Levy Library Blog - Levy Library Guides at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Article in the Spotlight: July 2021

07/28/2021

Angelyn Thornton

No Subjects

Each month Levy Library showcases the achievements of Mount Sinai faculty and researchers by highlighting an article and its altmetrics. Altmetrics are alternative measures of impact that capture non-traditional data like abstract views, article downloads, and social media activity. Our altmetrics data is provided by the PlumX platform.

This month we highlight Evolution of antibody immunity to SARS-CoV-2. This article was written in part by Saurabh Mehandru, MD.

Citation Data

Nature, ISSN: 1476-4687, Vol: 591, Issue: 7851, Page: 639-644

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected 78 million individuals and is responsible for over 1.7 million deaths to date. Infection is associated with the development of variable levels of antibodies with neutralizing activity, which can protect against infection in animal models^1,2. Antibody levels decrease with time, but, to our knowledge, the nature and quality of the memory B cells that would be required to produce antibodies upon reinfection has not been examined. Here we report on the humoral memory response in a cohort of 87 individuals assessed at 1.3 and 6.2 months after infection with SARS-CoV-2. We find that titres of IgM and IgG antibodies against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 decrease significantly over this time period, with IgA being less affected. Concurrently, neutralizing activity in plasma decreases by fivefold in pseudotype virus assays. By contrast, the number of RBD-specific memory B cells remains unchanged at 6.2 months after infection. Memory B cells display clonal turnover after 6.2 months, and the antibodies that they express have greater somatic hypermutation, resistance to RBD mutations and increased potency, indicative of continued evolution of the humoral response. Immunofluorescence and PCR analyses of intestinal biopsies obtained from asymptomatic individuals at 4 months after the onset of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) revealed the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acids and immunoreactivity in the small bowel of 7 out of 14 individuals. We conclude that the memory B cell response to SARS-CoV-2 evolves between 1.3 and 6.2 months after infection in a manner that is consistent with antigen persistence.

a–d, Results of ELISAs measuring plasma reactivity to RBD (a, b, c) and N protein (d) at the initial 1.3- and 6.2-month follow-up visit, respectively. a, Anti-RBD IgM. b, Anti-RBD IgG. c, Anti-RBD IgA d, Anti-N IgG. The normalized area under the curve (AUC) values for 87 individuals are shown in a–d for both time points. Positive and negative controls were included for validation¹. e, Relative change in plasma antibody levels between 1.3 and 6.2 months for anti-RBD IgM, IgG, IgA and anti-N IgG in all 87 individuals. f–i, Relative change in antibody levels between 1.3 and 6.2 months plotted against the corresponding antibody levels at 1.3 months. f, Anti-RBD IgM. r = −0.83, P < 0.0001. g, Anti-RBD IgG. r = −0.76, P < 0.0001. h, Anti-RBD IgA. r = −0.67, P < 0.0001. i, Anti-N IgG. r = −0.87, P < 0.0001. j, Ranked average NT₅₀ at 1.3 months (blue) and 6.2 months (red) for the 87 individuals studied. k, Graph shows NT₅₀ for plasma from all 87 individuals collected at 1.3 and 6.2 months. P < 0.0001. l, Relative change in plasma neutralizing titres between 1.3 and 6.2 months plotted against the corresponding titres at 1.3 months. For a–e, k plotted values and horizontal bars indicate geometric mean. Statistical significance was determined using two-tailed Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test in a–d, k, and Friedman with Dunn’s multiple comparison test in e. The r and P values in f–i, l were determined by two-tailed Spearman’s correlations.

Image via Nature

View the PlumX profile for this article!

Beyond the Stacks: July 2021

07/21/2021

Angelyn Thornton

Behind the Scenes

Kaci Resau, MA, MLIS (She/her/hers), E-Resources Manager

I am a plant lover, and luckily, I was born with my great-grandmother’s green thumb. Anytime I visit a new city, I always explore whatever gardens or forests I can find. So, when I heard that the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew was releasing a podcast series, I knew I had to listen.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew aims to protect biodiversity while supporting sustainability. Currently, the gardens preserve 8.25 plant and fungal specimens and 200,000 botanical illustrations. In 2020, Kew released a new podcast, “Unearthed: Mysteries from an unseen world,” hosted by ethnobotanist & broadcaster/writer, James Wong. The 8-episode podcast (to date) series looks at how fungi and plants play a role in everything from crime-solving, to body healing, to new laws. Most of the podcasts are about 30 minutes, with a few around 1 hour. It’s a great listen for a commute or while you’re taking a walk.

Listeners can learn about how a zombie fungus can make ants explode, how the Kew was able to help solve a murder by identifying a plant that the murderer used to kill their spouse, food safety, plant/fungi based medical cures, and the seedy underbelly of plant culture via plant trafficking. The podcast brings in horticulturists, toxicologists, climate change experts, and more. My favourite episode focuses on ecocide (the destruction of natural environment by humans deliberately or negligently) and whether or not it is a crime.

Give this podcast a chance and you’ll surely look at plants a lot differently – plus, that James Wong is a fun-gi!

“Unearthed: Mysteries from an unseen world” can be downloaded directly at https://www.kew.org/about-us/virtual-kew-wakehurst/unearthed-kew-podcast or wherever you find your favourite podcasts. You can learn more about Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, here.

Open Access Fees – What Do Our Faculty Members Think?

07/14/2021

Angelyn Thornton

Behind the Scenes

Gali Halevi, MLS, PhD, Associate Dean of Libraries and Information Sciences

Samantha Walsh, MLS, MA, Manager of Information & Education Services

During 2020, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) published 5,714 articles, out of which 2,860 were published as open access (OA). Regardless of the OA type for publication (Gold, Green, Hybrid, etc.), most of these articles required payments of Article Processing Charges (APCs). With a single article’s APC ranging from $1,500 to over $5,000 and considering that most researchers publish several articles every year, the amount of money spent to publish OA is significant. In light of the large amount of OA publications authored by ISMMS researchers and the money spent to cover APCs every year, we sought to understand how researchers fund APCs and how they perceive them in terms of fairness, responsibility, and as necessary support to sustain OA. At the beginning of 2021, we conducted a survey, completed by ISMMS faculty members and asked them to rank a series of statements pertaining to open access publishing and their costs. We used a 5 point Likert scale where each statement was ranked from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree“

In this blog post, we report on the main findings of the survey. The analysis of participants’ rankings of their level of agreement with statements related to APC costs shows that the majority of faculty participants either Agree or Strongly Agree that APCs are necessary to maintain OA publications. Therefore, there is an understanding that OA publishing requires monetary investment and cannot be sustained without it. However, most participants believe that APCs are unfair, too expensive, and favor well-funded researchers. Faculty also agree that researchers should not be paying APCs.

The idea of having scientific publications open for readers is a noble one. However, from author and librarian perspectives, OA is difficult to attain without a sustainable way to cover the costs. We believe that researchers should not be asked to spend their grant funding to pay for APCs. Similarly, asking libraries to cover APCs while trying to keep up with the rising costs of subscriptions is unrealistic. Currently, publishers are not required to provide evidence of the costs incurred to them for publishing OA. APC prices vary from one publisher to another based on Impact Factor and potential revenue rather than the need to cover production costs. This creates an unregulated market driven by profit.

We believe that APCs should be standardized and overseen by the government agencies that require authors to publish open access. There should also be a larger conversation about the sources of funding of OA articles. We also believe that all students and trainees, regardless of the institution that they attend, should not be charged APCs. Considering the fact that they are at the beginning of their academic careers, they should not be burdened by APC payments and should have the opportunity to enjoy the advantages of publishing OA.

Levy Library Reopening: July 2021

07/07/2021

Angelyn Thornton

No Subjects

As more and more of our community members become vaccinated, the Levy Library is pleased to gradually reopen our space to patrons. Below you will find where we stand with our reopening progress. Have any questions? Ask A Librarian!

Library Entrance Turnstiles

Anyone entering the Levy Library space must present a valid Mount Sinai Health System or Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai ID badge in order to swipe through our new turnstile system.

Library entrance turnstiles

Computer Workstations

Computer workstations in the Levy Library are now reopen with reduced availability and social distancing policies in place. Cleaning stations are available for patrons to sanitize their workstations before and after each use.

Computer workstations

Library Space Expansion

The silent study section of the Levy Library is now open with a reduced number of seats available to ensure social distancing.

Silent study area

Masking/Social Distancing

Students, faculty, and staff who have a valid Mount Sinai-issued ID badge with a vaccine sticker are not required to wear a mask inside the Levy Library. Those who do not have a vaccine sticker are still required to wear a mask and maintain a distance of six feet from other patrons in all library spaces and facilities.

Remote Services

While the library space has reopened, many services are still remote at the date of this posting. Services such as Ask A Librarian, Interlibrary Loan, Research Consultations, and Writing Support Service are all being conducted virtually. For a full list, please visit our Remote Services guide here.

For the most up-to-date information on our current reopening policies and developments, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!