Dr Alexander Tarr's Outputs (84)

An ultra-long heavy chain bovine antibody neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 and reacts broadly with sarbecoviruses (2025)
Preprint / Working Paper
Tsoleridis, T., Fan, C., Park, E. J., Duncan, J. D., Sharma, P., Wartnaby, S., Chappell, J. G., Kipar, A., Bentley, E. G., Kirby, A., Han, X., Coleman, C. M., Flyak, A. I., McClure, C. P., Rho, S., Johansson, D. X., Persson, M. A., Tarr, A. W., Haig, D., Stewart, J. P., …Ball, J. K. (2025). An ultra-long heavy chain bovine antibody neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 and reacts broadly with sarbecoviruses

The threat of emergence of further SARS-CoV-2 variants, and the future spillover potential of other sarbecoviruses has prompted continued efforts to isolate broadly reactive monoclonal antibodies for therapeutic use. In this study, we generated monoc... Read More about An ultra-long heavy chain bovine antibody neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 and reacts broadly with sarbecoviruses.

Reconstruction of the historic time course of blood‐borne virus contamination of clotting factor concentrates, 1974–1992 (2024)
Journal Article
McClure, C. P., Kean, K., Reid, K., Mayne, R., Fu, M. X., Rajendra, P., Gates, S., Breuer, J., Harvala, H., Golubchik, T., Tarr, A. W., Irving, W. L., Makris, M., & Simmonds, P. (2024). Reconstruction of the historic time course of blood‐borne virus contamination of clotting factor concentrates, 1974–1992. Journal of Medical Virology, 96(7), Article e29774. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.29774

Factor VIII and IX clotting factor concentrates manufactured from pooled plasma have been identified as potent sources of virus infection in persons with hemophilia (PWHs) in the 1970s and 1980s. To investigate the range and diversity of viruses over... Read More about Reconstruction of the historic time course of blood‐borne virus contamination of clotting factor concentrates, 1974–1992.

Vivaldi: An amplicon-based whole genome sequencing method for the four seasonal human coronaviruses 229E, NL63, OC43 & HKU1, alongside SARS-CoV-2 (2024)
Preprint / Working Paper
McClure, C. P., Tsoleridis, T., Holmes, N., Chappell, J. G., Byaruhanga, T., Duncan, J., Tofan, M., Khater, A., Berry, L., Clark, G., Irving, W. L., Tarr, A. W., Ball, J. K., Astbury, S., & Loose, M. Vivaldi: An amplicon-based whole genome sequencing method for the four seasonal human coronaviruses 229E, NL63, OC43 & HKU1, alongside SARS-CoV-2

Prior to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in 2019, Alphacoronaviruses 229E and NL63 and Betacoronaviruses OC43 and HKU1 were already established endemic ‘common cold’ viral infections. Despite their collective contribution towards global respiratory morbi... Read More about Vivaldi: An amplicon-based whole genome sequencing method for the four seasonal human coronaviruses 229E, NL63, OC43 & HKU1, alongside SARS-CoV-2.

Population infection estimation from wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in Nagpur, India during the second pandemic wave (2024)
Journal Article
Acheampong, E., Husain, A. A., Dudani, H., Nayak, A. R., Nag, A., Meena, E., Shrivastava, S. K., McClure, P., Tarr, A. W., Crooks, C., Lade, R., Gomes, R. L., Singer, A., Kumar, S., Bhatnagar, T., Arora, S., Kashyap, R. S., & Monaghan, T. M. (2024). Population infection estimation from wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in Nagpur, India during the second pandemic wave. PLoS ONE, 19(5), Article e0303529. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303529

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has emerged as an effective environmental surveillance tool for predicting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease outbreaks in high-income countries (HICs) with centralized sewage infr... Read More about Population infection estimation from wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in Nagpur, India during the second pandemic wave.

Increasing SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among UK pediatric patients on dialysis and kidney transplantation between January 2020 and August 2021 (2023)
Journal Article
Bamber, H. N., Kim, J. J., Reynolds, B. C., Afzaal, J., Lunn, A. J., Tighe, P. J., Irving, W. L., & Tarr, A. W. (2023). Increasing SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among UK pediatric patients on dialysis and kidney transplantation between January 2020 and August 2021. Pediatric Nephrology, 38, 3745-3755. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-023-05983-1

Background
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 11 March 2020, as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spread rapidly across the world. We investiga... Read More about Increasing SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among UK pediatric patients on dialysis and kidney transplantation between January 2020 and August 2021.

RNA-Seq of untreated wastewater to assess COVID-19 and emerging and endemic viruses for public health surveillance (2023)
Journal Article
Stockdale, S. R., Blanchard, A. M., Nayak, A., Husain, A., Nashine, R., Dudani, H., McClure, C. P., Tarr, A. W., Nag, A., Meena, E., Sinha, V., Shrivastava, S. K., Hill, C., Singer, A. C., Gomes, R. L., Acheampong, E., Chidambaram, S. B., Bhatnagar, T., Vetrivel, U., Arora, S., …Monaghan, T. M. (2023). RNA-Seq of untreated wastewater to assess COVID-19 and emerging and endemic viruses for public health surveillance. The Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia, 14, Article 100205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lansea.2023.100205

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic showcased the power of genomic sequencing to tackle the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. However, metagenomic sequencing of total microbial RNAs in wastewater has the potential to assess multiple infectio... Read More about RNA-Seq of untreated wastewater to assess COVID-19 and emerging and endemic viruses for public health surveillance.

Optimization of the pseudoparticle system for standardized assessments of neutralizing antibodies against hepatitis C virus (2022)
Journal Article
Chumbe, A., Urbanowicz, R. A., Sliepen, K., Koekkoek, S. M., Molenkamp, R., Tarr, A. W., Ball, J. K., Schinkel, J., & van Gils, M. J. (2022). Optimization of the pseudoparticle system for standardized assessments of neutralizing antibodies against hepatitis C virus. Journal of General Virology, 103(11), Article 001801. https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.001801

A better understanding of the antibody response during natural infection and the effect on disease progression and reinfection is necessary for the development of a protective hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine. The HCV pseudoparticle (HCVpp) system ena... Read More about Optimization of the pseudoparticle system for standardized assessments of neutralizing antibodies against hepatitis C virus.

Hepatitis C subtyping assay failure in UK patients born in sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for global treatment and elimination (2022)
Journal Article
Adeboyejo, K., King, B., Tsoleridis, T., Tarr, A. W., McLauchlan, J., Irving, W. L., Ball, J. K., & McClure, C. P. (2023). Hepatitis C subtyping assay failure in UK patients born in sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for global treatment and elimination. Journal of Medical Virology, 95(1), Article e28178. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.28178

Background andAims: The newly developed direct-acting antivirals have revolutionized the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), with cure rates as high as 98% in some cohorts. Although genome sequencing has demonstrated that some subtypes of H... Read More about Hepatitis C subtyping assay failure in UK patients born in sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for global treatment and elimination.

Human parainfluenza 2 & 4: Clinical and genetic epidemiology in the UK, 2013–2017, reveals distinct disease features and co‐circulating genomic subtypes (2022)
Journal Article
Chellapuri, A., Smitheman, M., Chappell, J. G., Clark, G., Howson-Wells, H. C., Berry, L., Ball, J. K., Irving, W. L., Tarr, A. W., & McClure, C. P. (2022). Human parainfluenza 2 & 4: Clinical and genetic epidemiology in the UK, 2013–2017, reveals distinct disease features and co‐circulating genomic subtypes. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, 16(6), 1122-1132. https://doi.org/10.1111/irv.13012

Background: Human Parainfluenza viruses (HPIV) comprise of four members of the genetically distinct genera of Respirovirus (HPIV1&3) and Orthorubulavirus (HPIV2&4), causing significant upper and lower respiratory tract infections worldwide, particula... Read More about Human parainfluenza 2 & 4: Clinical and genetic epidemiology in the UK, 2013–2017, reveals distinct disease features and co‐circulating genomic subtypes.

Enterovirus D68 epidemic, UK, 2018, was caused by subclades B3 and D1, predominantly in children and adults, respectively, with both subclades exhibiting extensive genetic diversity (2022)
Journal Article
Howson-Wells, H. C., Tsoleridis, T., Zainuddin, I., Tarr, A. W., Irving, W. L., Ball, J. K., Berry, L., Clark, G., & McClure, C. P. (2022). Enterovirus D68 epidemic, UK, 2018, was caused by subclades B3 and D1, predominantly in children and adults, respectively, with both subclades exhibiting extensive genetic diversity. Microbial Genomics, 8(5), https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.000825

Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) has recently been identified in biennial epidemics coinciding with diagnoses of non-polio acute flaccid paralysis/myelitis (AFP/AFM). We investigated the prevalence, genetic relatedness and associated clinical features of EV-... Read More about Enterovirus D68 epidemic, UK, 2018, was caused by subclades B3 and D1, predominantly in children and adults, respectively, with both subclades exhibiting extensive genetic diversity.

The HCV Envelope Glycoprotein Down-Modulates NF-κB Signalling and Associates With Stimulation of the Host Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Pathway (2022)
Journal Article
McKay, L. G., Thomas, J., Albalawi, W., Fattaccioli, A., Dieu, M., Ruggiero, A., McKeating, J. A., Ball, J. K., Tarr, A. W., Renard, P., Pollakis, G., & Paxton, W. A. (2022). The HCV Envelope Glycoprotein Down-Modulates NF-κB Signalling and Associates With Stimulation of the Host Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Pathway. Frontiers in Immunology, 13, Article 831695. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.831695

Following acute HCV infection, the virus establishes a chronic disease in the majority of patients whilst few individuals clear the infection spontaneously. The precise mechanisms that determine chronic HCV infection or spontaneous clearance are not... Read More about The HCV Envelope Glycoprotein Down-Modulates NF-κB Signalling and Associates With Stimulation of the Host Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Pathway.

Simultaneous determination of HCV genotype and NS5B resistance associated substitutions using dried serum spots from São Paulo state, Brazil (2022)
Journal Article
Adeboyejo, K., Riquena Grosche, V., Pandeló José, D., Magalhães Ferreira, G., Farinha Shimizu, J., King, B. J., Tarr, A. W., Costa Nunes Soares, M. M., Ball, J. K., McClure, C. P., & Gomes Jardim, A. C. (2022). Simultaneous determination of HCV genotype and NS5B resistance associated substitutions using dried serum spots from São Paulo state, Brazil. Access Microbiology, 4(3), Article 000326. https://doi.org/10.1099/acmi.0.000326

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is responsible for more than 180 million infections worldwide, and about 80 % of infections are reported in Low and Middle-income countries (LMICs). Therapy is based on the administration of interferon (INF), ribavirin (RBV) o... Read More about Simultaneous determination of HCV genotype and NS5B resistance associated substitutions using dried serum spots from São Paulo state, Brazil.

Sero-reactivity to three distinct regions within the hepatitis C virus alternative reading frame protein (ARFP/core+1) in patients with chronic HCV genotype-3 infection (2022)
Journal Article
Elsheikh, M. E. A., Patrick McClure, C., Tarr, A. W., & Irving, W. L. (2022). Sero-reactivity to three distinct regions within the hepatitis C virus alternative reading frame protein (ARFP/core+1) in patients with chronic HCV genotype-3 infection. Journal of General Virology, 103(3), Article 001727. https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.001727

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects more than 71 million people worldwide. The disease slowly progresses to chronic, long-term liver injury which leads to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 5 % of infections. The alternative reading frame protei... Read More about Sero-reactivity to three distinct regions within the hepatitis C virus alternative reading frame protein (ARFP/core+1) in patients with chronic HCV genotype-3 infection.

Human Parainfluenza 2 & 4: clinical and genetic epidemiology in the UK, 2013-2017, reveals distinct disease features and co-circulating genomic subtypes (2022)
Preprint / Working Paper
Chellapuri, A., Smitheman, M., Chappell, J. G., Clark, G., Howson-Wells, H. C., Berry, L., Ball, J. K., Irving, W. L., Tarr, A. W., & McClure, C. P. Human Parainfluenza 2 & 4: clinical and genetic epidemiology in the UK, 2013-2017, reveals distinct disease features and co-circulating genomic subtypes

Human Parainfluenza viruses (HPIV) are constituted by four members of the genetically distinct genera of Respirovirus (type 1 and 3) and Orthorubulavirus (type 2 and 4), causing significant upper and lower respiratory tract infections in both childre... Read More about Human Parainfluenza 2 & 4: clinical and genetic epidemiology in the UK, 2013-2017, reveals distinct disease features and co-circulating genomic subtypes.

Serum Levels of Proinflammatory Lipid Mediators and Specialized Proresolving Molecules Are Increased in Patients With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 and Correlate With Markers of the Adaptive Immune Response (2022)
Journal Article
Turnbull, J., Jha, R. R., Ortori, C. A., Lunt, E., Tighe, P. J., Irving, W. L., Gohir, S. A., Kim, D.-H., Valdes, A. M., Tarr, A. W., Barrett, D. A., & Chapman, V. (2022). Serum Levels of Proinflammatory Lipid Mediators and Specialized Proresolving Molecules Are Increased in Patients With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 and Correlate With Markers of the Adaptive Immune Response. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 225(12), 2142-2154. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiab632

BACKGROUND: Specialized proresolution molecules (SPMs) halt the transition to chronic pathogenic inflammation. We aimed to quantify serum levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory bioactive lipids in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-C... Read More about Serum Levels of Proinflammatory Lipid Mediators and Specialized Proresolving Molecules Are Increased in Patients With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 and Correlate With Markers of the Adaptive Immune Response.

Immunocompromised children and young people are at no increased risk of severe COVID-19 (2021)
Journal Article
Chappell, H., Patel, R., Driessens, C., Tarr, A. W., Irving, W. L., Tighe, P. J., Jackson, H. J., Harvey-Cowlishaw, T., Mills, L., Shaunak, M., Gbesemete, D., Leahy, A., Lucas, J. S., Faust, S. N., & de Graaf, H. (2022). Immunocompromised children and young people are at no increased risk of severe COVID-19. Journal of Infection, 84(1), 31-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2021.11.005

Objectives: We aimed to prospectively describe the incidence and clinical spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 infection in immunocompromised paediatric patients in the UK. Methods: From March 2020 to 2021 weekly questionnaires were sent to immunocompromised paedi... Read More about Immunocompromised children and young people are at no increased risk of severe COVID-19.

An Antigenically Diverse, Representative Panel of Envelope Glycoproteins for Hepatitis C Virus Vaccine Development (2021)
Journal Article
Salas, J. H., Urbanowicz, R. A., Guest, J. D., Frumento, N., Figueroa, A., Clark, K. E., Keck, Z., Cowton, V. M., Cole, S. J., Patel, A. H., Fuerst, T. R., Drummer, H. E., Major, M., Tarr, A. W., Ball, J. K., Law, M., Pierce, B. G., Foung, S. K., & Bailey, J. R. (2022). An Antigenically Diverse, Representative Panel of Envelope Glycoproteins for Hepatitis C Virus Vaccine Development. Gastroenterology, 162(2), 562-574. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2021.10.005

Background & Aims: Development of a prophylactic hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine will require accurate and reproducible measurement of neutralizing breadth of vaccine-induced antibodies. Currently available HCV panels may not adequately represent the... Read More about An Antigenically Diverse, Representative Panel of Envelope Glycoproteins for Hepatitis C Virus Vaccine Development.

Two doses of the SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 vaccine enhance antibody responses to variants in individuals with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection (2021)
Journal Article
Urbanowicz, R. A., Tsoleridis, T., Jackson, H. J., Cusin, L., Duncan, J. D., Chappell, J. G., Tarr, A. W., Nightingale, J., Norrish, A. R., Ikram, A., Marson, B., Craxford, S. J., Kelly, A., Aithal, G. P., Vijay, A., Tighe, P. J., Ball, J. K., Valdes, A. M., & Ollivere, B. J. (2021). Two doses of the SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 vaccine enhance antibody responses to variants in individuals with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Science Translational Medicine, 13(609), Article eabj0847. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abj0847

Understanding the impact of prior infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on the response to vaccination is a priority for responding to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In particular, it is necess... Read More about Two doses of the SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 vaccine enhance antibody responses to variants in individuals with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Guillain–Barré Syndrome Variant Occurring after SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination (2021)
Journal Article
Allen, C. M., Ramsamy, S., Tarr, A. W., Tighe, P. J., Irving, W. L., Tanasescu, R., & Evans, J. R. (2021). Guillain–Barré Syndrome Variant Occurring after SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination. Annals of Neurology, 90(2), 315-318. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.26144

Although SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are very safe, we report 4 cases of the bifacial weakness with paresthesias variant of Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) occurring within 3 weeks of vaccination with the Oxford–AstraZeneca SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. This rare neurol... Read More about Guillain–Barré Syndrome Variant Occurring after SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination.

Perceptions and Experiences of the University of Nottingham Pilot SARS-CoV-2 Asymptomatic Testing Service: A Mixed-Methods Study (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Briggs, L., Blake, H., Cirelli, C., Corner, J., Hassard, J., Daly, J., Chappell, J., Bennett, M., Fairclough, L., McClure, C., Tarr, A., Tighe, P., Favier, A., Irving, W., & Ball, J. (2021, March). Perceptions and Experiences of the University of Nottingham Pilot SARS-CoV-2 Asymptomatic Testing Service: A Mixed-Methods Study. Poster presented at RSM National Conference 2021, Online