Capsid News and Research

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Researchers discover ‘brake’ that interferes with HIV's development into infectious agent

Viewed with a microscope, the virus faintly resembles a pineapple--the universal symbol of welcome. But HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is anything but that. It has claimed the lives of more than 35 million people so far.

1 Dec 2017

Virus Painting, Lipids and Single Particle Charge

Various viral infections still pose a great threat to human and animal health. A wide range of viral species are surrounded by a lipid shell, the envelope, containing viral and cellular proteins.

From Izon Science 27 Nov 2017

Northwestern Medicine scientists develop novel method to track HIV infection

Northwestern Medicine scientists have developed a novel method of tracking HIV infection, allowing the behavior of individual virions -- infectious particles -- to be connected to infectivity.

18 Aug 2017

TMDU-led researchers identify protein critical to early stages of cellular HIV infection

When a virus enters a cell, one of the first steps in the process of infecting that cell is removal of the protein coat that surrounds the virus's genetic material.

8 Aug 2017

Spanish scientists develop promising gene therapy method to treat Wilson's disease

Scientists at the Center for Applied Medical Research at the University of Navarra have designed a promising gene therapy method to treat Wilson's disease, a rare pathology caused by the lack of or malfunction of a gene.

16 May 2017

Study reveals high-resolution view of Zika viral life cycle within infected cells

New research reveals a high-resolution view of the Zika viral life cycle within infected cells and shows dramatic changes in the cell's architecture throughout the infection process. This novel perspective may lead to the development of new vaccines and treatments.

30 Mar 2017

Virus hydrophobicity could help in vaccine purification

A person doesn't have to get sick to catch a virus. Researchers hope to catch viruses for detection and vaccinations by understanding their sticky outer layers.

24 Mar 2017

Researchers find new evidence to support structure-based classification system for viruses

Professor Robert Sinclair at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University and Professor Dennis Bamford and Dr. Janne Ravantti from the University of Helsinki have found new evidence to support a classification system for viruses based on viral structure.

23 Feb 2017

Jefferson researchers reveal new insight into two states of viral protein

To generate swarms of new viral particles, a virus hijacks a cell into producing masses of self-assembling cages that are then loaded with the genetic blueprint for the next infection.

31 Jan 2017

Researchers find high-resolution structure of immature Zika virus

Researchers at Purdue University have determined the high-resolution structure of immature Zika virus, a step toward better understanding how the virus infects host cells and spreads.

10 Jan 2017

Researchers come up with new approach to stabilize vaccines at room temperature

Shipping vaccines in an unbroken temperature-controlled supply chain (a "cold chain") all the way to recipients is a major logistical and financial challenge in remote areas and developing countries.

30 Nov 2016

Study highlights potential to develop antiviral therapies, vaccines for treating astroviruses

Human astroviruses infect nearly everyone during childhood, causing diarrhea, vomiting, and fever.

22 Nov 2016

MU researcher awarded $3 million NIH grant to develop new drugs for treating HBV

Hepatitis B (HBV) is a viral infection that increases the likelihood of developing liver cancer or liver failure.

26 Sep 2016

First accurate simulation reveals how virus shape changes when invading host cell

For the first time, scientists know what happens to a virus' shape when it invades a host cell, thanks to an experiment by researchers at Penn State College of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

12 Sep 2016

New type of HIV drug works in unusual way

A new type of HIV drug currently being tested works in an unusual way, scientists in the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit, a collaboration between EMBL and Heidelberg University Hospital, have found.

17 Jul 2016

Innovative computer HIV capsid model provides real insight into virus maturation process

From a virus's point of view, invading our cells is a matter of survival. The virus makes a living by highjacking cellular processes to produce more of the proteins that make it up.

16 Jun 2016

Understanding DNA scrunching could help develop novel ways to fight infections

Evidence of DNA "scrunching" may one day lead to a new class of drugs against viruses, according to a research team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Columbia University.

9 Jun 2016

Study shows expression of high-affinity TCRs linked with spontaneous control of HIV infection

A small number of patients infected by HIV spontaneously control viral replication without antiretroviral therapy, and do not develop the disease. The ability of these rare patients, known as "HIV controllers", to suppress HIV replication appears to be down to a highly effective immune response.

19 May 2016

First atomic-scale view of interaction between HIV capsid and host protein cyclophilin A

A new study offers the first atomic-scale view of an interaction between the HIV capsid - the protein coat that shepherds HIV into the nucleus of human cells - and a host protein known as cyclophilin A. This interaction is key to HIV infection, researchers say.

7 Mar 2016

UMMS researchers identify new life cycle stage in HIV infection

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have identified a new life cycle stage in HIV infection, thanks to a novel technique they developed to take images of intact infected cells.

17 Dec 2015