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Reposted by Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO)

Lars-Anders Carlson @lacarlson.bsky.social · 22d

I love the kind of papers that I sometimes get from the cryo-EM bot. Hedgehog coronavirus!🦔

cryoEM papers @cryoempapers.bsky.social · 22d

Aminopeptidase N is a receptor for hedgehog merbecoviruses pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40950050/ #cryoem

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Reposted by Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO)

Arinjay Banerjee @banerjeelab.ca · 14d

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Stunning work from the Chandran lab!

LRP8 is a receptor for tick-borne encephalitis virus - Nature

LRP8, an apolipoprotein E and reelin receptor with high expression in the brain, is a receptor for tick-borne encephalitis virus.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO)

Steph N. Seifert, PhD @stephseifertphd.bsky.social · 21d

Excited to share our study reporting the first Sin Nombre virus (SNV) genome sequences from the Northwestern U.S., and the first ever from a vole host.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

First Sin Nombre virus (Orthohantavirus sinnombreense) genome sequences from the Northwestern United States

We report the first Sin Nombre virus (SNV) genome sequences from the Northwestern United States and the first SNV sequences recovered from voles. Analysis of samples collected from 189 individual rode...

www.biorxiv.org

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Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · 24d

If you haven’t already, you should check out our latest study identifying the host receptor used by merbecoviruses that circulate European and Asian hedgehogs. It’s a surprising finding that unlocks the entire group of viruses for researchers to study further!

Aminopeptidase N is a receptor for hedgehog merbecoviruses

Merbecoviruses, closely related to the highly pathogenetic Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), circulate in hedgehogs throughout Europe and Asia, raising concerns about zoonotic t...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO)

Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · Sep 4

This was a large team effort. Big thank you to our structural collaborator, James Rini at University of Toronto, Craig Wilen at Yale, the Baric lab at UNC, our Italian collaborators for discovering these viruses and sharing cool sequence data, and of course, Vic, the talented postdoc in my lab.(6/6)

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Reposted by Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO)

Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · Sep 6

🧐 if you know, then you know

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

a cat is petting a hedgehog in a black and white photo with the words `` happy hedgegie hugs '' .

ALT: a cat is petting a hedgehog in a black and white photo with the words `` happy hedgegie hugs '' .

media.tenor.com

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Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · Sep 6

🧐 if you know, then you know

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

a cat is petting a hedgehog in a black and white photo with the words `` happy hedgegie hugs '' .

ALT: a cat is petting a hedgehog in a black and white photo with the words `` happy hedgegie hugs '' .

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO)

Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · Sep 4

To expand on the RBD clade classifications from our last paper:
CLADE 1 = MERS-CoV, HKU4 = DPP4 users
CLADE 2 = HKU5 complex, HKU25, H.Savii = ACE2 users
CLADE 3 = PDF2180, NeoCoV = ACE2 users
CLADE 4 = ErinCoVs (all of them) = APN users

Such receptor diversity for one subgenus! 🤩
(5/6)

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Reposted by Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO)

Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · Sep 4

We also provide not one, but TWO cryo-EM co-structures of ErinCoV RBDs bound to hedgehog APN. Both German and Italian hedgehog coronaviruses interact with hedgehog APN identically. Binding assays show that ErinCoVs have a lower affinity for APN than other CoVs have for their receptors. (4/6)

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Reposted by Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO)

Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · Sep 4

Aminopeptidase N- the classic alpha-CoV receptor - facilitates ErinCoV entry. And we don't show this for just one virus, we show it for all of them. Every merbecovirus in hedgehogs across Europe and Asia- from ErinCoV-12-19 to HKU31 - all use APN. This is a first for beta-CoVs! (2/6)

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Reposted by Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO)

Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · Sep 4

New preprint! If some merbecoviruses use DPP4 and others use ACE2, what do those hedgehog merbecoviruses use?! As it turns out, neither! In our latest study, we uncover the "missing" receptor for the MERS-related viruses in hedgehogs. [These findings were first shared at ASV this year] (1/6)

Aminopeptidase N is a receptor for hedgehog merbecoviruses

Merbecoviruses, closely related to the highly pathogenetic Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), circulate in hedgehogs throughout Europe and Asia, raising concerns about zoonotic t...

tinyurl.com

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Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · Sep 4

This was a large team effort. Big thank you to our structural collaborator, James Rini at University of Toronto, Craig Wilen at Yale, the Baric lab at UNC, our Italian collaborators for discovering these viruses and sharing cool sequence data, and of course, Vic, the talented postdoc in my lab.(6/6)

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Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · Sep 4

To expand on the RBD clade classifications from our last paper:
CLADE 1 = MERS-CoV, HKU4 = DPP4 users
CLADE 2 = HKU5 complex, HKU25, H.Savii = ACE2 users
CLADE 3 = PDF2180, NeoCoV = ACE2 users
CLADE 4 = ErinCoVs (all of them) = APN users

Such receptor diversity for one subgenus! 🤩
(5/6)

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Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · Sep 4

We also provide not one, but TWO cryo-EM co-structures of ErinCoV RBDs bound to hedgehog APN. Both German and Italian hedgehog coronaviruses interact with hedgehog APN identically. Binding assays show that ErinCoVs have a lower affinity for APN than other CoVs have for their receptors. (4/6)

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Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · Sep 4

We also screened APN orthologues from 30 different species to demonstrate remarkably limited species tropism for ErinCoVs. Of concern though, ErinCoVs seem readily compatible with APN from cats and rats. (3/6)

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Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · Sep 4

Aminopeptidase N- the classic alpha-CoV receptor - facilitates ErinCoV entry. And we don't show this for just one virus, we show it for all of them. Every merbecovirus in hedgehogs across Europe and Asia- from ErinCoV-12-19 to HKU31 - all use APN. This is a first for beta-CoVs! (2/6)

1 2 4

Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · Sep 4

New preprint! If some merbecoviruses use DPP4 and others use ACE2, what do those hedgehog merbecoviruses use?! As it turns out, neither! In our latest study, we uncover the "missing" receptor for the MERS-related viruses in hedgehogs. [These findings were first shared at ASV this year] (1/6)

Aminopeptidase N is a receptor for hedgehog merbecoviruses

Merbecoviruses, closely related to the highly pathogenetic Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), circulate in hedgehogs throughout Europe and Asia, raising concerns about zoonotic t...

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO)

Barbara A. Han @bahanbug.bsky.social · Aug 27

Breakthroughs happen when diverse expertise is woven together. Collaboration can be messy—different vocabularies, different tools—but it’s worth it. We made a video with @MinuteEarth about it. 🎥 @fviromics.bsky.social @payeldas.bsky.social & Drew Kramer #EEID

MinuteEarth @minuteearth.bsky.social · Aug 27

Weaving = Coding !?!

For the Apollo Guidance computer that took America to the moon, those two are pretty much the same.

Watch our video to see how unusual collaborations led to breakthrough discoveries: youtu.be/prYQlxH6ypA?...

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Reposted by Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO)

Healthcare-Global @healthcare-global.bsky.social · Jul 25

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

HKU5 bat merbecoviruses engage bat and mink ACE2 as entry receptors - Nature Communications

Alfajaro et al identify that a bat MERS-like coronavirus HKU5 uses ACE2 as a receptor from its natural bat reservoir Pipistrellus abramus and American mink. Structural analyses demonstrate a unique in...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO)

Simon Lab @vivianasimonlab.bsky.social · Jul 17

Always great to see Simon Lab Alumni go on to achieve great things! Dr. Michael Letko gave an excellent keynote at #ASV2025 on "Uncovering novel receptor use in beta-coronaviruses with functional viromics" check out his lab's work here: labs.wsu.edu/lofv/ @amersocvirology.bsky.social

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Reposted by Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO)

Steph N. Seifert, PhD @stephseifertphd.bsky.social · Jul 14

🚨 Our team just released a reproducible Docker pipeline for RNAseq assembly and annotation designed for nonmodel organisms!

We're using it to explore how bats manage viral infections, but it's built for broad utility in wildlife transcriptomics. @viralemergence.org

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

TATAT: a containerized software for generating annotated coding transcriptomes from raw RNA-seq data

Motivation: Many transcriptome creation workflows are not standardized, are difficult to install or share, prone to breaking as dependencies update or cease to be maintained and are resource intensive...

www.biorxiv.org

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Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · Jul 10

If you aren’t completely tired of us by then, check out my flash talk and poster on Thursday (W55-10). Really looking forward to sharing new work and talking science!

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Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO) @fviromics.bsky.social · Jul 10

LoFV will be all over ASV in Montreal this year! I am giving a plenary talk Monday evening and will share an all new study that hasn’t been pre-printed. Also, look out for our talented post-doc, Victoria Jefferson, on Wednesday (P26-15) and skilled collaborator, Nick Catanzaro, on Tuesday (W13-6).

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Reposted by Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO)

Bjorkman Lab @ Caltech @bjorkman-lab.bsky.social · Jul 4

Exciting news! A few weeks ago, the TWiV podcast reviewed a paper from Michael Letko's lab (@fviromics.bsky.social) featuring one of our graduate students as a co-first author. Give it a listen!

www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-12...

TWiV 1223: Someone is guano be sick

TWiV reviews RFK Jr.''s MAGA report with non-existent literature citations, a new fungus that could further devastate North American bats, surveillance of avian influenza viruses through bird guano in...

www.microbe.tv

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Reposted by Laboratory of Functional Viromics (LETKO)

Arinjay Banerjee @banerjeelab.ca · Jul 1

🚨Our new study out today in Nature Communications. Bats can asymptomatically host multiple viruses while remaining apparently healthy. Here we identify how interferon-mediated responses protect bats and identify molecular adaptations in GBP1. #LZCI
Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Bat-specific adaptations in interferon signaling and GBP1 contribute to enhanced antiviral capacity - Nature Communications

Bats harbor diverse viruses but it’s less clear how they tolerate infection. Here, by characterizing innate immune responses in bat cells the authors show that IFN-beta signaling resists antagonistic ...

www.nature.com

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