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Reposted by Daniel Sauter

Thelonevirologist @thelonevirologist.bsky.social · 8d

SARS-CoV-2 delta and omicron variants alter trophoblast cell fusion and syncytiotrophoblast dynamics: new insights into placental vulnerability

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

SARS-CoV-2 delta and omicron variants alter trophoblast cell fusion and syncytiotrophoblast dynamics: new insights into placental vulnerability - Cell Death & Disease

Cell Death & Disease - SARS-CoV-2 delta and omicron variants alter trophoblast cell fusion and syncytiotrophoblast dynamics: new insights into placental vulnerability

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Daniel Sauter

Nature @nature.com · 13d

Nature research paper: A human-specific regulatory mechanism revealed in a pre-implantation model

go.nature.com/4o2TgQs

A human-specific regulatory mechanism revealed in a pre-implantation model - Nature

Genetic manipulation of blastoids reveals the role of recently emerged transposable elements and genes in human development.

go.nature.com

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Reposted by Daniel Sauter

ASM @asm.org · 16d

#MicrobiologyMonday: Can bird song shape your microbiome? 🐦Scientists propose that interactions with nature may influence gut microbiome composition, suggesting it is shaped not just by direct microbial exposure, but by multisensory experiences. #mSystem asm.social/2Cx

Beyond direct microbial colonization: multisensory experiences in nature and their potential to indirectly influence the gut microbiome via multiple biological systems and axes. For example, stress can impair gut immunity in part by downregulating NLRP6 activity, a key regulator of the inflammasome and microbial balance (42); elevated cortisol increases gut permeability (43), and nature walks (and listening to nature sounds) reduce cortisol (44) and increase parasympathetic tone (45, 46). Exposure to natural biodiverse materials can reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines (27, 28). All of these processes can influence the gut environment, composition, and dynamics.

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Emma Harding @emma-harding.bsky.social · Sep 15

New paper alert 🎉
We explore the origins of deltaviruses and find they have infected and co-evolved with termites for 141 million years 🐜🕑🦴

This was a fascinating story to work on with @ariskatzourakis.bsky.social, Jose Gabriel and @anselmojiro.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Endogenous viral elements in termite genomes reveal extensive diversity of deltaviruses and provide insights into their origins

Deltaviruses are subviral agents of animals, which, in humans, require a hepadnavirus helper for transmission. The absence of deltavirus-like endogeno…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Emma Harding @emma-harding.bsky.social · 18d

Do you research endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) or want to learn more about them? 🧬🤔

Consider presenting at or attending AuusiERV - an inaugural online symposium for ERV research in Australia 🇦🇺 (and abroad) 🗺️

Abstracts due 1st October!

events.humanitix.com/aussierv-2025

#ERV #retrovirus

AussiERV 2025

AussiERV: Australia’s first symposium dedicated to endogenous retroviruses. Join us for this one-day virtual event on November 7th!

events.humanitix.com

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Reposted by Daniel Sauter

GfV - Gesellschaft für Virologie @gesvirologie.bsky.social · 19d

Nicht alle Viren machen uns krank, tatsächlich nur ein ganz kleiner Teil von ihnen. Andere leben auf und in uns, und manche sind sogar fester Bestandteil unseres Erbguts!

Ein Einblick in die vielen Facetten der Virologie bei @quarkswdr.bsky.social:

www.ardmediathek.de/video/Y3JpZD...

Quarks: Viren: Freund und Feind! - hier anschauen

Viren gelten als Auslöser von Krankheiten und Pandemien. Doch das ist nur ein Teil der Wahrheit. Seit Milliarden Jahren wirken sie auch als Motor der Evolution. Rund acht Prozent unseres menschlichen ...

www.ardmediathek.de

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Daniel Sauter @sauterlab.bsky.social · 19d

Did you know? The Secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is named after the long feathers on its head, resembling quill pens tucked behind a secretary’s ear. It hunts snakes by stomping on them with its powerful feet. 📸 Hobbyfotowiki, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
#Birds #FeatheredFriday

A tall Secretary bird stands in dry grassland. It has long pinkish legs, a pale gray body, black flight feathers, and a striking crest of long black quills on the back of its head, with a red-orange face patch around the eyes.

Reposted by Daniel Sauter

Science Magazine @science.org · 23d

A new analysis of individuals living with HIV reveals key sex differences in innate immune profiles and the complexity of the HIV proviral reservoir.

Read more in #ScienceTranslationalMedicine: https://scim.ag/4mridnp

Sex differences in HIV-1 reservoir cell selection are linked to altered innate immune profiles

Sex-specific differences in immune selection of HIV-1 reservoir cells during long-term antiretroviral therapy are driven by innate immunity.

scim.ag

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Michelle Vincendeau @m-vincendeau.bsky.social · 22d

Check out our new paper 🎉. Thanks to everyone who was involved 🙏🏻.

romanostrobelt.bsky.social @romanostrobelt.bsky.social · 22d

My first postdoc paper in @m-vincendeau.bsky.social lab is out in Frontiers in Immunology.🥳

We identified that hepatitis viruses, especially HBV, upregulate specific human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) groups that are linked with autoimmune diseases.

doi.org/10.3389/fimm...

Frontiers | HERV-K10 as a mediator of immune modulation in hepatitis infections

The human genome contains ~8% of endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), whose reactivation has been implicated in diseases such as cancer and autoimmune disorders....

doi.org

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Daniel Sauter @sauterlab.bsky.social · 22d

Leider wurden die endogenen Retroviren mal wieder vergessen…
Die machen rund 8% unseres Genoms aus. Rechnet man das auf alle Zellen hoch, schleppt jeder Mensch (ganz grob) etwa 15 g virale DNA täglich mit sich herum. Das entspricht immerhin fünf Stück Würfelzucker!

Florian Aigner @florianaigner.at · 23d

Verrückter Fakt des Tages: #vfdt
Alle Viren dieser Erde haben gut dreimal so viel Biomasse wie alle Menschen dieser Erde.

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Reposted by Daniel Sauter

Nature @nature.com · 25d

Brazil hopes to turn the tide of dengue with a home-grown vaccine and an army of mosquitoes

go.nature.com/4pveeJf

How billions of hacked mosquitoes and a vaccine could beat the deadly dengue virus

Outbreaks of dengue are killing thousands of people in South America each year and getting worse. Brazil hopes to turn the tide with a home-grown vaccine and an army of mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria.

go.nature.com

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Reposted by Daniel Sauter

Nature @nature.com · 26d

Highlights of this year’s Ig Nobel recipients include a nutrition prize for studying the preferred pizza toppings of rainbow lizards at a seaside resort in Togo

go.nature.com/4n5HQv7

Tipsy bats and perfect pasta: Ig Nobels celebrate ‘improbable’ research

The annual awards are a celebration of weird but thought-provoking science.

go.nature.com

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Reposted by Daniel Sauter

Nature @nature.com · 26d

Scientists have created the first ever viruses designed by AI, and they’re capable of hunting down and killing strains of E. coli

go.nature.com/3Khz3aR

World's first AI-designed viruses a step towards AI-generated life

Scientists used AI to write coherent viral genomes, using them to synthesize bacteriophages capable of killing resistant strains of bacteria.

go.nature.com

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Daniel Sauter @sauterlab.bsky.social · 26d

Did you know? The Kauaʻi ʻōʻō (Moho braccatus), once native to Hawaii, is most likely extinct. This bird was famous for its haunting love song. Listen to the last singing male recorded in 1987: tinyurl.com/2w4kuz2z. 📸 Robert Shallenberger, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
#Birds #FeatheredFriday

A small, dark brown bird perched among branches, next to a red blossom. The bird has a slender, slightly curved bill and faint white markings near its eyes and underparts.

Reposted by Daniel Sauter

Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · 28d

PIWI clade Argonautes are essential for transposon silencing. Without them, animals are sterile due to massive transposon activity.

But how does piRNA-guided target interaction translate into silencing?

PhD student Júlia Portell Montserrat has an intriguing answer

www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

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Daniel Sauter @sauterlab.bsky.social · Sep 12

Did you know? Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) incubate their eggs in large mounds of rotting leaves. The male adjusts the mound daily to keep the temperature perfect. The chicks hatch fully independent and never meet their parents. 📸 melissadoherty, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
#Birds #FeatheredFriday

Malleefowl standing on a mound of soil and leaf litter, showing mottled brown, cream, and black plumage that provides excellent camouflage in its dry, scrubland habitat.

Reposted by Daniel Sauter

GfV - Gesellschaft für Virologie @gesvirologie.bsky.social · Sep 10

Ich denke, Jörg Timm, Vizepräsident der GfV, spricht hier für viele Virologen: "Hat uns schon überrascht"

www.ndr.de/nachrichten/...

(MB)

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Ben Hale @benhale.bsky.social · Sep 9

'TRIM28 is a target for paramyxovirus V proteins'. Work led by Gauthier Lieber seeks to address whether host activation of endogenous retroelements contributes to antiviral defences. In support of this idea, he describes a viral mechanism that might limit this host response.
doi.org/10.1371/jour...

TRIM28 is a target for paramyxovirus V proteins

Author summary Host recognition of viral nucleic acids is fundamental for stimulating antiviral immunity. To prevent aberrant immune activation, cells must precisely differentiate “non-self” from “sel...

doi.org

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Reposted by Daniel Sauter

Chen Sun @chensun20.bsky.social · Aug 28

Excited to share our Science Advances paper reporting the first 3D structure of HERV‑K Env—a novel therapeutic target in cancer and autoimmune diseases. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Human endogenous retrovirus K (HERV-K) envelope structures in pre- and postfusion by cryo-EM

Structural snapshots and antibodies illuminate a viral protein within the dark matter of the genome that may be active in disease.

www.science.org

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Daniel Sauter @sauterlab.bsky.social · Sep 5

DID YOU KNOW? Hoatzin chicks (Opisthocomus hoazin) have claws on their wings to climb branches if predators attack. If that fails, they drop into water below the nest, swim away, then climb back up later—an amazing survival trick! 📸Philipp Hoenle, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0) #Birds #FeatheredFriday

A Hoatzin perched on a bare tree branch. The bird has a spiky reddish-brown crest, blue facial skin, red eyes, and brown wings with cream and chestnut highlights. Soft, blurred background of blue and green hues.

Daniel Sauter @sauterlab.bsky.social · Sep 5

📢 Countdown: 1 month until #Retropath2025!
Registration is still open — join us in Tübingen for outstanding keynote lectures + cutting-edge research on #retroviruses and #HERVs. More info 👉 evis.events/event/469/.

Scenic view of Tübingen, Germany: a traditional wooden punt boat with passengers glides along the Neckar River. A punter stands at the rear with a pole. On the riverbank are historic houses with a tower, lush green trees, and flowering plants in the foreground. Picture by Barbara Honner © Verkehrsverein Tübingen

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Daniel Sauter @sauterlab.bsky.social · Aug 29

DID YOU KNOW?! Flamingos (Phoenicopteridae) produce so-called crop milk to feed their chicks. Unlike mammals, both parents produce it. Can you guess the color of flamingo milk? It’s bright red! 📸 Carlota Vidal, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
#Birds #FeatheredFriday

Close-up of a flamingo’s head and neck. The bird has pale pink plumage, a thick downward-curved bill that is light pink with a large black tip, and a striking yellow eye. The background is softly blurred in pastel tones.

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GfV - Gesellschaft für Virologie @gesvirologie.bsky.social · Aug 25

🔬✨ Introducing: Expert Insights – the new seminar series by the Young Society for Virology!

We’ve combined the strengths of our previous “How to” seminar series and the GfV ROUND lunch discussions into one powerful format – Expert Insights.

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Daniel Sauter @sauterlab.bsky.social · Aug 8

Did you know? Northern gannets (Morus bassanus) are seabirds with a light blue iris. In survivors of avian flu, the iris turns black. Fig. S1 of tinyurl.com/3f8xbbku shows images of this unusual diagnostic marker. 📸 HLI-Photography, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
#Birds #FeatheredFriday #Virology

Close-up photo of two northern gannets with white plumage, pale yellow heads, and striking light-blue eyes with black outlines.

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Daniel Sauter @sauterlab.bsky.social · Aug 6

Excited to co-organize this year's Immunobiology of Viral Infections workshop with Hannes Vietzen!
We’re looking forward to seeing many early career scientists working on all aspects of antiviral immunity — don’t miss it! 👇

GfV - Gesellschaft für Virologie @gesvirologie.bsky.social · Aug 4

🚨 Registration is open! 🚨
Join the 24th Workshop “Immunobiology of Viral Infections”!
📅 Sept 29–Oct 1, 2025 | 📍 Bad Salzschlirf
🔗 immunviro.g-f-v.org
Explore latest highlights in antiviral immunity and don't miss outstanding keynotes by Daniel Elleder, Anke Kraft and Julia Rebecca Port!

Arbeitskreis Immunvirologie | Arbeitskreis der Gesellschaft für Virologie

immunviro.g-f-v.org

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