Leo L. M. Poon

The impact of clade B lineage 5 MERS coronaviruses spike mutations from 2015 to 2023 on virus entry and replication competence

This study examines how mutations in the spike protein of clade B lineage 5 MERS-CoV from 2015 to 2023 affect virus entry and replication, finding reduced entry and replication in 2019 variants but not in 2023 ones.

Redirection of SARS-CoV-2 to Phagocytes by Intranasal sACE2-Fc as a Universal Decoy Confers Complete Prophylactic Protection

This paper describes an optimized sACE2-Fc decoy that redirects SARS-CoV-2 to phagocytes, achieving complete prophylactic protection in mice.

Long non-coding RNA BCAR4 is required for efficient influenza A virus replication

This study identifies lncRNA BCAR4 as essential for efficient influenza A virus replication, showing its role in viral RNA transcription, replication, and protein synthesis.

Influenza A virus transcription generates capped cRNAs that activate RIG-I

This study identifies a novel IAV RNA species, capped complementary RNAs (ccRNAs), which hybridize with viral RNA to activate RIG-I, revealing an alternative mechanism for innate immune activation during IAV infection.