State-of-the-Art Webinars on COVID-19 Research

Webinar 2

Coronaviruses: history, replication, innate immune antagonism

As part of the COVID-19 free webinar series, we would like to discuss the current state of research in the context of the corona crisis and also focus on the acute and long-term influence of the current situation.

Date & Time: 29 April 2020 3:00pm (CEST) | 9:00am (EDT) | 9:00pm (CST)

Webinar Secretariat: covid19_webinar@mdpi.com

The following expert researcher will present and speak:

Prof. Dr. Susan R. Weiss

Professor of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Susan R. Weiss is an American microbiologist who is a Professor of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research considers the biology of coronaviruses, including SARS, MERS and SARS-CoV-2. As of March 2020, Weiss serves as Co-Director of the University of Pennsylvania Coronavirus Research Center.

Program

The webinar will start at 3:00 pm (CEST) and last maximum 1 ½ hours.

On Wednesday 29 April 2020, the second webinar in the COVID-19 series was organised. The State-of-the-Art Webinars on COVID-19 is a series of webinars presenting different talks on this specific coronavirus.

This second online seminar was given by Prof. Dr. Susan R. Weiss, Professor of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. She gave an introductory presentation on Coronaviruses in general, covering their history, their replication and their innate immune antagonism.

The webinar was offered via Zoom and required registration in order to attend, however, the full recording can be found below.

The next edition of the State-of-the-Art Webinars on COVID-19 will be held on Friday 8 May 2020 at 11:00am (CEST). The guest speaker will be Prof. Dr. Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Research Professor in Environmental Epidemiology at ISGlobal, Barcelona Institute for Global Health – Campus MAR. He will be giving a presentation entitled: “Could the COVID-19 Crisis be the Opportunity to Make Cities Carbon Neutral, Liveable and Healthy”. You can register here.

Unanswered Questions during Q&A Session

1. Endo U will not cleave viral RNAs?

Yes, it will cleave viral RNA. We have a paper coming out on that. We think it does so to limit dsRNA accumulation and subsequent IFN response.

2. What are the biggest challenges in developing vaccines?

Not something I can answer, but I think that it takes time, it needs to be scaled up and tested.

3. Do you know if there is an evidence of a link between Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) and SARS-CoV infection?

None that I know of.

4. Do you have any thoughts about genetic susceptibility to infection and to disease severity?

I am sure people are looking at that now, but no current data.

5. Can SARS-CoV2 kill any human epithelial cells in vitro?

I think it can kill epithelial cells lines, we are looking at primary cells.

6. What types of cells can robustly support the replication of these viruses, particularly SARS-CoV-2?

Cell lines (Vero, Caco) for two; each CoV is different in which cells it can replicate in.

7. What is known about the route of transmission of the virus to the CNS?

I think probably nothing is known.

8. I am wondering about the IgA potential in the 1st line immune response, since they are produced in both mucosals of the respiratory and GI tracts?

I do not know about this.

9. I was wondering if we know how the translation of the slippery sequence through the frame shift is regulated to maintain the correct ratio of pp1a/pp1b? Are there any known host factors known to be involved?

Not known but I think interesting; if you alter the ratio of pp1a/pp1ab the virus is very attenuated.

10. If the virus has the possibility of enter by fusion, is it possible that it would be inhibited by chloroquine or other endocytosis acidification inhibitor drugs?

Yes if it enters through the endosomal pathway.

To support health researchers and professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic, MDPI has established the COVID-19 Academic Resources Center. It contains a variety of information related to COVID-19 available from MDPI, including journal articles, special issues, and Preprints, among others.

Special Issues in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Risk Management of COVID-19 and Public Health: Medical, Economic, Finance, Business, Political and Educational Implications
Editors: Michael McAleer, Chia-Lin Chang, Daniel J. Slottje, Teodosio Pérez Amaral
Accepting submissions until 30 April 2021

Old and New Epidemiological Alerts: Prevention and Control of COVID-19, Candida auris, Measels, MDR and Other Infectious Diseases
Editors: Jadwiga Wojkowska-Mach, Maria Luisa Moro, Monika Chlebowicz, Anna Różańska
Accepting submissions until 28 February 2021

COVID-19 Global threat: Information or Panic
Editors: Carlos de las Heras-Pedrosa, Carmen Jambrino-Maldonado, Patricia P. Iglesias-Sánchez, Jose Ignacio Peláez-Sánchez
Accepting submissions until 20 December 2020

SARS-CoV2 and COVID-19 Outbreak: Lessons, Burning Points and Perspectives
Editor: Evelyne Bischof
Accepting submissions until 31 October 2020

Special Issues in Pharmaceuticals

COVID-19 in Pharmaceuticals
Editors: Jean Jacques Vanden Eynde, Annie Mayence
Accepting submissions until 15 November 2020

Articles in COVID-19 in Pharmaceuticals

COVID-19: An update about the Discovery Clinical Trial
Editor: Jean Jacques Vanden Eynde
Submission closed.

COVID-19: A Brief Overview of the Discovery Clinical Trial
Editor: Jean Jacques Vanden Eynde
Submission closed.

Special Issues in Sustainability

COVID-19: Defense Strategies and Technologies
Editor: Silvano Vergura
Accepting submissions until 31 August 2021

Circular Economy in the COVID-19 Era
Editors: Jouni Korhonen and Juha-Pekka Snäkin
Accepting submissions until 15 December 2020

ICMTs for Sustainability in the Post COVID-19 Era: Revisiting Conceptual and Policy Narratives
Editors: Ravi S. Sharma, Stephen Bekoe and Aijaz A. Shaikh
Accepting submissions until 31 October 2020

Working during the COVID-19 Global Pandemic
Editors: Emanuele Cannizzaro, Ramaci Tiziana, Massimiliano Barattucci and Fulvio Plescia
Accepting submissions until 15 April 2021

Sustainability vs Uncontrollability: COVID-19 and Crisis Impact on the Hospitality and Tourism Community
Editors: Myong Jae Lee and Saehya Ann
Accepting submissions until 31 January 2021

Pilgrimage and Sustainability in the Post COVID 19 Era
Editor: Noga Collins-Kreiner
Accepting submissions until 10 June 2021

Special Issue in Viruses

Pathogenesis of Human and Animal Coronaviruses
Editor: Andrew Davidson
Accepting submissions until 15 September 2020