http://www.cell.com/article/S1525001622000995/pdf

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines: Platforms and current developments

The role of microRNAs in solving COVID-19 puzzle from infection to therapeutics: A mini-review.

The role of microRNAs in solving COVID-19 puzzle from infection to therapeutics: A mini-review

COVID-19 is a highly transmissible disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), affects 226 countries and continents, and has resulted in >6.2 million deaths worldwide. Despite the efforts of all scientific institutions worldwide to identify potential therapeutics, no specific drug has been approved by the FDA to treat the COVID-19 patient. SARS-CoV-2 variants of concerns make the potential of publicly known therapeutics to respond to and detect disease onset highly improbable. The quest for universal therapeutics pointed to the ability of RNA-based molecules to shield and detect the adverse effects of the COVID-19 illness. One such candidate, miRNA (microRNA), works on regulating the differential expression of the target gene post-transcriptionally. The prime focus of this review is to report the critical miRNA molecule and their regular expression in patients with COVID-19 infection and associated comorbidities. Viral and host miRNAs control the etiology of COVID-19 infection throughout the life cycle and host inflammatory response, where host miRNAs are identified as a double-edged showing as a proviral and antiviral response. The review also covered the role of viral miRNAs in mediating host cell signaling expression during disease pathology. Studying molecular interactions between the host and the SARS-CoV-2 virus during COVID-19 pathogenesis offers the chance to use miRNA-based therapeutics to reduce the severity of the illness. By utilizing an appropriate delivery vehicle, these small non-coding RNA could be envisioned as a promising biomarker in designing a practical RNAi-based treatment approach of clinical significance. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lfs.2022.120761

MiRNA-SARS-CoV-2 dialogue and prospective anti-COVID-19 therapies

Introduction : COVID-19 infection is associated with many different systemic complications. Among those, cardiovascular system complications are particularly important as it is associated with significant mortality. There are many different subgroups of cardiovascular complications with Arrhythmias being one of them. Arrhythmias are especially important as there are a substantial percentage of patients that have arrhythmia after a COVID-19 infection, and these patients are seen with an increased mortality rate. This review's main interest is understanding some of the specific post COVID-19 arrhythmic complications and their predisposing factors. Areas covered : This paper will highlight the findings of studies regarding cardiovascular system disease after COVID-19 infection, different specific arrhythmic complications of COVID-19, and changes of electrophysiologic interventions post COVID-19 outbreak in different centers round the world. An extensive literature search was done to find pertinent articles. Expert opinion Studies show us that a significant percentage of COVID-19 patients have arrhythmia. Many distinct types of arrhythmias are associated with COVID-19 infection and specific risk factors of these arrhythmias are important as this information can be used to detect and prioritize certain at-risk patients for early treatment. Which can mean life or death in some cases.

Cardiac arrhythmias associated with COVID-19 infection: state of the art review.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of four up/down-regulated inflammatory miRNAs and their mRNA targets in the serum samples of COVID-19 patients with different grades. Also, we investigated the relative expression of these miRNAs and mRNAs during hospitalization. In this cross-sectional study, 5 mL of blood sample were taken from COVID-19 patients with different grades and during hospitalization from several health centers of Yazd, Tehran, and Zahedan province of Iran from December 20, 2020 to March 2, 2021. The relative expression of miRNAs and mRNAs was evaluated by q-PCR. We found that the relative expression of hsa-miR-31-3p, hsa-miR-29a-3p, and hsa-miR-126-3p was significantly decreased and the relative expression of their mRNA targets (ZMYM5, COL5A3, and CAMSAP1) was significantly increased with the increase of disease grade. Conversely, the relative expression of hsa-miR-17-3p was significantly increased and its mRNA target (DICER1) was significantly decreased with the increase of disease grade. This pattern was exactly seen during hospitalization of COVID-19 patients who did not respond to treatment. In COVID-19 patients who responded to treatment, the expression of selected miRNAs and their mRNA targets returned to the normal level. A negative significant correlation was seen between (1) the expression of hsa-miR-31-3p and ZMYM5, (2) hsa-miR-29a-3p and COL5A3, (3) hsa-miR-126-3p and CAMSAP1, and (4) hsa-miR-17-3p and DICER1 in COVID-19 patients with any grade (P  <  0.05) and during hospitalization. In this study, we gained a more accurate understanding of the expression of up/down-regulated inflammatory miRNAs in the blood of COVID-19 patients. The obtained data may help us in the diagnosis and prognosis of COVID-19. Trial registration: The ethics committee of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran. (Ethical Code: IR.ZAUMS.REC.1399.316) was registered for this project.

/pdf/the-relative-expression-of-mir-31-mir-29-mir-126-and-mir-17-4ihrmgcv3k.pdf

The relative expression of miR-31, miR-29, miR-126, and miR-17 and their mRNA targets in the serum of COVID-19 patients with different grades during hospitalization.

The aim of this study was to present and evaluate novel oral vaccines, based on self-amplifying RNA lipid nanparticles (saRNA LNPs), saRNA transfected Lactobacillus plantarum LNPs, and saRNA transfected Lactobacillus plantarum, to neutralize severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) variants alpha and delta. After invitro evaluation of the oral vaccines on HEK293T/17 cells, we found that saRNA LNPs, saRNA transfected Lactobacillus plantarum LNPs, and saRNA transfected Lactobacillus plantarum could express S-protein at both mRNA and protein levels. In the next step, BALB/c mice were orally vaccinated with saRNA LNPs, saRNA transfected Lactobacillus plantarum LNPs, and saRNA transfected Lactobacillus plantarum at weeks 1 and 3. Importantly, a high titer of IgG and IgA was observed by all of them, sharply in week 6 (P < 0.05). In all study groups, their ratio of IgG2a/IgG1 was upper 1, indicating Th1-biased responses. Wild-type viral neutralization assay showed that the secreted antibodies in vaccinated mice and recovered COVID-19 patients could neutralize SARS-COV-2 variants alpha and delta. After oral administration of oral vaccines, biodistribution assay was done. It was found that all of them had the same biodistribution pattern. The highest concentration of S-protein was seen in the small intestine, followed by the large intestine and liver.

/pdf/the-evaluation-of-novel-oral-vaccines-based-on-self-12lahvb5u4.pdf

The evaluation of novel oral vaccines based on self-amplifying RNA lipid nanparticles (saRNA LNPs), saRNA transfected Lactobacillus plantarum LNPs, and saRNA transfected Lactobacillus plantarum to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 variants alpha and delta.

Seyed Mohammad Hashemi-Shahri

Papers

The relative expression of miR-31, miR-29, miR-126, and miR-17 and their mRNA targets in the serum of COVID-19 patients with different grades during hospitalization.

The evaluation of novel oral vaccines based on self-amplifying RNA lipid nanparticles (saRNA LNPs), saRNA transfected Lactobacillus plantarum LNPs, and saRNA transfected Lactobacillus plantarum to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 variants alpha and delta.