Alexsia L. Richards

A novel human blood-brain barrier model reveals pericytes as critical regulators of viral neuroinvasion

This study develops a human BBB model using NCC-PCs to show they protect against viral neuroinvasion by maintaining BMEC barrier integrity.

Healthy adipocytes provide a protective environment by limiting viral infection through cell-cell communication

The paper shows healthy adipocytes protect neighboring cells from viral infection through STING-dependent interferon-alpha secretion, and metabolic dysfunction reduces this antiviral activity.

Oxidative Stress and Interferon Signaling Drive Differential Pathogenesis of Ancestral and Contemporary Zika Viruses in Human Cerebral Organoids

This study compares pathogenesis of ancestral and contemporary Zika viruses in human cerebral organoids, finding differential signaling responses and identifying ROS imbalance as a key driver, which is mitigated by Trolox.

LINE1-mediated reverse transcription and genomic integration of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA detected in virus-infected but not in viral mRNA-transfected cells

The paper detects SARS-CoV-2 retrotransposition into host genomes via LINE1 in infected cells but not in transfected cells, using WGS and TagMap methods.

Human iPS cell-derived sensory neurons can be infected by SARS-CoV-2 strain WA1/2020 as well as variants delta and omicron.

This study shows that human iPS cell-derived sensory neurons can be infected by SARS-CoV-2 WA1/2020 and its variants delta and omicron, but cannot produce new viruses.

SARS-CoV-2 RNA reverse-transcribed and integrated into the human genome

SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be reverse-transcribed by LINE-1 or HIV-1 reverse transcriptase, integrated into the human genome, and transcribed as chimeric viral-cellular RNAs.