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Researchers develop lab-grown lung model to study SARS-CoV-2 infection

A team of Duke University researchers has developed a lab-grown living lung model that mimics the tiny air sacs of the lungs where coronavirus infection and serious lung damage take place.

23 Oct 2020

Researchers develop a novel method to test for COVID-19 antibodies

When Dr. Stephen Smith of Seattle Children's Research Institute came down with muscle aches, gastrointestinal distress and a sudden loss of smell in late February, he suspected he had COVID-19.

23 Oct 2020

DNA vaccine-induced antibodies neutralize SARS-CoV-2

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is far from over as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to ravage across the globe. With the vast spread of the virus, many countries who reported flattening the curve over the past months have reported clusters of new cases and second waves of the outbreak.

22 Oct 2020

'Mini-lungs' can provide important insights into how COVID-19 damages the lungs

'Mini-lungs' grown from tissue donated to Cambridge hospitals has provided a team of scientists from South Korea and the UK with important insights into how COVID-19 damages the lungs.

22 Oct 2020

Study may help develop effective therapeutic strategies against COVID-19

People have different susceptibilities to SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic, and develop varying degrees of fever, fatigue, and breathing problems -- common symptoms of the illness. What might explain this variation?

22 Oct 2020

Researchers use molecular dynamics simulations to identify secrets of SARS-CoV-2 virus

The virus wreaking havoc on our lives is an efficient infection machine. Comprised of only 29 proteins (compared to our 400,000), with a genome 1/200,000 the size of ours, SARS-CoV-2 is expertly evolved to trick our cells to contribute its machinery to assist in its propagation.

22 Oct 2020

Researchers assess molecular basis of SARS-CoV-2 severity and poor outcomes in lung disease

A recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in October 2020 shows that in patients with chronic lung disease, the pattern of gene expression in the different types of cell changes such that the lung epithelium is prepared to tackle SARS-CoV-2 infection. Also, the altered gene programs have an impact on the immune response.

22 Oct 2020

Brain metabolic changes associated with loss of smell in COVID-19

A recent study detailed in a preprint paper published in medRxiv, researchers from Belgium, discuss how they investigated possible central nervous system (CNS) involvement in COVID-19 patients with a sudden loss of smell using a hybrid positron emission tomography (PET)-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system (PET-MR).

21 Oct 2020

"Immunological imprinting" could influence antibody response to COVID-19

Researchers in the United States and Spain have shown that prior exposure to seasonal coronaviruses may influence antibody responses to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

21 Oct 2020

Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 virus identifies and binds neuropilin-1 on human cells to infect them

Helping to explain what makes SARS-CoV-2 so capable of infecting human cells, researchers in two independent studies discovered that the virus's spike protein recognizes and binds a protein on the human cell surface called neuropilin-1.

21 Oct 2020

Study shows SARS-CoV-2 uses a receptor to efficiently infect human cells

To efficiently infect human cells, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is able to use a receptor called Neuropilin-1, which is very abundant in many human tissues including the respiratory tract, blood vessels and neurons.

21 Oct 2020

Researchers explore SARS-CoV-2 at single cell resolution in human airway epithelial cells

The cellular tropism of the SARS-CoV-2 virus affects several aspects of infection, such as the spread of the virus within and between hosts, tissue pathology, immune control mechanisms, and the response to treatment with promising antiviral drugs.

21 Oct 2020

Researchers explore effect of temperature on molecular structure of SARS-CoV-2 spike

Didac Martí et al., from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, in a recent bioRxiv preprint research paper, explore the effect of the temperature on the molecular structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein. The study specifically focuses on the spike glycoprotein's molecular structural integrity at different temperatures (within 25 ºC and 100 ºC) using atomistic computer simulations.

20 Oct 2020

Engineered decoy receptor could protect against coronaviruses

Researchers in the United States have shown that an engineered soluble decoy receptor tightly binds the spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-associated viruses. This could potentially provide protection against zoonotic betacoronaviruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent responsible for the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

20 Oct 2020

Precision epidemiology could help explain variability in COVID-19 symptoms

Researchers from National Taiwan University have presented a multi-omics view of how mutations in angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) affect infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and progression of coronaviruses disease 2019 (COVID-19).

20 Oct 2020

Serious ongoing symptoms in COVID-19 survivors

Although predominantly a respiratory illness, emerging data suggests that multi-organ injury is common, particularly in moderate to severe infections. A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in October 2020 describes the illness's sequelae in the months after recovery.

20 Oct 2020

Androgen deprivation strategies could help mitigate SARS-CoV-2 infection

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have noted that women are generally less severely affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This has led to the exploration into estrogen and androgens' role in the hyperinflammatory clinical phenotypes of COVID-19. A recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv shows that drugs targeting androgens and TMPRSS2 inhibitors may potentially combat the pandemic.

20 Oct 2020

Molecular simulations reveal detailed structure and dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

Recently, researchers reported a study in which they analyzed the structure and dynamics of the spike protein using multiple molecular dynamic simulations. Their study is published on the preprint server bioRxiv.

19 Oct 2020

Antigenic imprinting of sarbecovirus

A recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in October 2020 shows that the design of a vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) must consider the prior history of exposure to coronaviruses since these affect the antibody response to the virus.

19 Oct 2020

Study tackles the role of the renin-angiotensin system on COVID-19 pathophysiology

Vinicius Novaes Rocha, a researcher at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora in Brazil, provides an insight into the role of the renin-angiotensin on the pathophysiology of COVID-19, paving the way for developing new treatment methods in the journal Medical Hypotheses.

19 Oct 2020