Efficient human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection depends on multiple interactions between the viral gp41/gp120envelope (Env) proteins and cell surface receptors. However, cytoskeleton-associated proteins that modify membrane dynamics may also regulate the formation of the HIV-mediated fusion pore and hence viral infection. Because the effects of HDAC6-tubulin deacetylase on cortical ␣-tubulin regulate cell migration and immune synapse organization, we explored the possible role of HDAC6 in HIV-1-envelope-mediated cell fusion and infection. The binding of the gp120 protein to CD4؉ -permissive cells increased the level of acetylated ␣-tubulin in a CD4-dependent manner. Furthermore, overexpression of active HDAC6 inhibited the acetylation of ␣-tubulin, and remarkably, prevented HIV-1 envelopedependent cell fusion and infection without affecting the expression and codistribution of HIV-1 receptors. In contrast, knockdown of HDAC6 expression or inhibition of its tubulin deacetylase activity strongly enhanced HIV-1 infection and syncytia formation. These results demonstrate that HDAC6 plays a significant role in regulating HIV-1 infection and Env-mediated syncytia formation. INTRODUCTIONHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is initiated by the virus binding to the cell surface after CD4 engagement and HIV-1 fusion with the plasma membrane (Stein et al., 1987;Maddon et al., 1988;McClure et al., 1988;Moore et al., 1997). The main coreceptors for HIV-1 infection have been shown to be CXCR4 and CCR5, which represented a major advance in understanding the mechanism of the HIV-1 infection (Cocchi et al., 1995;Alkhatib et al., 1996;Bleul et al., 1996;Choe et al., 1996;Deng et al., 1996;Doranz et al., 1996;Dragic et al., 1996;Feng et al., 1996). As a result, it has been proposed that the sequential binding of gp120 viral protein to CD4 and to one coreceptor induces specific conformational changes in gp41, facilitating viral fusion with cell membrane (Clapham and McKnight, 2002).The cell cytoskeleton is involved in the early events of viral infection, regulating viral penetration and genome uncoating, the movement of viral capsids, and integration of the viral genome. Accordingly, actin and microtubules are required for the efficient entry of herpes simplex type 1 and simian virus 40, respectively (Pelkmans et al., 2002;Marozin et al., 2004). It has been shown that disrupting the actin network can inhibit infection of HIV-1 and fusion with the host cell (Iyengar et al., 1998;Jernigan et al., 2000), presumably by disrupting the colocalization of CD4 and CXCR4 (Iyengar et al., 1998). In addition, the actin cytoskeleton seems to be necessary for activation of the reverse transcription complex (Bukrinskaya et al., 1998). However, little is known about the role of cytoskeleton-related enzymes in the control of HIV fusion and infection.Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) is exclusively located in the cytoplasm, and it regulates the acetylation of ␣-tubulin (Hubbert et al., 2002;Matsuyama et al., 2002;Haggarty et al., 2003;Z...

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Background The current standard for COVID-19 diagnosis, RT-qPCR, has important drawbacks for its use as a tool for epidemiological control, including the need of laboratory-processing, high cost, and long turnaround from sampling to results release. Antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDT) provide a promising alternative for this purpose. Methods We assessed the analytical and clinical performance of the Ag-RDT Panbio COVID-19 Ag Test (Abbott), using RT-qPCR as a reference test. The clinical performance was assessed using nasopharyngeal swabs, collected in routine practice for case confirmation and contact tracing, and nasal mid-turbinate swabs, collected in preventive screenings of asymptomatic individuals. Fresh samples were analysed by RT-q-PCR, stored at -80 C, and analysed using the Ag-RDT according to the manufacturer instructions. Findings The Ag-RDT had a limit of detection of 6.5 *105 copies/reaction. The clinical performance was assessed on 1,406 frozen swabs with a PCR result available: 951 (67.7%) positive and 455 (32.4%) negative. The Ag-RDT identified the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in 872 of 951 PCR-positive samples (91.7%; 95% CI 89.8-93.4 and ruled out its presence in 450 of 455 PCR-negative samples (specificity 98.9%; 95% CI 97.5 - 99.6). Sensitivity increased in samples with lower Ct values (Ct <25, 98.2%; Ct<30, 94.9%) and was higher among symptomatic cases (92.6%) and their contacts (94.2%) than among asymptomatic individuals (79.5%). In the setting of asymptomatic screening, sensitivity also increased with lower Ct values (Ct <25, 100%; Ct<30, 98.6%). Assuming a pre-test probability of 5%, the negative and positive predictive values were 99.6% (99.5 - 99.6) and 81.5% (65.0 - 93.2), respectively. Interpretation The Panbio COVID-19 Ag-RDT has high sensitivity for detecting the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in nasal or nasopharyngeal swabs of both, symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. The diagnostic performance of the test is particularly good in samples with viral loads associated with high risk of viral transmission (Ct <25), which show high positive and negative predictive values even when assuming a prevalence as low as 5%.

Analytical and clinical performance of the panbio COVID-19 antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic test Dear Editor, Recent articles in this Journal have suggested the potential of antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDT) as low-cost and ease-of-use tools for massive screening and epidemiological surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 spread. 1 , 2 Based on a pre-screening of four Ag-RDT on 40 frozen specimens from nasopharyngeal swabs with known PCR results (Table S1, Appendix), we selected the Panbio COVID-19 Ag Test (Abbott) for investigating its analytical and clinical performance. The analysis of serial dilutions of a SARS-CoV-2 isolate, propagated in Vero E6 cells, yielded a limit of detection (LoD) of 6.5 × 10 5 genome copies/reaction (Table S2). According to this value, the test would not detect SARS-CoV-2 infection in respiratory specimens with very low viral load. Still, the LoD was one logarithmic unit below the 10 6 copies/mL threshold necessary for successful virus isolate from respiratory samples. 3 The clinical performance was analysed on frozen swabs from 1406 individuals (mean age 40.4 years; SD 24.5) with an RT-qPCR result available: 951 (67.6%) positive and 455 (32.4%) negative. Overall, 446 (31.7%) and 473 (33.6%) samples were nasopharyngeal swabs from symptomatic individuals and contacts exposed to symptomatic cases, respectively, and 487 (34.6%) were nasal mid-turbinate swabs from asymptomatic individuals collected in screening campaigns. The cycle threshold (Ct) of PCR-positive samples was

Since Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) mediates brain damage after stroke, development of TLR4 antagonists is a promising therapeutic strategy for this disease. Our aim was to generate TLR4-blocking DNA aptamers to be used for stroke treatment. From a random oligonucleotide pool, we identified two aptamers (ApTLR#1R, ApTLR#4F) with high affinity for human TLR4 by systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). Optimized truncated forms (ApTLR#1RT, ApTLR#4FT) were obtained. Our data demonstrate specific binding of both aptamers to human TLR4 as well as a TLR4 antagonistic effect. ApTLR#4F and ApTLR#4FT showed a long-lasting protective effect against brain injury induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), an effect that was absent in TLR4-deficient mice. Similar effects were obtained in other MCAO models, including in rat. Additionally, efficacy of ApTLR#4FT in a model of brain ischemia-reperfusion in rat supports the use of this aptamer in patients undergoing artery recanalization induced by pharmacological or mechanical interventions. The absence of major toxicology aspects and the good safety profile of the aptamers further encourage their future clinical positioning for stroke therapy and possibly other diseases in which TLR4 plays a deleterious role.