The imperative for quality control programs in Monkeypox virus DNA testing by PCR: CIBERINFEC quality control

© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Medical Virology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.To evaluate molecular assays for Mpox diagnosis available in various clinical microbiology services in Spain through a quality control (QC) approach. A total of 14 centers from across Spain participated in the study. The Reference Laboratory dispatched eight serum samples and eight nucleic acid extracts to each participating center. Some samples were spiked with Mpox or Vaccinia virus to mimic positive samples for Mpox or other orthopox viruses. Participating centers provided information on the results obtained, as well as the laboratory methods used. Among the 14 participating centers seven different commercial assays were employed, with the most commonly used kit being LightMix Modular Orthopox/Monkeypox (Mpox) Virus (Roche®). Of the 12 centers conducting Mpox determinations, concordance ranged from 62.5% (n = 1) to 100% (n = 11) for eluates and from 75.0% (n = 1) to 100% (n = 10) for serum. Among the 10 centers performing Orthopoxvirus determinations, a 100% concordance was observed for eluates, while for serum, concordance ranged from 87.5% (n = 6) to 100% (n = 4). Repeatedly, 6 different centers reported a false negative in serum samples for Orthopoxvirus diagnosis, particularly in a sample with borderline Ct = 39. Conversely, one center, using the TaqMan™ Mpox Virus Microbe Detection Assay (Thermo Fisher), reported false positives in Mpox diagnosis for samples spiked with vaccinia virus due to cross-reactions. We observed a positive correlation of various diagnostic assays for Mpox used by the participating centers with the reference values. Our results highlight the significance of standardization, validation, and ongoing QC in the microbiological diagnosis of infectious diseases, which might be particularly relevant for emerging viruses.This research was supported by CIBER (Strategic Action for Monkeypox)—Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red—(CB 2021), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and Unión Europea—NextGenerationEU. A. d. S. is supported by ‘Instituto de Salud Carlos III’ (grant number JR22/00055).Peer reviewe

Role of Ring1B in ephitelial to mesenchimal transition, invasion and migration of mammary epithelial cells

The Polycomb group (PcG) family of proteins form chromatin-modifying complexes essential for embryonic development, and stem cell renewal and are commonly deregulated in cancer. There are several reports that address the possible implication of PcG proteins in tumor progression and metastasis, but very little is known about the specific role of these proteins in tumor progression and invasion. On the other hand, the molecular processes of the worst cancer prognosis, metastasis, which leads to an incurable disease, are yet incompletely elucidated. Here we show a role for Ring1B, a PcG protein, in three processes related to metastasis: in the Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a critical morphogenic event that occurs during embryonic development and during the progression of various epithelial tumors, an in the migration and the invasion of mammary epithelial cells.Las proteínas del grupo Polycomb (PcG) forman complejos modificadores de la cromatina esenciales en el desarrollo embrionario y en la renovación de las células madre, y su desregulación ha sido asociada al cáncer. Varios estudios muestran la posible implicación de las proteínas de PcG en la progresión tumoral y en la metástasis, pero a pesar de ello se sabe muy poco de los procesos moleculares en los que estas proteínas están participando. Por otro lado, los procesos moleculares responsables del peor pronóstico en cáncer, la metástasis, que continua siendo una enfermedad incurable, siguen sin estar completamente elucidados. En esta disertación mostramos el papel de Ring1B, una proteína del PcG, en tres procesos implicados en la metástasis: en la transición epitelio-mesénquima (EMT), un proceso morfogénico crítico en el desarrollo embrionario y durante la progresión de varios cánceres epiteliales, y en la migración y la invasión de las células epiteliales mamarias

The imperative for quality control programs in Monkeypox virus DNA testing by PCR: CIBERINFEC quality control

To evaluate molecular assays for Mpox diagnosis available in various clinical microbiology services in Spain through a quality control (QC) approach. A total of 14 centers from across Spain participated in the study. The Reference Laboratory dispatched eight serum samples and eight nucleic acid extracts to each participating center. Some samples were spiked with Mpox or Vaccinia virus to mimic positive samples for Mpox or other orthopox viruses. Participating centers provided information on the results obtained, as well as the laboratory methods used. Among the 14 participating centers seven different commercial assays were employed, with the most commonly used kit being LightMix Modular Orthopox/Monkeypox (Mpox) Virus (Roche®). Of the 12 centers conducting Mpox determinations, concordance ranged from 62.5% (n = 1) to 100% (n = 11) for eluates and from 75.0% (n = 1) to 100% (n = 10) for serum. Among the 10 centers performing Orthopoxvirus determinations, a 100% concordance was observed for eluates, while for serum, concordance ranged from 87.5% (n = 6) to 100% (n = 4). Repeatedly, 6 different centers reported a false negative in serum samples for Orthopoxvirus diagnosis, particularly in a sample with borderline Ct  = 39. Conversely, one center, using the TaqMan™ Mpox Virus Microbe Detection Assay (Thermo Fisher), reported false positives in Mpox diagnosis for samples spiked with vaccinia virus due to cross-reactions. We observed a positive correlation of various diagnostic assays for Mpox used by the participating centers with the reference values. Our results highlight the significance of standardization, validation, and ongoing QC in the microbiological diagnosis of infectious diseases, which might be particularly relevant for emerging viruses.This research was supported by CIBER (Strategic Action for Monkeypox)—Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red—(CB 2021), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and Unión Europea—NextGenerationEU. A. d. S. is supported by ‘Instituto de Salud Carlos III’(grant number JR22/00055)S