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Antigenic "supersite" could improve design of COVID-19 vaccines

Researchers in the United States have defined an antigenic “supersite” within the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that could have important implications for the design of vaccines to protect against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

12 Jan 2021

Hypoxia signaling pathway could lead to COVID-19 treatments

Researchers in Spain have demonstrated that studying the hypoxia signaling pathway could provide opportunities for treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

12 Jan 2021

Rotten egg gas may help protect aging brain cells from Alzheimer’s disease

Typically characterized as poisonous, corrosive and smelling of rotten eggs, hydrogen sulfide's reputation may soon get a face-lift thanks to Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers.

12 Jan 2021

Will the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine be effective against the new N501Y SARS-CoV-2 variant?

Researchers from Pfizer and the University of Texas, USA, have presented evidence showing that people in a previously reported trial of the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, BNT162b2 – commonly known as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine – had equivalent neutralizing titers to the N501 and Y501 viruses.

12 Jan 2021

Researchers identify shorter form of ACE2 that lacks SARS-CoV-2 binding site

A shadow over the promising inhaled interferon beta COVID-19 therapy has been cleared with the discovery that although it appears to increase levels of ACE2 protein - coronavirus' key entry point into nose and lung cells - it predominantly increases levels of a short version of that protein, which the virus cannot bind to.

12 Jan 2021

ARID1A gene in ovarian cancer plays a role in the regulation of metabolism

Mutations that inactivate the ARID1A gene in ovarian cancer increase utilization of the glutamine amino acid making cancer cells dependent on glutamine metabolism, according to a study by The Wistar Institute published online in Nature Cancer.

12 Jan 2021

Polymer patch provides controlled release of drugs for post-operative pain management

A Duke-led team of scientists has developed a bio-compatible surgical patch that releases non-opioid painkillers directly to the site of a wound for days and then dissolves away.

11 Jan 2021

Study finds association between severity of COVID-19 and shorter telomeres

Patients with severe COVID-19 disease have significantly shorter telomeres, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre in collaboration with the COVID-IFEMA Field Hospital, published in the journal Aging.

11 Jan 2021

Vimentin could be a major co-factor that aids SARS-CoV-2 infection

A recent study has found that extracellular vimentin can bind to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in vitro, and antibodies against vimentin can decrease virus infectivity by up to 80%. This suggests vimentin could aid the virus’s binding to host cells and help in infection.

11 Jan 2021

SARS-CoV-2-induced innate immune responses may vary with disease severity, finds study

Scientists from Germany and China recently conducted a large meta-analysis using transcriptome data of SARS-CoV-2 to evaluate the routes of viral entry and the characteristics of innate immune responses induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection.

11 Jan 2021

Researchers receive NIH grant to develop more effective flu vaccines

To build better vaccines, scientists want to know more about how our bodies make adequate numbers of effective, durable antibodies against the influenza virus.

11 Jan 2021

Tetherin downregulation by SARS-CoV-2 enhances viral spread

A new preprint research paper published on the bioRxiv server describes the role of a host protein called tetherin in the spread of the novel coronavirus.

10 Jan 2021

Synthetic lung organoids provide high-throughput platform to identify new cellular targets of SARS-CoV-2

An interesting new study published on the bioRxiv preprint server describes a new platform that allows a high-throughput workflow to generate matched human lung buds in the tens of thousands. This allows researchers to study SARS-CoV-2 infection and therapeutics in lung tissue that mirrors the key aspects of human lung development.

10 Jan 2021

Naturally selected mutations of SARS-CoV-2 easily duplicated in vitro

In a recent and timely paper, currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server, researchers from Israel and France demonstrated how in vitro evolution of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) receptor-binding domain (RBD) follows contagious mutation spread – but can also generate an efficient infection inhibitor.

10 Jan 2021

Researchers pinpoint spike protein regions as targets for passive and active COVID-19 vaccines

Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine have identified regions of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that have relatively few mutations and might therefore serve as important targets for prophylactic agents against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

10 Jan 2021

New test detects SARS-CoV-2 in less than 5 mins

A fast and accurate virus detection strategy is very crucial to reduce the rate of transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the pathogen responsible for COVID-19. The global scientific research community responded to this unprecedented demand in diagnostic testing by developing several detection platforms, the most sensitive of which detect the viral RNA.

10 Jan 2021