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Variants emerging during COVID-19 pandemic resist antibody neutralization

Researchers in the U.S. have warned that recently emerged variants of SARS-CoV-2 have become worryingly resistant to monoclonal antibody therapies, plasma from convalescent patients and sera from vaccinated individuals.

28 Jan 2021

SARS-CoV-2 is resistant to extreme variations in temperature, finds study

A recent study from Belize and Taiwan shows that four essential proteins of SARS-CoV-2 are well adapted to habitable temperatures and exhibit extreme thermostability, which means temperature changes between the winter and summer months have a negligible effect on the viral spread.

28 Jan 2021

Common anticoagulant drug could be repurposed to help alleviate Covid-19 infections

An international team of researchers led by the Universities of Keele and Liverpool, working with Public Health England, has found that the common anticoagulant drug heparin inhibits the SARS-Cov2virus spike protein, by reducing the virus' ability to attach to human cells and infect them.

28 Jan 2021

Moderna vaccine shows robust suppression of SARS-CoV-2 infection in animal model

Researchers have demonstrated that the prime or prime-boost vaccination of Moderna vaccine in hamsters induced robust neutralizing antibodies, ameliorated weight loss, and suppressed SARS-CoV-2 replication in the airways.

28 Jan 2021

David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian receive Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine has gone in this thirteenth edition to David Julius, from the University of California, San Francisco, and Ardem Patapoutian, from the Scripps Institute, La Jolla (United States), "for identifying the receptors that enable us to sense temperature, pain and pressure."

28 Jan 2021

American scientists receive the 2021 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize

FRANKFURT am MAIN. Two American scientists, Bonnie L. Bassler and Michael R. Silverman, receive the 2021 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, which is endowed with 120,000 €.

28 Jan 2021

Melatonin synthesized in the lungs acts as a barrier against SARS-CoV-2

Melatonin synthesized in the lungs acts as a barrier against SARS-CoV-2, preventing expression of genes that encode proteins in cells such as resident macrophages in the nose and pulmonary alveoli, and epithelial cells lining the alveoli, all of which are entry points for the virus.

28 Jan 2021

Genetically engineered cartilage delivers anti-inflammatory drug in response to knee activity

Working to develop new treatments for osteoarthritis, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have genetically engineered cartilage to deliver an anti-inflammatory drug in response to activity similar to the bending of a knee or other motions that put stress on joints.

27 Jan 2021

Study provides a detailed look at vulnerable sites on SARS-CoV-2

A new study led by scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) suggests that T cells try to fight SARS-CoV-2 by targeting a broad range of sites on the virus--beyond the key sites on the virus's spike protein.

27 Jan 2021

Insight into cancer cells' own first aid could provide the basis for new immunotherapy

Insight into cancer cells' own first aid could help the development of a new type of treatment. Johanna Olweus and her team at the UiO (University of Oslo) and the OUS (Oslo University Hospital) are important contributors to this study, which has been published in Nature.

27 Jan 2021

Study uncovers a novel promising target for diabetes treatment

Researchers have discovered a novel and druggable insulin inhibitory receptor, named inceptor. The latest study from Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, the Technical University of Munich and the German Center for Diabetes Research is a significant milestone for diabetes research as the scientific community celebrates 100 years of insulin and 50 years of insulin receptor discovery.

27 Jan 2021

Biliverdin shields SARS-CoV-2 from host antibody response, study finds

A team of international scientists has recently revealed that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) interacts with two heme metabolites, bilirubin and biliverdin, to escape the antibody-mediated host immune responses.

27 Jan 2021

Anakinra shows therapeutic potential in critically ill COVID-19 patients

A team of international scientists recently conducted an open-level clinical trial to investigate the effects of personalized immunotherapy on critically ill COVID-19 patients.

27 Jan 2021

Could spironolactone treat COVID-19-related pneumonia and pulmonary fibrosis?

Researchers have described the potential of the drug spironolactone, a potassium-sparing diuretic, and anti-androgen, in preventing or alleviating the severity of COVID-19 pneumonia, and in preventing pulmonary fibrosis.

27 Jan 2021

What do we know about the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines so far?

A new study surveys what we know so far about SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates from advanced clinical trials.

27 Jan 2021

SARS-CoV-2 spike may impair antigen presentation by CD8 T cells

A new study published on the bioRxiv preprint server aims to identify specific viral epitopes on the spike protein from various regions of the spike protein and the T cell responses they evoke.

27 Jan 2021

Rapid transmission of N501Y variants may be due to favorable effects on host receptor binding

Now, in new research posted to the preprint server bioRxiv*, scientists use an experimental structure of the Spike RBD domain co-crystallized with part of the ACE2 receptor and several in silico methods to analyze the possible impacts of three amino acid replacements (Spike K417N, E484K, N501Y) concerning ACE2 binding.

27 Jan 2021