Prophylaxis and Remediation for Future Pandemic Pathogens-(Lessons from a Post-COVID World).

Since influenza and coronaviruses are currently deadly and emerging threats worldwide, better treatment, remediation and prevention options are needed. In that regard, a basic understanding of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2/COVID-19 (Betacoronaviridae) and other viral pathogen mechanisms of transmission are expected. Unfortunately, unprecedented, and growing distrust of vaccines and even masks or personal protective equipment (PPE) in the United States and elsewhere presents itself as an added challenge. We postulate that development of improved and highly effective prophylactic measures, together with new life-saving therapies that do inhibit or otherwise treat infection of SARS-CoV-2, influenza and other viral pathogens, could be an adjunct measure to globally protect vulnerable individuals from pandemic threats. In this review, we share what we learned from the past COVID experience to offer a multifactorial and improved approach to current and future pandemic infections or threats using low-cost means.

Polyphenols and Small Phenolic Acids as Cellular Metabolic Regulators.

Polyphenols and representative small phenolic acids and molecules derived from larger constituents are dietary antioxidants from fruits, vegetables and largely other plant-based sources that have ability to scavenge free radicals. What is often neglected in polyphenol metabolism is bioavailability and the role of the gut microbiota (GMB), which has an essential role in health and disease and participates in co-metabolism with the host. The composition of the gut microbiota is in constant flux and is modified by multiple intrinsic and extrinsic factors, including antibiotics. Dietary or other factors are key modulators of the host gut milieu. In this review, we explore the role of polyphenols and select phenolic compounds as metabolic or intrinsic biochemistry regulators and explore this relationship in the context of the microbiota-gut-target organ axis in health and disease.

Single-Particle Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 Isoelectric Point and Comparison to Variants of Interest.

SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19, is a new, highly pathogenic coronavirus, which is the third coronavirus to emerge in the past 2 decades and the first to become a global pandemic. The virus has demonstrated itself to be extremely transmissible and deadly. Recent data suggest that a targeted approach is key to mitigating infectivity. Due to the proliferation of cataloged protein and nucleic acid sequences in databases, the function of the nucleic acid, and genetic encoded proteins, we make predictions by simply aligning sequences and exploring their homology. Thus, similar amino acid sequences in a protein usually confer similar biochemical function, even from distal or unrelated organisms. To understand viral transmission and adhesion, it is key to elucidate the structural, surface, and functional properties of each viral protein. This is typically first modeled in highly pathogenic species by exploring folding, hydrophobicity, and isoelectric point (IEP). Recent evidence from viral RNA sequence modeling and protein crystals have been inadequate, which prevent full understanding of the IEP and other viral properties of SARS-CoV-2. We have thus experimentally determined the IEP of SARS-CoV-2. Our findings suggest that for enveloped viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, estimates of IEP by the amino acid sequence alone may be unreliable. We compared the experimental IEP of SARS-CoV-2 to variants of interest (VOIs) using their amino acid sequence, thus providing a qualitative comparison of the IEP of VOIs.