Molecular Targets for the Testing of COVID‐19

The pandemic outbreaks of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), spread all over the world in a short period of time. Efficient identification of the infection by SARS‐CoV‐2 has been one of the most important tasks to facilitate all the following counter measurements in dealing with the infectious disease. In Taiwan, a COVID‐19 Open Science Platform adheres to the spirit of open science: sharing sources, data, and methods to promote progress in academic research while corroborating findings from various disciplines has established in mid‐February 2020, for collaborative research in support of the development of detection methods, therapeutics, and a vaccine for COVID‐19. Research priorities include infection control, epidemiology, clinical characterization and management, detection methods (including viral RNA detection, viral antigen detection, and serum antibody detection), therapeutics (neutralizing antibody and small molecule drugs), vaccines, and SARS‐CoV‐2 pathogenesis. In addition, research on social ethics and the law are included to take full account of the impact of the COVID‐19 virus.     

Overexpression of ER Protein Processing and Apoptosis Regulator Genes in Human Embryonic Kidney 293 Cells Improves Gene Therapy Vectors Production

Gammaretroviral and lentiviral vectors (γ‐RV and LV) are among the most used vectors in gene therapy. Currently, human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells, the manufacture platform of choice for these vectors, provide low transducing particle yields, challenging their therapeutic applications and commercialization. This work studies metabolic pathways, focusing on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein processing and anti‐apoptotic mechanisms, influencing vector productivity in HEK 293 cell substrates. To that end, four candidate genes—protein disulfide isomerase family A member 2 gene, heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 5 gene, X‐box binding protein 1 gene (ER protein processing), and B‐cell lymphoma 2 protein gene (anti‐apoptotic)—are individually stably expressed in the cells. How their overexpression level influence vector yields is analyzed by establishing cell populations with incremental genomic copies of each. γ‐RV volumetric productivity increases up to 97% when overexpressing ER protein processing genes. LV volumetric production increases 53% when overexpressing the anti‐apoptotic gene. Improvements are associated with higher cell specific productivities and dependent on gene overexpression level, highlighting the importance of fine‐tuning gene expression. Overall, this work discloses gene engineering targets enabling efficient gene therapy product manufacture showing that ER protein processing and anti‐apoptotic pathways are pivotal to producer cell performance.