Chenyan Shi

• Doctor of Philosophy
• PhD Student at KU Leuven

This review explores the evolving landscape of blood biomarkers in the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB), focusing on biomarkers derived both from the pathogen and the host. These biomarkers provide critical insights that can improve diagnostic accuracy and timeliness, essential for effective TB management. The document highlights recent advancements...

Background Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is a devastating form of tuberculosis (TB) causing high mortality and disability. TBM arises due to immune dysregulation, but the underlying immune mechanisms are unclear. Methods We performed single-cell RNA sequencing on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cells isolate...

Ferritin, a key regulator of iron homeostasis in macrophages, has been reported to confer host defenses against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. Nuclear receptor coactivator 4 (NCOA4) was recently identified as a cargo receptor in ferritin degradation. Here, we show that Mtb infection enhanced NCOA4-mediated ferritin degradation in macro...

Mosquitoes are vectors of numerous emergence and reemergence of mosquito-borne diseases, leading to an overwhelming global challenge. The boom in metagenomic studies promoted the increase of mosquito viruses being described, and studies from different regions of the world showed that mosquitoes harbor abundant and diverse viromes. However, there is...

In this study, we first utilized the single mosquito microbiome analysis, demonstrating a complex three-way interaction among arboviruses, resident microbiota, and the host, which is distinct for different arbovirus–mosquito combinations. Some of the previously described “core virus” increased in the mosquitos receiving viral blood meal, like Guade...

Significance Microbes colonizing the infant gut during the first year(s) of life play an important role in immune system development. We show that after birth the (nearly) sterile gut is rapidly colonized by bacteria and their viruses (phages), which often show a strong cooccurrence. Most viruses infecting the infant do not cause clinical signs and...

Orchestration of an effective T lymphocyte response at infection sites is critical for protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. However, the local T cell immunity landscape in human tuberculosis is poorly defined. Tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE), caused by Mtb, is characterized by an influx of leukocytes to the pleural spac...

After birth, microbial colonization of the infant intestinal tract is important for health later in life. However, this initial process is highly dynamic and influenced by many factors.

Objective Mosquitoes are medically important arthropod vectors that harbor a variety of viruses. Geography and climate are known to be associated with variations in mosquito density, species and viromes. Our study investigated the dynamic changes in mosquito populations, species compositions and viromes in a regularly disinfected environment in Wuh...

There are currently no antivirals available to treat infection with enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) or any other enterovirus. The extensively studied capsid binders rapidly select for drug-resistant variants. We here explore whether the combination of two direct-acting enterovirus inhibitors with a different mechanism of action may delay or prevent resist...

Mosquitoes are medically important arthropod vectors and harbor a great variety of viruses. The population density, species and virome of mosquitoes varies according to geography and climate. To investigate the dynamic changes in the species composition and diversity of mosquitoes and their viromes in Wuhan, China, a total of 2,345 adult mosquitoes...

Background Disturbances in the primary colonization of the infant gut can result in life-long consequences and have been associated with a range of host conditions. Although early life factors have been shown to affect the infant gut microbiota development, our current understanding of the human gut colonization in early life remains limited. To ga...

Culex modestus mosquitoes are considered potential transmission vectors of West Nile virus and Usutu virus. Their presence has been reported across several European countries, including one larva detected in Belgium in 2018. In this study, mosquitoes were collected in the city of Leuven and surrounding areas in the summers of 2019 and 2020. Species...

Culex modestus mosquitoes are known transmission vectors of West Nile virus and Usutu virus. Their presence has been reported across several European countries, including only one larva confirmed in Belgium in 2018. Mosquitoes were collected in the city of Leuven and surroundings in the summer of 2019 and 2020. Species identification was performed...

Our study revealed that the virome was very stable across all developmental stages of both lab-derived and field-collected Aedes albopictus . The data representing the core virome in lab A. albopictus proved the vertical transmission route of these viruses, forming a “vertically transmitted core virome.” Field mosquitoes also contained this stable...

Recent advancements in sequencing technologies and metagenomic studies have increased the knowledge of the virosphere associated with honey bees tremendously. In this study, viral-like particle enrichment and deep sequencing was deployed to detect viral communities in managed Belgian honey bees. A substantial number of previously undescribed diverg...

Crangon crangon is economically a very important species. Recently, promising culture attempts have been made, but a major problem is the uncontrollable mortality during the grow-out phase. As of yet, the life cycle of C. crangon is not closed in captivity so wild-caught individuals are used for further rearing. Therefore, it is important to invest...

Flaviviruses encompass not only medically relevant arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) but also insect-specific flaviviruses (ISFs) that are presumably maintained primarily through vertical transmission in the insect host. Interestingly, ISFs are commonly found infecting important arbovirus vectors such as the mosquito Aedes aegypti. Cell-fusing...

Mosquitoes belonging to the genus Aedes can efficiently transmit many pathogenic arboviruses, placing a great burden on public health worldwide. In addition, they also carry a number of insect specific viruses (ISVs), and it was recently suggested that some of these ISVs might form a stable species-specific "core virome" in mosquito populations. Ho...

There are currently no antivirals available to treat infection with enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) or any other enterovirus. The extensively studied capsid binders select rapidly for drug-resistant variants. We here explore whether the combination of two direct-acting enterovirus inhibitors with a different mechanism of action may delay or prevent resist...

Mosquitoes are known vectors that can harbor a wide array of viruses that range from classical arboviruses that can infect vertebrates to insect-specific viruses that are restricted only in mosquito. Recent advances in the field of metagenomics and bioinformatics have strongly supported studies on mosquito-associated viruses. However, the study for...

Background: Mosquitoes are the most important invertebrate viral vectors in humans and harbor a high diversity of understudied viruses, which has been shown in many mosquito virome studies in recent years. These studies generally performed metagenomics sequencing on pools of mosquitoes, without assessment of the viral diversity in individual mosqu...

Despite the availability of diagnostic tools for different enteric viral pathogens, a large fraction of human cases of gastroenteritis remains unexplained. This could be due to pathogens not tested for or novel divergent viruses of potential animal origin. Fecal virome analyses of Cameroonians showed a very diverse group of viruses, some of which a...

Vast viruses are thought to be associated with mosquitoes. Anopheles sinensis, Armigeres subalbatus, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Culex tritaeniorhynchus are very common mosquito species in China, and whether the virome structure in each species is species-specific has not been evaluated. In this study, a total of 2222 mosquitoes were collected from...

Lymphatic vessels are lined by lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs), and are critical for health. However, the role of metabolism in lymphatic development has not yet been elucidated. Here we report that in transgenic mouse models, LEC-specific loss of CPT1A, a rate-controlling enzyme in fatty acid β-oxidation, impairs lymphatic development. LECs use...

Mosquitoes as one of the most common but important vectors have the potential to transmit or acquire a lot of viruses through biting, however viral flora in mosquitoes and its impact on mosquito-borne disease transmission has not been well investigated and evaluated. In this study, the metagenomic techniquehas been successfully employed in analyzin...