Assessment of SARS-Coronavirus-2 Levels and Genetics in Vivo

Division Of Basic Sciences - Nci

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Abstract

We investigated whole blood, plasma, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 10 patients at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. In collaboration with investigators at the University of Pittsburgh, including Drs. John Mellors and Jana Jacobs, we detected CoV-2 RNA in the majority of samples from hospitalized donors and in few of the samples from outpatients. We found that levels of CoV-2 RNA in blood plasma are highly associated with disease pathogenesis and that CoV-2 RNA can be packaged in virus particles in the blood. We also characterized the population genetics of CoV-2 in the U.S. to establish a prevaccination baseline for viral genetic diversity and to profile the emergence of mutations prior to the introduction of the vaccines to the general public. Such a baseline will allow for the identification of mutations that may be selected for by the introduction of the vaccine. _____ACCOMPLISHMENTS: SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels in blood plasma are associated with disease pathogenesis (Jacobs et al., Conference for Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, 2021). _____The genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 tripled in the U.S. in 2020 and included the emergence and persistence of 54 amino acid changes in the population (Capoferri et al., medRxiv, 2021).