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Ciliary proteins play vital role in cardiovascular functions and genetic diseases

Research from Chapman University provides new insight into the characteristics of crucial proteins within the ciliary membrane that play vital roles in human genetic diseases and cardiovascular functions.

20 Aug 2020

Sortilin may hold the key to developing more effective treatment for pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer has an extremely poor prognosis; it is the third most common cause of cancer deaths in the United States.

20 Aug 2020

SARS-CoV-2 hijacks antiviral factors to promote infection in human lung cells

Now, a new study published in the preprint server bioRxiv in August 2020 shows that under conditions resembling those in vivo, IFNs may promote efficient viral invasion instead.

20 Aug 2020

Researchers use heparin to block co-receptor for SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers at the University of Amsterdam have conducted a study showing that heparan sulfate proteoglycans are important co-receptors that severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) requires to infect host cells.

19 Aug 2020

Human microbiome trims mucosal glycans, influencing SARS-CoV-2 infection

An international team of researchers has conducted a study showing that differences in the human microbiome may influence the ability of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to infect host cells.

19 Aug 2020

Regeneration of vascular cells is regulated by RNA-binding protein

Through their basic research, physicians at the Heart Center of the University Hospital Bonn have discovered how the communication between individual cells can be influenced with the help of a specific protein.

19 Aug 2020

Shielding stem cells with novel biomaterial can reduce heart attack damage

Bioengineers and surgeons from Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) have shown that shielding stem cells with a novel biomaterial improves the cells' ability to heal heart injuries caused by heart attacks.

18 Aug 2020

Cryo-EM experiments offer important clues to chicken pox infection

Despite decades of study, exactly how herpesviruses invade our cells remains something of a mystery. Now researchers studying one herpesvirus, the varicella zoster virus (VZV) that causes chicken pox, may have found an important clue: A key protein the virus uses to initiate infection does not operate as previously thought, researchers at Stanford University and the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory report August 18 in Nature Communications.

18 Aug 2020

Study shows how foodborne pathogen infects a human intestinal cell

As soon as the foodborne pathogen Vibrio parahaemolyticus infects a human intestinal cell, the bacteria are already planning their escape.

18 Aug 2020

New technique enables real-time observation of influenza A hemagglutinin during viral entry

Unlike living organisms, to avoid extinction, viruses need to hijack living host machineries to generate new viruses.

17 Aug 2020

Study reveals bacteria's secret weapon to evade immune responses

Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute scientists have discovered a previously unknown method used by bacteria to evade immune responses.

17 Aug 2020

Combination of nanotechnology and genetic engineering for regulating fatal cancer stemness

The development of chemotherapeutic agents with selective anti-cancer activities is increasingly unattractive due to the emergence of resistance, poor targeting of cancer tissues, and subsequent metastasis.

17 Aug 2020

New type of immunotherapy extends survival of mice with triple negative breast tumors

Immunotherapies for cancer - treatments that prime the immune system to attack tumors - are valuable weapons in the anti-cancer arsenal. But some cancers are more difficult to target with this strategy than others.

17 Aug 2020

Targeting SARS-CoV-2 with off-the-shelf CAR-NK cells

The current COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to spread and cause disease and death in many countries even today. At present, there is no effective treatment. A recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in August 2020 reports the potential of a new class of drugs called CAR NK cells, which could be used off-the-shelf to treat this disease.

17 Aug 2020

ARDS may not be the primary lung iInjury in COVID-19

A new Italian study published on the preprint server medRxiv in August 2020 shows that this may not be an adequate explanation, since ARDS is a nonspecific diagnosis. Instead, they say, antemortem lung biopsy shows a “Covid pattern” of acute lung injury, which could guide the application of therapeutics.

16 Aug 2020

Influenza-virus-based vaccine platform another viable option against SARS-CoV-2

In a novel proof of concept study, published on the bioRxiv preprint server, U.S. researchers used attenuated influenza viral particles that express severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) receptor-binding domain to induce neutralizing antibodies in mice – unveiling another viable vaccine candidate for preventing coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

14 Aug 2020

COVID-19 pandemic as severe as 1918 influenza pandemic

A recent study published in the journal JAMA Network Open reveals that the excess death toll observed during the initial period of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in New York City is comparable to that observed during the peak of the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 1918.

14 Aug 2020

Back to life: COVID lung transplant survivor tells her story

Mayra Ramirez remembers the nightmares. During six weeks on life support at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Ramirez said, she had terrifying nightmares that she couldn't distinguish from reality.

14 Aug 2020

Research shows how a protein stops cells from attacking their own DNA

Viruses multiply by injecting their DNA into a host cell. Once it enters the intracellular fluid, this foreign material triggers a defense mechanism known as the cGAS-STING pathway.

14 Aug 2020

Membrane nanoparticles acts as a bait to trap SARS-CoV-2

In an exciting new bioRxiv preprint research paper, Chinese researchers describe the development of membrane nanoparticles from ACE2-rich cells with a potent capacity to block the adherence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

13 Aug 2020