Gustavo Peixoto Duarte da Silva

@ufrj.br

Postdoctoral researcher at Department of Virology/UFRJ
universidade federal do rio de janeiro

Gustavo Peixoto Duarte da Silva


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https://researchid.co/gustpdsilva

RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS

Virology, Immunology and Microbiology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology
13

Scopus Publications

Scopus Publications

  • Replication differences of SARS-CoV-2 lineages may arise from unique RNA replication characteristics and nucleocapsid protein expression
    Isadora Alonso Corrêa, Marcos Romário Matos de Souza, Gustavo Peixoto Duarte da Silva, Anna Beatriz Sampaio Vianna Macedo Pimentel, Pedro Telles Calil, et al.
    Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 2025
    IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic was characterized by the sequential introduction and circulation of distinct SARS-CoV-2 variants, which presented differences in transmission capacity and pathogenicity. However, the relationship between these differences and the replicative capacity of these variants remains to be determined. Our research aimed to compare the biological traits of the SARS-CoV-2 lineages B.1.1.33, and variants Zeta (P.2), Gamma (P.1/P.1.*), Delta (B.1.617.2/AY.*), and Omicron (BA.1).MethodsWe employed three different cellular models susceptible to viral infection to demonstrated the differences in virus binding, entry and total RNA production through RT-qPCR assay and viral infectious progeny by plaque assay. The RNA replication was evaluated by dsRNA immunofluorescence and the viral protein production by western blotting analysis. NGS and RT-qPCR analysis were also used in competition experiments to verify the viral variants dynamic in cell culture.ResultsWe found that the differences in viral replication varied according to the cell type, with Omicron BA.1 exhibiting the lowest replication capacity in human pulmonary cells. Additionally, we demonstrated the occurrence of nucleocapsid proteoforms generated during infection and differences in size and number of sites of viral RNA replication for each virus.ConclusionThese data suggest that factors beyond the initial stages of virus entry influence the efficiency of viral replication among different SARS-CoV-2 variants. Thus, our study underscores the significance of RNA replication and the role of nucleocapsid proteins in shaping the replicative characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 variants.
  • Identification of B-Cell Linear Epitopes in the Nucleocapsid (N) Protein B-Cell Linear Epitopes Conserved among the Main SARS-CoV-2 Variants
    Rodrigo N. Rodrigues-da-Silva, Fernando P. Conte, Gustavo da Silva, Ana L. Carneiro-Alencar, Paula R. Gomes, et al.
    Viruses, 2023
    The Nucleocapsid (N) protein is highlighted as the main target for COVID-19 diagnosis by antigen detection due to its abundance in circulation early during infection. However, the effects of the described mutations in the N protein epitopes and the efficacy of antigen testing across SARS-CoV-2 variants remain controversial and poorly understood. Here, we used immunoinformatics to identify five epitopes in the SARS-CoV-2 N protein (N(34–48), N(89–104), N(185–197), N(277–287), and N(378–390)) and validate their reactivity against samples from COVID-19 convalescent patients. All identified epitopes are fully conserved in the main SARS-CoV-2 variants and highly conserved with SARS-CoV. Moreover, the epitopes N(185–197) and N(277–287) are highly conserved with MERS-CoV, while the epitopes N(34–48), N(89–104), N(277–287), and N(378–390) are lowly conserved with common cold coronaviruses (229E, NL63, OC43, HKU1). These data are in accordance with the observed conservation of amino acids recognized by the antibodies 7R98, 7N0R, and 7CR5, which are conserved in the SARS-CoV-2 variants, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV but lowly conserved in common cold coronaviruses. Therefore, we support the antigen tests as a scalable solution for the population-level diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, but we highlight the need to verify the cross-reactivity of these tests against the common cold coronaviruses.
  • 33rd Brazilian Society for Virology (SBV) 2022 Annual Meeting
    Maite Freitas Silva Vaslin, Gustavo Peixoto Duarte da Silva, Alessandra Alevato Leal, Larissa Mayumi Bueno, Cíntia Bittar, et al.
    Viruses, 2023
    Each year, the Brazilian Society for Virology promotes a national meeting during the second semester of the year. In October 2022, the 33rd meeting took place at Arraial da Ajuda, Porto Seguro, Bahia, in-person:.this was the first in-person meeting since 2019, as the 2020 and 2021 events occurred online due to the issues imposed by COVID-19. It was a great pleasure for the whole audience to return to an in-person event, which certainly improved the interactions between the attendees in all ways. As usual, the meeting involved massive participation of undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc students, and several noteworthy international researchers were present. During five afternoons and evenings, attendees could discuss and learn about the most recent data presented by distinguished scientists from Brazil and other countries. In addition, young virology researchers from all levels could present their latest results as oral presentations and posters. The meeting covered all virology areas, with conferences and roundtables about human, veterinary, fundamental, environmental, invertebrate, and plant virology. The costs associated with attending the in-person event caused a slight reduction in the number of attendees compared to the two online events. However, even with this issue, the attendance was impressive. The meeting successfully achieved its most important goals: inspiring young and senior scientists and discussing high-quality, up-to-date virology research.
  • A SARS-CoV-2 Negative Antigen Rapid Diagnostic in RT-qPCR Positive Samples Correlates With a Low Likelihood of Infectious Viruses in the Nasopharynx
    Isadora Alonso Corrêa, Débora Souza Faffe, Rafael Mello Galliez, Cássia Cristina Alves Gonçalves, Richard Araújo Maia, et al.
    Frontiers in Microbiology, 2022
    Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) transmission occurs even among fully vaccinated individuals; thus, prompt identification of infected patients is central to control viral circulation. Antigen rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) are highly specific, but sensitivity is variable. Discordant RT-qPCR vs. Ag-RDT results are reported, raising the question of whether negative Ag-RDT in positive RT-qPCR samples could imply the absence of infectious viruses. To study the relationship between negative Ag-RDT results with virological, molecular, and serological parameters, we selected a cross-sectional and a follow-up dataset and analyzed virus culture, subgenomic RNA quantification, and sequencing to determine infectious viruses and mutations. We demonstrated that RT-qPCR positive while SARS-CoV-2 Ag-RDT negative discordant results correlate with the absence of infectious virus in nasopharyngeal samples. A decrease in sgRNA detection together with an expected increase in detectable anti-S and anti-N IgGs was also verified in these samples. The data clearly demonstrate that a negative Ag-RDT sample is less likely to harbor infectious SARS-CoV-2 and, consequently, has a lower transmissible potential.
  • Autophagy Modulators in Coronavirus Diseases: A Double Strike in Viral Burden and Inflammation
    Rafael Cardoso Maciel Costa Silva, Jhones Sousa Ribeiro, Gustavo Peixoto Duarte da Silva, Luciana Jesus da Costa, Leonardo Holanda Travassos
    Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 2022
    Coronaviruses are the etiologic agents of several diseases. Coronaviruses of critical medical importance are characterized by highly inflammatory pathophysiology, involving severe pulmonary impairment and infection of multiple cell types within the body. Here, we discuss the interplay between coronaviruses and autophagy regarding virus life cycle, cell resistance, and inflammation, highlighting distinct mechanisms by which autophagy restrains inflammatory responses, especially those involved in coronavirus pathogenesis. We also address different autophagy modulators available and the rationale for drug repurposing as an attractive adjunctive therapy. We focused on pharmaceuticals being tested in clinical trials with distinct mechanisms but with autophagy as a common target. These autophagy modulators act in cell resistance to virus infection and immunomodulation, providing a double-strike to prevent or treat severe disease development and death from coronaviruses diseases.
  • The 32nd Brazilian Society of Virology (SBV) 2021 Annual Meeting
    Maite Freitas Silva Vaslin, Alessandra Alevato Leal, Larissa Mayumi Bueno, Cíntia Bittar, Gabriela Fabiano de Souza, et al.
    Viruses, 2022
    The Brazilian Society of Virology has been organizing annual meetings for 32 years now. The 32nd annual meeting, which occurred in 2021, was once again an online meeting in consequence of the issues imposed by COVID-19, even with the vaccination advances. As in the 2020 meeting, the number of attendees was high, with considerable participation by undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc students. Distinguished scientists from different countries offered high-quality conferences, and oral presentation sessions were presented by young scientists showing their newest research results. For almost five hours a day during five days, attendees discussed high-quality science related to all areas of virology. Even with the difficulties imposed by another pandemic year, the 32nd SBV annual meeting achieved its most important goal—to inspire young scientists and discuss high-quality virology research.
  • Prolonged SARS-CoV-2 Positivity in Immunocompetent Patients: Virus Isolation, Genomic Integrity, and Transmission Risk
    Isabela de Carvalho Leitão, Pedro Telles Calil, Rafael Mello Galliez, Filipe Romero Rebello Moreira, Diana Mariani, et al.
    Microbiology Spectrum, 2021
    In this study, we evaluated mildly symptomatic immunocompetent patients with long-lasting positive rRT-PCR results for SARS-CoV-2. Infectious viruses were successfully isolated in cell cultures from nasopharynx samples obtained 14 days or longer after symptom onset.
  • Association between ACE2 and TMPRSS2 nasopharyngeal expression and COVID-19 respiratory distress
    Átila Duque Rossi, João Locke Ferreira de Araújo, Tailah Bernardo de Almeida, Marcelo Ribeiro-Alves, Camila de Almeida Velozo, et al.
    Scientific Reports, 2021
    ACE2 and TMPRSS2 are key players on SARS-CoV-2 entry into host cells. However, it is still unclear whether expression levels of these factors could reflect disease severity. Here, a case–control study was conducted with 213 SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals where cases were defined as COVID-19 patients with respiratory distress requiring oxygen support (N = 38) and controls were those with mild to moderate symptoms of the disease who did not need oxygen therapy along the entire clinical course (N = 175). ACE2 and TMPRSS2 mRNA levels were evaluated in nasopharyngeal swab samples by RT-qPCR and logistic regression analyzes were applied to estimate associations with respiratory outcomes. ACE2 and TMPRSS2 levels positively correlated with age, which was also strongly associated with respiratory distress. Increased nasopharyngeal ACE2 levels showed a protective effect against this outcome (adjOR = 0.30; 95% CI 0.09–0.91), while TMPRSS2/ACE2 ratio was associated with risk (adjOR = 4.28; 95% CI 1.36–13.48). On stepwise regression, TMPRSS2/ACE2 ratio outperformed ACE2 to model COVID-19 severity. When nasopharyngeal swabs were compared to bronchoalveolar lavages in an independent cohort of COVID-19 patients under mechanical ventilation, similar expression levels of these genes were observed. These data suggest nasopharyngeal TMPRSS2/ACE2 as a promising candidate for further prediction models on COVID-19.
  • ATG9A protects the plasma membrane from programmed and incidental permeabilization
    Aurore Claude-Taupin, Jingyue Jia, Zambarlal Bhujabal, Meriem Garfa-Traoré, Suresh Kumar, et al.
    Nature Cell Biology, 2021
  • Ultrastructural analysis of SARS-CoV-2 interactions with the host cell via high resolution scanning electron microscopy
    Lucio Ayres Caldas, Fabiana Avila Carneiro, Luiza Mendonça Higa, Fábio Luiz Monteiro, Gustavo Peixoto da Silva, et al.
    Scientific Reports, 2020
    SARS-CoV-2 is the cause of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we investigated the interaction of this new coronavirus with Vero cells using high resolution scanning electron microscopy. Surface morphology, the interior of infected cells and the distribution of viral particles in both environments were observed 2 and 48 h after infection. We showed areas of viral processing, details of vacuole contents, and viral interactions with the cell surface. Intercellular connections were also approached, and viral particles were adhered to these extensions suggesting direct cell-to-cell transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
  • Author Correction: Mammalian Atg8 proteins and the autophagy factor IRGM control mTOR and TFEB at a regulatory node critical for responses to pathogens (Nature Cell Biology, (2020), 22, 8, (973-985), 10.1038/s41556-020-0549-1)
    Suresh Kumar, Ashish Jain, Seong Won Choi, Gustavo Peixoto Duarte da Silva, Lee Allers, et al.
    Nature Cell Biology, 2020
  • Mammalian Atg8 proteins and the autophagy factor IRGM control mTOR and TFEB at a regulatory node critical for responses to pathogens
    Suresh Kumar, Ashish Jain, Seong Won Choi, Gustavo Peixoto Duarte da Silva, Lee Allers, et al.
    Nature Cell Biology, 2020
  • Chikungunya Virus: An Emergent Arbovirus to the South American Continent and a Continuous Threat to the World
    Marcela S. Cunha, Pedro A. G. Costa, Isadora Alonso Correa, Marcos R. M. de Souza, Pedro Teles Calil, et al.
    Frontiers in Microbiology, 2020