Browsing by Author "Loveday, Emma K."

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Antiviral responses in a Jamaican fruit bat intestinal organoid model of SARS-CoV-2 infection
(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2023-10) Hashimi, Marziah; Sebrell, T. Andrew; Hedges, Jodi F.; Snyder, Deann; Lyon, Katrina N.; Byrum, Stephanie D.; Mackintosh, Samuel G.; Crowley, Dan; Cherne, Michelle D.; Skwarchuk, David; Robison, Amanda; Sidar, Barkan; Kunze, Anja; Loveday, Emma K.; Taylor, Matthew P.; Chang, Connie B.; Wilking, James N.; Walk, Seth T.; Schountz, Tony; Jutila, Mark A.; Bimczok, Diane
Bats are natural reservoirs for several zoonotic viruses, potentially due to an enhanced capacity to control viral infection. However, the mechanisms of antiviral responses in bats are poorly defined. Here we established a Jamaican fruit bat (JFB, Artibeus jamaicensis) intestinal organoid model of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Upon infection with SARS-CoV-2, increased viral RNA and subgenomic RNA was detected, but no infectious virus was released, indicating that JFB organoids support only limited viral replication but not viral reproduction. SARS-CoV-2 replication was associated with significantly increased gene expression of type I interferons and inflammatory cytokines. Interestingly, SARS-CoV-2 also caused enhanced formation and growth of JFB organoids. Proteomics revealed an increase in inflammatory signaling, cell turnover, cell repair, and SARS-CoV-2 infection pathways. Collectively, our findings suggest that primary JFB intestinal epithelial cells mount successful antiviral interferon responses and that SARS-CoV-2 infection in JFB cells induces protective regenerative pathways.
Digital droplet RT-LAMP increases speed of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA detection
(Wiley, 2024-06) Yuan, Yuan; Ellis, Perry; Tao, Ye; Bikos, Dimitri A.; Loveday, Emma K.; Thomas, Mallory M.; Wilking, James N.; Chang, Connie B.; Ye, Fangfu; Weitz, David A.
Nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) remains one of the most reliable methods for pathogen identification. However, conventional bulk NAATs may not be sufficiently fast or sensitive enough for the detection of clinically-relevant pathogens in point-of-care testing. Here, we have developed a digital droplet RT-LAMP (ddRT-LAMP) assay that rapidly and quantitatively detects the SARS-CoV-2 viral E gene in microfluidic drops. Droplet partitioning using ddRT-LAMP significantly accelerates detection times across a wide range of template concentrations compared to bulk RT-LAMP assays. We discover that a reduction in droplet diameter decreases assay times up to a certain size, upon which surface adsorption of the RT-LAMP polymerase reduces reaction efficiency. Optimization of drop size and polymerase concentration enables rapid, sensitive, and quantitative detection of the SARS-CoV-2 E gene in only 8 min. These results highlight the potential of ddRT-LAMP assays as an excellent platform for quantitative point-of-care testing.