Recording intelligenceAI-generated brief · check the source for context

ASV 2026 Meeting Updates

1:53:19 recording · AUTO · 4 speakers

Listen to the original

Listen to the episode

Brief overview

Two papers show how AAV packages its DNA and how influenza damages the heart.

  1. Rep40 assembles a portal at one capsid vertexA pentamer docks the DNA-bound heptamer, one subunit shuffles over, and melted single-stranded DNA threads into the empty capsid.
  2. Influenza rides myeloid cells to the heartInfected CD319-positive pro-DC3s follow the CCL2 gradient the heart and aorta make, then hand the virus to cardiomyocytes.
  3. Interferon, not the virus, does the cardiac damageTiters drop before symptoms start, and mice lacking the type 1 interferon receptor on cardiomyocytes keep their ejection fraction.
Executive Summary AI
  • Vincent Racaniello records TWIV episode 1307 on March 20, 2026 with Brianne Barker, Kathy Spindler and Rich Condit, plus notices for the Rosenfeld Lab postdoc opening and ASV 2026 in Minneapolis, July 27th to 30th.0:21
  • Rich reports that a federal judge in Massachusetts blocked the government from implementing RFK Jr.'s vaccine decisions, reversing the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices panelists he appointed, and recommends the American Academy of Pediatrics as the source for the old immunization schedule.6:50
  • The first paper, a Cell Reports study from Imperial College London and AstraZeneca, uses cryo-EM to show a Rep40 pentamer docking on an empty AAV capsid vertex, a heptamer on the DNA giving up one subunit to make two hexamers, and one base pair pushed in per ATP hydrolyzed.13:39
  • The second paper, in Immunity from Jeffrey Downey, Philip Swirsky and about fifty authors, shows influenza-infected pro-DC3 myeloid cells carrying virus to the CCL2-rich heart, infecting cardiomyocytes, with over 60% of hospitalized patients showing cardiac damage markers.43:35
  • Vincent sums up that type 1 interferon signalling, not the virus itself, kills the cardiomyocytes, that blocking IFNAR on those cells protects mice, and that vaccination protected the heart even with a mismatched vaccine.1:20:02
Key Quote
“And if it were me, I would go to the American Academy of Pediatrics.”
— Rich Condit10:31
Key Quote
“They just did a nice job of comparison to other viruses and what's known about helicases.”
— Kathy Spindler38:33
Key Quote
“And then, which I think is really important, vaccination protected the heart.”
— Vincent Racaniello53:14