Double Membrane News and Research

RSS

Study explores individual differences of SARS-CoV-2 infection in ACE2-expressing stem cells

The clinical phenotype of COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, is remarkable for its wide range of severity among individual patients. Genetic variations are known to mediate part of these differences. To examine these differences, researchers in a new study used human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from different genetically diverse individuals. These cells are used to model genetic disease since they contain the donor’s genetic information. Researchers use a panel of iPSCs from over 500 individuals. The researchers preferred undifferentiated iPSCs to reduce the time required to differentiate them, especially since infection is not always reliable.

25 Feb 2021

Oxysterol derivatives show powerful antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

A new study describes the antiviral activity of oxysterols, or oxidized cholesterol derivatives, against SARS-CoV-2. These occur in nature, and are not only involved in lipid signaling pathways that modulate a host of processes within the body, including the immune response and lipid homeostasis.

3 Feb 2021

New tests may help reveal the transcriptome of SARS-CoV-2 and predict disease course

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to infect people in their hundreds of thousands around the world, a new study describes a panel of novel tests for genomic (g) and subgenomic (sg) mRNAs generated by SARS-CoV-2. Most assays in use at present are either qualitative or semi-quantitative, and cannot evaluate the transcription molecules in detail.

14 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

Hepatitis C virus drugs synergize with remdesivir against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

SARS-CoV-2 has infected over 71.5 million people and claimed over 1.6 million lives globally since December 2019.

17 Dec 2020

New insight into role of autophagy in controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection

A team of researchers at the University of Manitoba in Canada said that nanoparticle targeting of autophagy at the sites could be a potent tool to effectively overcome COVID-19 while preventing the common adverse effects of the drug.

2 Dec 2020

SARS-CoV-2 launches multipronged attack against host cell protein synthesis, study finds

An interesting new study throws a flood of light on how SARS-CoV-2 accomplishes its mission to infect and replicate within host cells while evading the host immune response.

27 Nov 2020

Scientists show SARS-CoV-2's viral replication with 3D integrative imaging

A team of researchers at Heidelberg University in Germany have performed a detailed imaging analysis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection to determine how the virus reprograms infected cells.

24 Nov 2020

RNA-binding proteins may suppress antiviral defenses against SARS-CoV-2

Conducted by researchers in South Korea at the Institute for Basic Science and the International Vaccine Institute, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in November 2020 describes the many host proteins that bind with the ribonucleic acid (RNA) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and regulate the replication of the virus.

4 Nov 2020

Research on autophagy and coronavirus, implicates ULK1

Researchers from the University of British Columbia have discovered that the betacoronavirus-encoded papain-like protease disrupts autophagy, partly by targeting ULK1. Their work is reported on the preprint server bioRxiv* in October 2020.

27 Oct 2020

CRISPR screening identifies human host pathways that facilitate coronavirus infection

The human coronavirus family consists of 7 known pathogens, for which there are no approved vaccines or specific therapeutic options. Although the seasonal human coronaviruses - OC43, HKU1, 229E, and NL63 – only cause mild respiratory infections, three highly pathogenic coronaviruses that emerged in the last two decades revealed the pandemic potential of this family of viruses.

27 Sep 2020

Diabetes leads to drastic reduction in the kidney's potential to clean itself

The kidneys often become bulky and dysfunctional in diabetes, and now scientists have found that one path to this damage dramatically reduces the kidney's ability to clean up after itself.

22 Sep 2020

Scientists reconstruct factors involved in the formation of autophagosomes

Autophagy, from the Greek for 'self-eating', is an essential process that isolates and recycles cellular components under conditions of stress or when resources are limited.

4 Sep 2020

Inhaled steroid ciclesonide suppresses SARS-CoV-2 replication in vitro

A new paper by researchers at Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in August 2020 reports the in vitro suppression of coronavirus (CoV) replication by an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) ciclesonide.

26 Aug 2020

Oxygen-deprived breast cancer cells send out messages that promote cancer progression

According to a study by The Wistar Institute, breast cancer cells starved for oxygen send out messages that induce oncogenic changes in surrounding normal epithelial cells.

11 Aug 2020

Coronavirus-specific structure in cells may lead to new antiviral strategies

By visualizing coronavirus replication in an infected host cell, researchers may have answered a long-standing question about how newly synthesized coronavirus components are able to be incorporated into fully infectious viruses.

7 Aug 2020

SARS-CoV-2 infection modeling in iPSC-derived type 2 cells

The most fatal form of COVID-19 disease is acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), caused by direct viral injury as well as indirect noxious effects caused by cytotoxic chemicals and inflammatory processes. A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in June 2020 shows that this is partly due to the rapid onset of inflammation caused by the infection of type 2 alveolar cells with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

2 Jul 2020

Genomic variation and descent of SARS-CoV-2 strains in India

The pandemic of COVID-19 that is still affecting over 188 countries and territories the world over has taken over 359,000 lives in just under five months, while affecting at least 5.8 million people. Different strains have diverged from the original strain detected in Wuhan, China.

28 May 2020

New bacteria-killing light-activated coating

A new antimicrobial coating that can be activated by light has been reported by researchers in the journal Nature Communications, in March 2020. The coating can be used to prevent transmission from computer and phone screens and keyboards, the inside of catheters, and breathing tubes. All these are significant routes of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs).

5 Mar 2020

Aging nerve cells fail to take out the intracellular "trash"

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, have found that with age the neurons or nerve cells fail to perform an activity that they could when they were younger. The team explains that normal cells take out protein and other “trash” or “garbage” through a process of autophagy. This rids the cell of the dysfunctional proteins and aggregates of unused proteins.

22 Jul 2019