Fabiana Gambaro

Institut Pasteur International Network · Evolutionary Genomics of RNA viruses

Knowledge of the origin and reservoir of the coronavirus responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is still fragmentary. To date, the closest relatives to SARS-CoV-2 have been detected in Rhinolophus bats sampled in the Yunnan province, China. Here we describe the identification of SARS-CoV-2 related coronaviruses in two Rhinolophus shameli bat...

New circulating Enterovirus (EV) strains often emerge through recombination. Upsurges of recombinant non-polio enteroviruses (NPEVs) associated with neurologic manifestations such as EVA71 or Echovirus 30 (E30) are a growing public health concern in Europe. Only a few complete genomes of EVs circulating in Spain are available in public databases, m...

Receptor recognition is a major determinant of viral host range, as well as infectivity and pathogenesis. Emergences have been associated with serendipitous events of adaptation upon encounters with a novel host, and the high mutation rate of RNA viruses has been proposed to explain their frequent host shifts. SARS-CoV-2 extensive circulation in hu...

Exosomes and other extracellular vesicles (EVs) are considered the main vehicles transporting RNAs in extracellular samples, including human bodily fluids. However, a major proportion of extracellular RNAs (exRNAs) do not copurify with EVs and remain in ultracentrifugation supernatants of cell-conditioned medium or blood serum. We have observed tha...

The global emergence of Zika virus (ZIKV) revealed the unprecedented ability for a mosquito-borne virus to cause congenital birth defects. A puzzling aspect of ZIKV emergence is that all human outbreaks and birth defects to date have been exclusively associated with the Asian ZIKV lineage, despite a growing body of laboratory evidence pointing towa...

Knowledge of the origin and reservoir of the coronavirus responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is still fragmentary. To date, the closest relatives to SARS-CoV-2 have been detected in Rhinolophus bats sampled in the Yunnan province, China. Here we describe the identification of SARS-CoV-2 related coronaviruses in two Rhinolophus shameli bat...

The global emergence of Zika virus (ZIKV) in the last decade revealed the unprecedented ability for a mosquito-borne virus to cause congenital birth defects such as microcephaly. A puzzling aspect of ZIKV emergence is that all human outbreaks and birth defects to date have been exclusively associated with the Asian ZIKV lineage, despite a growing b...

A major proportion of extracellular RNAs (exRNAs) do not copurify with extracellular vesicles (EVs) and remain in ultracentrifugation supernatants of cell-conditioned medium or mammalian blood serum. However, little is known about exRNAs beyond EVs. We have previously shown that the composition of the nonvesicular exRNA fraction is highly biased to...

Following SARS-CoV-2 emergence in China, a specific surveillance was implemented in France. Phylogenetic analysis of sequences retrieved through this surveillance suggests that detected initial introductions, involving non-clade G viruses, did not seed local transmission. Nevertheless, identification of clade G variants subsequently circulating in...

During 2015-2016, Cape Verde, an island nation off the coast of West Africa, experienced a Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak involving 7,580 suspected Zika cases and 18 microcephaly cases. Analysis of the complete genomes of 3 ZIKV isolates from the outbreak indicated the strain was of the Asian (not African) lineage. The Cape Verde ZIKV sequences formed...

Following the emergence of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China in December 2019, specific COVID-19 surveillance was launched in France on January 10, 2020. Two weeks later, the first three imported cases of COVID-19 into Europe were diagnosed in France. We sequenced 97 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genomes...

Extracellular RNAs (exRNAs) are implicated in intercellular communication pathways and show promising use as disease biomarkers in noninvasive liquid biopsies. To date, most research has focused in RNAs encapsulated inside extracellular vesicles (EVs) or in total unfractionated biofluids. It is known that exRNAs also exist outside vesicles or lipop...

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-derived nanoparticles that act as natural carriers of nucleic acids between cells. They offer advantages as delivery vehicles for therapeutic nucleic acids such as small RNAs. Loading of desired nucleic acids into EVs can be achieved by electroporation or transfection once purified. An attractive alternative is...

We have previously shown that 5′ halves from tRNAGlyGCC and tRNAGluCUC are the most enriched small RNAs in the extracellular space of human cell lines, and especially in the non-vesicular fraction. Extracellular RNAs are believed to require protection by either encapsulation in vesicles or ribonucleoprotein complex formation. However, deproteinizat...

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of the family Flaviviridae. ZIKV emerged in Brazil in 2015, causing an unprecedented epidemic and since then the virus has rapidly spread throughout the Americas. These facts highlight the need of detailed phylogenetic studies to understand the emergence, spread and evolution of ZIKV populations. For these reasons, a B...

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of the family Flaviviridae . In 2015, ZIKV triggered a large epidemic in Brazil and spread across Latin America. In November of that year, the Brazilian Ministry of Health reported a 20-fold increase in cases of neonatal microcephaly, which corresponds geographically and temporally to the ZIKV outbreak. ZIKV was isolat...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of global morbidity and mortality, with an estimated 130-150 million infected individuals worldwide. HCV is a leading cause of chronic liver diseases including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Current treatment options in developing countries involve pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin as dual therap...

Intercellular communication can be mediated by extracellular small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs). Circulating sRNAs are being intensively studied for their promising use as minimally invasive disease biomarkers. To date, most attention is centered on exosomes and microRNAs as the vectors and the secreted species, respectively. However, this field would b...