Francesca Montagnani

Phenuivirus glycoprotein Gc domain is a conserved target of cross-functional monoclonal antibodies

This study isolates and characterizes monoclonal antibodies against Toscana virus's Gc glycoprotein, identifying cross-reactive antibodies that protect against Rift Valley Fever Virus.

Antigen-agnostic identification of poxvirus broadly neutralizing antibodies targeting OPG153

The paper identifies OPG153 as a target of broadly neutralizing antibodies against MPXV and related viruses using antigen-agnostic isolation, AlphaFold 3 modeling, and cryo-EM.

B cell maturation restored ancestral germlines to control Omicron BA.2.86

The paper analyzes neutralizing antibodies from vaccinated and hybrid immune individuals to show that restored B cell germlines enhance neutralization against SARS-CoV-2 variants like BA.2.86.

The polymorphism L412F in TLR3 inhibits autophagy and is a marker of severe COVID-19 in males.

The paper shows that the L412F polymorphism in TLR3 is associated with severe COVID-19 in males by inhibiting autophagy and reducing TNF production.

Common, low-frequency, rare, and ultra-rare coding variants contribute to COVID-19 severity.

The paper develops a machine learning model to predict COVID-19 severity using exonic variants from whole exome sequencing data, finding that variants across all frequency categories contribute to severity.

Shorter androgen receptor polyQ alleles protect against life-threatening COVID-19 disease in males.

The paper identifies shorter androgen receptor polyQ alleles as protective against severe COVID-19 in males using machine learning on whole-exome sequencing data from the GEN-COVID cohort.

Clinical and molecular characterization of COVID-19 hospitalized patients

The paper reports Whole Exome Sequencing analysis of 35 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, identifying pathogenic mutations linked to virus infection susceptibility and disease progression.

ACE2 gene variants may underlie interindividual variability and susceptibility to COVID-19 in the Italian population

The paper identifies ACE2 gene variants associated with interindividual variability in COVID-19 susceptibility in the Italian population using whole-exome-sequencing data.