Leukocyte News and Research

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Novel antibody engineering approach

Scientists from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA, have recently developed an Antibody Display technology by grafting the second extracellular domain of tetraspanin12 (Tspan12EC2) and the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein on the heavy chain complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3).

2 Jun 2021

Inflammatory brain injury higher in men with acute COVID-19, finds study

The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with both short- and long-term neurologic complications, including stroke, brain fog and persistent tiredness. A new study concludes that the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the central nervous system (CNS) are due to the endothelial injury and inflammation that this produces in the brain.

31 May 2021

Mass screening reveals significantly higher numbers of coeliac disease cases in children

Mass screening of school age children has led to significantly higher numbers of coeliac disease cases being diagnosed, according to a new study presented today at the 6th World Congress of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.

29 May 2021

Human T cells can target more than 1,400 sites on SARS-CoV-2 virus

In a new paper, scientists from La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) bring together research findings from COVID-19 researchers around the world.

25 May 2021

Researchers investigate immune molecule that helps protect transplanted kidneys

Looking to improve organ transplant success, researchers are working to learn more about how an immune molecule, which also protects a fetus, helps protect some transplanted kidneys, and to develop a synthetic version of that molecule that could help more patients.

18 May 2021

Blocking fat-busting enzyme with a drug compromises cardiac repair during acute heart failure

Blocking the fat-busting enzyme lipoxygenase with a synthetic inhibitor throws the immune system's innate inflammatory response out of whack, compromising cardiac repair during acute heart failure, USF Health researchers found.

10 May 2021

Highly efficient immune response in asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 patients

Researchers in Singapore have investigated the role of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies and T-cells in asymptomatic individuals suffering from COVID-19. They found that, contrary to some initial hypotheses, asymptomatic individuals mount an adaptive immune response on par with symptomatic individuals, demonstrating that T cell response does not appear to be correlated with symptom severity.

7 May 2021

Bubonic plague had long-term impact on human immune genes, indicates study

Scientists examining the remains of 36 bubonic plague victims from a 16th century mass grave in Germany have found the first evidence that evolutionary adaptive processes, driven by the disease, may have conferred immunity on later generations of people from the region.

7 May 2021

Pan-COVID-19 vaccine protects mice against SARS-CoV-2 variants

Researchers in the United States have identified short peptide sequences in the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that are immunogenic in a mouse model and may provide protection against viral variants.

5 May 2021

Differential NK cell activity found to contribute to SARS-CoV-2 infection resistance

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has affected millions of people worldwide and is the leading cause of mortality in Brazil in 2020 as well as early 2021. Clinical manifestations of COVID-19 disease range from no symptoms and mild flu-like symptoms to severe cases leading to hospitalization and death.

3 May 2021

Class I HLA alleles shape CD8+ T cell repertoire in SARS-CoV-2 infection

An interesting new study discusses how adaptive cellular immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 is dependent on differences in HLA-encoding genes between patients.

3 May 2021

Antiviral T cells safe, effective as off-the-shelf therapy for painful complication after stem cell transplants

A Phase II trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that BK virus (BKV)-specific T cells from healthy donors were safe and effective as an off-the-shelf therapy for BKV-associated hemorrhagic cystitis (BKV-HC), a painful complication common after allogeneic stem cell transplants for patients with leukemia or lymphoma.

30 Apr 2021

Host protein mimicry of SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding motif

In a new study, structural bioinformatics approaches are employed to investigate the potential mimicry of the receptor-binding motif (RBM) of these three coronaviruses, finding that several proteins from both human and non-human sources were similar to each, with implications regarding the mechanism of infection and tropism of SARS-CoV-2.

29 Apr 2021

Peptide nucleocapsid vaccine candidate elicits protective T cell immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in vivo

A new study describes a synthetic peptide used as a platform to generate protective adaptive cellular immunity to the virus in rhesus macaques, which are the gold standard for preclinical testing in humans.

28 Apr 2021

Researchers identify risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 reinfection

A team of scientists from the Capital Medical University and Peking University, China, has recently explored the factors responsible for the reactivation of SARS-CoV-2 infection among individuals who have recently recovered from COVID-19. The findings reveal that individuals with lower lymphocyte count or with two or fewer symptoms during the first COVID-19 episode are at higher risk of recurrent infection.

16 Apr 2021

Experimental evidence that ADAM17 inhibition prevents severe COVID-19

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus that is contagious in humans. It is the causal agent of the ongoing coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This virus causes a mild to severe infection and has claimed over 2.95 million lives worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 is the successor to SARS-CoV-1, the virus that caused the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak.

13 Apr 2021

L452R and Y453F SARS-CoV-2 mutations increase transmission and evade immunity

Mutations from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have created multiple variants. Some variants, such as those found in South Africa and Brazil, have caused concern for their potential to evade the immune response. While vaccination efforts are underway, the world is racing against the viruses’ ability to evolve under selective pressure.

11 Apr 2021

Leaky gut and microbial dysbiosis could contribute to cytokine storm in severely ill COVID-19 cases

The gut is a well-established route of infection and target for viral damage by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent for COVID-19. This is supported by the clinical observation that about half of COVID-19 patients exhibit gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms.

8 Apr 2021

Which SARS-CoV-2 spike mutants can evade T cell immunity?

A new study reports the capability of a new variant of the virus to escape specific cellular immunity, while possessing a higher binding affinity to the host cell binding receptor, the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2).

7 Apr 2021

Is non-severe SARS-CoV-2 infection characterized by early T cell proliferation?

To date, little evidence has been documented regarding the immune responses after the onset of the symptoms or virus detection. Further, no cross-sectional studies have been conducted that define the time of infection. Thereby, no report is available that explains the relationship between the earliest immune responses to COVID-19 and temporal kinetics. New research deals with this research gap using blood transcriptomics, multiparameter flow cytometry, and T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing methods.

6 Apr 2021