Immune Response News and Research

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Evolutionary snapshot reveals genetic stability of SARS-CoV-2

A multinational study currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server shows that in the early large genome of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) only a handful of amino acids are exchanged, implying a relatively low mutation rate and selection pressure.

7 Jul 2020

Early life exposure to influenza shapes our susceptibility to future infections

Early infections of influenza A can help predict how the virus will affect people across different ages in the future and could impact the effectiveness of flu vaccines, says a new study published today in eLife.

7 Jul 2020

Researchers use nanoparticles to deliver gene therapy for blinding eye disease

In experiments in rats and mice, two Johns Hopkins scientists - an engineer and an ophthalmologist - report the successful use of nanoparticles to deliver gene therapy for blinding eye disease.

7 Jul 2020

Faulty immune response to SARS-CoV-2 one of the main causes of death

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in July 2020 describes the organ and tissue-specific spread of the virus causing the current COVID-19 pandemic, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

7 Jul 2020

Dutch trial of convalescent plasma in COVID-19 discontinued

Now, a recent trial published on the preprint server medRxiv* in July 2020 reports that a majority of hospitalized COVID-19 patients have a high titer of neutralizing antibodies, at the time of admission, within 10 days of symptomatic disease.

7 Jul 2020

Doping agent Epo could be effective against Covid-19

Erythropoietin (Epo) is actually a medication for anaemia. According to researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine in Göttingen, the doping agent Epo could also be effective against Covid-19.

6 Jul 2020

Human trials of potential COVID-19 vaccine commence in South Australia

A potential COVID-19 vaccine developed at Flinders University has commenced human trials in South Australia.

6 Jul 2020

Asthma does not appear to increase the risk of COVID-19, shows study

Asthma does not appear to increase the risk for a person contracting COVID-19 or influence its severity, according to a team of Rutgers researchers.

6 Jul 2020

Oxford COVID-19 vaccine trials move to stage 3 human trials

The technical name of the vaccine is ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222), as it is made from a virus called ChAdOx1, which is a weakened and non-replicating version of a common cold virus (adenovirus). The vaccine has been engineered to express the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

5 Jul 2020

New editorial published following adverse events of gene therapy clinical trial

The Editor-in-Chief of Human Gene Therapy, the first journal devoted to the field of gene therapy, and one of the world's leading experts on gene therapy have co-authored a new editorial, Moving Forward After Two Deaths in a Gene Therapy Trial of Myotubular Myopathy, in response to the news of two deaths in a now-halted gene therapy clinical trial.

3 Jul 2020

Human immune response could neutralize new G virus, shows study

Flashback to mid-March: the novel coronavirus had reached San Diego, California. Few people could get tested, and even less was known about how the virus mutated as it spread from person to person.

3 Jul 2020

Researchers find possible cause for SARS-CoV-2 reactive T cells in uninfected individuals

The current pandemic of COVID-19 is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) -2, leading to severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and death in a sizable minority of cases. However, the most significant number are asymptomatic or have only mild infection from which they rapidly recover.

2 Jul 2020

New drug discovery shows promise in fighting acute respiratory illnesses

A collaboration between the University of Toronto's Faculty of Dentistry and the National Jewish Health in Denver -- the top-ranked respiratory research hospital in the U.S. -- has yielded a new drug discovery that could be useful to combat inflammation of all varieties and shows promise in fighting acute respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19.

2 Jul 2020

Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shows promise - virus neutralizing antibodies achieved

In a recent medRxiv* paper, a research group from the U.S. and Germany showed a robust immunogenic response and a promising safety profile of the novel BNT162b1 RNA-based vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) – actively encouraging its accelerated clinical development and potential rapid production.

2 Jul 2020

Controlled human infection models as a strategy to accelerate SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development

Infecting some volunteers with COVID-19 may provide valuable insights for future rounds of vaccine testing, but would require very strict controls, argues a group of infectious disease experts in the New England Journal of Medicine.

2 Jul 2020

Studies show how individual cells maintain their internal clocks

Two new studies led by UT Southwestern scientists outline how individual cells maintain their internal clocks, driven both through heritable and random means.

2 Jul 2020

Novavax SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate shows promise in animal models

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 shows that a candidate spike protein vaccine can induce neutralizing antibodies, antiviral T cell responses, and protection against infection.

2 Jul 2020

Important new findings on T cell immunity in COVID-19

Researchers at the Karolinska University Hospital and University Hospital of Wales report that people who have recovered from asymptomatic or mild cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may have long-term T-cell immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

1 Jul 2020

Researchers discover a protein that protects B cells from stress-induced cell death

Whenever a germ gets into the human body, the immune system usually responds immediately to fight off the enemy attacker. One of our defense system's most important strategies involves B lymphocytes, also known as B cells, which produce antibodies that target and neutralize pathogens.

1 Jul 2020

Phosphorylation of SARS-CoV-2 N protein affects its function

Now, a new study by researchers at the University of California San Francisco and published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in June 2020 shows the effect of phosphorylation on the state and function of the N protein.

1 Jul 2020