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COVID-19-positive mothers rarely transmit the virus to their newborns

Mothers with SARS-CoV-2 infection rarely transmit the virus to their newborns when basic infection-control practices are followed, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital.

12 Oct 2020

Study elucidates the role of ERβ in growth of skeletal muscle in female mice

Researchers at Kumamoto University, Japan generated mice lacking the estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) gene, both fiber-specific and muscle stem cell-specific, which resulted in abnormalities in the growth and regeneration of skeletal muscle in female mice.

12 Oct 2020

Powerful antimicrobial molecules engineered from toxic proteins in wasp venom

A team led by scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has engineered powerful new antimicrobial molecules from toxic proteins found in wasp venom.

12 Oct 2020

Nasal spray COVID-19 vaccine shows promising results in mice

With promising vaccines comes a new candidate that has shown potent pre-clinical immune responses. The vaccine, developed by scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), induced a potent T-cell response at the mucus layer of the lungs, including killer CD8+ T-cells, which can recognize and kill virally infected cells.

12 Oct 2020

Study shows how mutations in VAV1 gene may promote T-cell tumors in experimental mice

Life is an exquisite orchestration of growth and change, with checks and balances that fine-tune complex entwined interactions, both intrinsic and external.

12 Oct 2020

New trial tests the effectiveness of BCG vaccine against COVID-19

A largescale global trial designed to test the theory that the widely-used BCG vaccine could help protect against COVID-19 will soon recruit healthcare staff and care home workers in the UK.

12 Oct 2020

COVID-19 survivors may have protective antibodies for 4 months

The study, published in the journal Science Immunology, highlights the body's immune response against COVID-19. Also, it offers hope that people who are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus will develop lasting protection against reinfection.

11 Oct 2020

Elevated plasma ACE2 activity persists months after SARS-CoV-2 infection

Recently, researchers from the University of Melbourne and Immune Therapies Group, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, reported that downregulation of cardiac ACE2 is linked to increased plasma ACE2 activity. This study is summarized in a preprint paper published in medRxiv.

11 Oct 2020

New study reports on extremely potent human monoclonal antibodies for SARS-CoV-2

Researchers have recovered and identified the various types of neutralizing antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 from convalescent COVID-19 patients. Of these, they identified three that are extremely potent and could be used to develop treatment therapies.

11 Oct 2020

Analysis of existing comorbidities and COVID-19 mortality

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, and research related to potential risk factors for COVID-19 mortality continues, it is becoming clear that individuals with underlying comorbidities have a greater risk of death from COVID-19. The exact contribution of different comorbidities is unclear, however. Now, a new study published in the journal PLOS ONE dissects this topic and may help to quantify the risk posed by specific conditions and offer help with the prognosis.

11 Oct 2020

Pathways contributing to hypercoagulability in severe SARS‐CoV‐2 patients

In a study by researchers explored the possible mechanisms of the clotting disorder, focusing on the role of hypoxia-related activation of coagulation factors; cytokine storm, activation of neutrophils, and the release of neutrophil extracellular traps.

11 Oct 2020

Fetal brain models could predict neurodevelopmental outcomes of COVID-19 exposure

Researchers in the United States and Sweden have created personalized models of fetal brain microglia to investigate the effects of maternal infection on the developing brain, including infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

11 Oct 2020

CHLA investigator receives $3.4 million research grant to study rotavirus vaccine

Rotavirus (RV) is an extremely contagious viral infection and the most common cause of diarrhea in infants and children worldwide.

9 Oct 2020

Too little sugar is the cause of perforated bones

Bone marrow cancer is currently an incurable disease that affects about 400 people in Norway every year. Professor Therese Standal at NTNU has now found an important reason for bone destruction in people with this disease.

9 Oct 2020

Developing a precision 'Trojan Horse' nanotherapy to treat breast cancer

With a nearly $2.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Michigan State University researchers are using nanoscopic particles to turn the body's own cells into weapons that cancer won't see coming.

9 Oct 2020

Exuberant activation of immune cells in severe COVID-19 resembles lupus

In severe cases of COVID-19, Emory researchers have been observing an exuberant activation of immune cells, resembling acute flares of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), an autoimmune disease.

9 Oct 2020

Research shows choroid plexus can act as a conduit for prenatal inflammation

Floating in fluid deep in the brain are small, little understood fronds of tissue. Two new studies reveal that these miniature organs are a hotbed of immune system activity.

9 Oct 2020

Researchers participate in nationwide study to discover new forms of diabetes

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers are participating in the Rare and Atypical Diabetes Network (RADIANT), a nationwide study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study seeks to discover new forms of diabetes, identify their causes, and understand how they differ from more common types of diabetes.

9 Oct 2020

Findings could bring hope for novel therapeutic strategies against malaria

The Plasmodium parasite, which transmits malaria to humans through infected mosquitos, triggers changes in human genes that alter the body's adaptive immune response to malarial infections, according to a team of researchers at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD).

9 Oct 2020

New study examines relationship between ethnic background and SARS-CoV-2 virus

Patients of Black ethnicity have an increased risk of requiring hospital admission for COVID-19, while patients of Asian ethnicity have an increased risk of dying in hospital from COVID-19, compared to White patients, a study has found.

9 Oct 2020