNA was not established in this study.
Abstract: The ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly on a global scale. Although it is clear that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is transmitted through human respiratory droplets and direct contact, the potential for aerosol transmission is poorly understood1-3. Here we investigated the aerodynamic nature of SARS-CoV-2 by measuring viral RNA in aerosols in different areas of two Wuhan hospitals during the outbreak of COVID-19 in February and March 2020. The concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in aerosols that was detected in isolation wards and ventilated patient rooms was very low, but it was higher in the toilet areas used by the patients. Levels of airborne SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the most public areas was undetectable, except in two areas that were prone to crowding; this increase was possibly due to individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the crowd. We found that some medical staff areas initially had high concentrations of viral RNA with aerosol size distributions that showed peaks in the submicrometre and/or supermicrometre regions; however, these levels were reduced to undetectable levels after implementation of rigorous sanitization procedures. Although we have not established the infectivity of the virus detected in these hospital areas, we propose that SARS-CoV-2 may have the potential to be transmitted through aerosols. Our results indicate that room ventilation, open space, sanitization of protective apparel, and proper use and disinfection of toilet areas can effectively limit the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in aerosols. Future work should explore the infectivity of aerosolized virus.

1,526 citations