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Study assesses impact of anti-SARS-CoV-2 convalescent plasma in COVID-19 disease

The current COVID-19 pandemic is still very much active in most parts of the world. In the absence of effective antiviral drugs or vaccines, scientists are studying the use of blood plasma from convalescent COVID-19 patients, banking on its neutralizing antibody content.

25 Jun 2020

Platelets may be contributing to COVID-19

The current pandemic of COVID-19 is characterized mainly by severe acute respiratory distress of the lungs, but other organ dysfunctions are also being observed, including the heart and blood vessels. Now, a new paper published on the preprint server medRxiv* in June 2020 describes the abnormal activation of platelets in this disease and the link between this phenomenon and poor outcomes for COVID-19 patients.

24 Jun 2020

Effective neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 by synthetic nanobodies targeting the spike protein

In their recent bioRxiv paper, a multinational group of researchers reported rapid isolation and characterization of nanobodies from a synthetic library (known as sybodies) that target the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein – with a strikingly high neutralization ability.

24 Jun 2020

ACE inhibition in kidney could influence pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2

The dynamics of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) expression in the kidney could have implications for the infectivity and pathogenicity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), say researchers.

24 Jun 2020

Structured 'cut-and-paste' design enables streamlined development of SARS-CoV-2 molecular probes

A seminal study by US researchers, currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server, demonstrates how structure-based design can be efficiently employed to develop molecular probes targeting the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike and its domains, with possible future use in diagnostics, treatment and vaccine development.

24 Jun 2020

Statin therapy linked to lower death rate in hospitalized patients with COVID-19

The use of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins is associated with a lower death rate and a lower incidence of mechanical ventilation in patients hospitalized with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), researchers report June 24 in Cell Metabolism.

24 Jun 2020

Abnormal findings in testicular tissue of COVID-19 patients, SARS-CoV-2 mostly undetected

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused over 9.263 million cases and taken more than 477,000 lives as of June 24, 2020 – just six months after the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China, was reported. The illness, called COVID-19 disease, caused by SARS-CoV-2 is a severe pneumonic illness, caused by the entry of the virus into the type II alveolar cells.

24 Jun 2020

Evidence of link between ACE2 genotype and COVID-19 disease severity

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in June 2020 shows that variants in the ACE2 gene which encodes the enzyme receptor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, are linked to the risk of severe disease.

24 Jun 2020

Smoking increases risk of COVID-19 for men but not women

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread over the world, scientists have had to come to terms with the fact that they don’t know much about the SARS-CoV-2 or the disease it causes. Now, a new study by researchers at the University College Cork, Ireland, and published on the preprint server medRxiv in June 2020 discusses the differences in COVID-19 risk between men and women who smoke.

23 Jun 2020

Pangolin version of SARS-CoV-2 can cause COVID-19-like illness

The results of a recent multinational research endeavor, currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server, display the biological framework of SARS-CoV-2-related coronavirus in pangolins and reveal striking similarities to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in humans, but also show that it can be transmitted vertically to the fetus.

23 Jun 2020

Female reproductive organs not susceptible to direct SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers at the University in San Francisco, California, report that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is unlikely to negatively impact on pregnancy-related outcomes such as premature birth, transmission to babies via breast milk, and infertility.

23 Jun 2020

First clinical trial in South Africa for Covid-19 vaccine begins

The first clinical trial in South Africa and on the continent for a Covid-19 vaccine was announced today, 23 June 2020, at a virtual press conference hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits).

23 Jun 2020

SARS-CoV-2 induces broad T cell response in recovering patients

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 shows that T cell responses in COVID-19 patients are broader and more robust in severe disease and are explicitly directed against spike, memory, and ORF3a proteins.

23 Jun 2020

Scientists create 'all-atom' model of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an illness that has spread across the globe, infecting more than 9 million people. The novel coronavirus invades cells through "spike proteins," which sticks and binds itself to a host cell.

23 Jun 2020

Growth, adaptation and neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 with acute-phase serum

One recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports the results of growing and characterizing the virus, as well as the development of neutralizing antibodies in the serum of acutely infected hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

22 Jun 2020

Dire warning on contamination of water and COVID-19 spread

A recent report by scientists in the United Kingdom and Poland and published on the preprint server medRxiv in June 2020 describes the presence of stable severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in water for up to 25 days, with the risk of infection by the contaminated water varying by the country’s environment.

22 Jun 2020

UAH researchers assess treatment efficacy of naturally occurring compounds against COVID-19

The Baudry Lab at The University of Alabama in Huntsville has identified 125 naturally occurring compounds that have a computational potential for efficacy against the COVID-19 virus from the first batch of 50,000 rapidly assessed by a supercomputer.

22 Jun 2020

Massive proteomics investigation of COVID-19 infection

Researchers from Germany and Switzerland revealed functional effects of individual severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) proteins on cellular level after infection. They placed the findings into the context of host signaling pathways in order to identify vulnerable parts of the virus amenable to treatment. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server.

21 Jun 2020

Interesting study on which species may be infected by SARS-CoV-2

The team from the University of Cambridge and the Pirbright Institute found that the Spike protein on SARS-CoV-2 engages with the host cell receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) across a wide range of animals, even though the Spike binding site shows a between-species variation in its amino acid composition.

21 Jun 2020

Promising candidate monoclonal antibodies show "exquisite potency" against SAR-CoV-2

Researchers at Columbia University, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the National Institutes of Health have identified and characterized a range of monoclonal antibodies that potently neutralize severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

21 Jun 2020