Amino Acid News and Research

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Amino Acid is one of several molecules that join together to form proteins. There are 20 common amino acids found in proteins.

Backtracking occurs within SARS-CoV-2 replication-transcription complex

Researchers continue to achieve a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. One such effort has been reported in a new preprint on the bioRxiv server, dealing with the phenomenon of backtracking.

16 Mar 2021

The role of RNA capping of SARS-CoV-2 in immunity evasion

The SARS-CoV-2 pathogen successfully uses multiple immune evasion mechanisms to achieve infection within its host. An intriguing new study describes one such process, which may help develop drugs to counteract the virus more effectively.

16 Mar 2021

New study tests how mutations in SARS-CoV-2 affect antibody neutralization

Using pseudoviruses with single amino acid substitutions, researchers found that mutations in SARS-CoV-2 reduce monoclonal antibody neutralization differently. However, convalescent sera samples did not lose neutralization potency many and were also effective against the B.1.1.7 (UK-derived) strain.

16 Mar 2021

Novel tool can add or remove sugar from proteins

Sugar has been called "evil," "toxic," and "poison." But the body needs sugars, too. Sugar molecules help cells recognize and fight viruses and bacteria, shuttle proteins from cell to cell, and make sure those proteins function.

12 Mar 2021

Researchers study prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 UK variant at University of Texas

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and Santa Fe Institute in the US used quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) data from a surveillance testing program on a large university campus to estimate how fast the new variant spreads. The team used the data to provide local situational information on the COVID-19 pandemic.

10 Mar 2021

A genetic variant of TMPRSS2 may confer protection against severe COVID-19

Among a large sample of COVID-19 patients, researchers found that a genetic variant – caused by an amino acid substitution from valine to methionine – is associated with a reduced chance of severe disease.

9 Mar 2021

Optimized SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate could be less reactogenic, say researchers

A new study, released as a preprint on the bioRxiv* server, reports an optimized coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine candidate, which, claim the researchers, may be less likely to produce reactions like fevers. It may also have increased protective potential against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the pathogen that causes COVID-19.

9 Mar 2021

Proteomics shows SARS-CoV-2 NSP7 and NSP8 forms stable dimeric unit

A new preprint, released on the bioRxiv* preprint server, describes the structure of part of the dynamic protein-RNA complex known as the replication-transcription complex (RTC), which is crucial in the replication of the large ribonucleic acid (RNA) genome of this virus.

9 Mar 2021

Two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech SARS-CoV-2 vaccine induce humoral protection against U.K. and S.A. variants

Researchers at the Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital, Department of Virology, Paris, France determined that in BNT162b2-vaccinated participants who received two doses, their sera harbored at least a neutralizing titer against the three SARS-CoV-2 variants.

8 Mar 2021

Worse problems with SARS-CoV-2 variants may be on the way

Researchers at the Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa, found evidence of a significant change in the selective forces acting on immunologically important SARS-CoV-2 genes, such as N and S. These likely coincided with the emergence of the 501Y lineages.

8 Mar 2021

How can physicians distinguish between COVID-19 persistence and SARS-CoV-2 reinfection?

One of the most challenging tasks of physicians has been differentiating between persistent COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 reinfection. Recently, a team of researchers analyzed SARS-CoV-2 sequences from the publicly available reports on reinfection and persistence. They further characterized the markers of reinfecting sequences and studied the mutation rate in newly evolved persistent variants.

8 Mar 2021

Researchers identify human BCAS3 and C16orf70 as novel autophagic proteins

Autophagy is an intracellular degradation process of cytosolic materials and damaged organelles. Researchers at Ubiquitin Project of TMIMS have been studying the molecular mechanism of mitophagy, the selective autophagy process to eliminate damaged mitochondria.

5 Mar 2021

New COVID-19 variants can evade antibodies that work against original form of the virus

New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that three new, fast-spreading variants of the virus that cause COVID-19 can evade antibodies that work against the original form of the virus that sparked the pandemic.

5 Mar 2021

Study explains how the B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 variant is more transmissible

New research led by Thushan I. de Silva from the University of Sheffield proposes that increases in subgenomic RNA (sgRNA) expression cause increased viral transmissibility and subsequent infection. They suggest the ORF9 protein, found in high amounts of sgRNA, could be regulating interferon responses.

4 Mar 2021

Structural insights into glycine transporter open new avenues to find effective psychiatric drugs

Glycine can stimulate or inhibit neurons in the brain, thereby controlling complex functions. Unraveling the three-dimensional structure of the glycine transporter, researchers have now come a big step closer to understanding the regulation of glycine in the brain.

4 Mar 2021

Vegan diet affects bone health, shows study

The vegan diet is on trend. How this type of diet affects health is the subject of scientific studies.

4 Mar 2021

Multiple COVID-19 variants of concern have reached Houston, Texas

New research by a team at Houston Methodist Hospital in the United States has modeled the aggressive genomic sequencing of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) observed in the United Kingdom to document viral community spread in Houston, Texas.

4 Mar 2021

The Role of D-Amino Acids in Humans

In this interview, Dr. Daniel Armstrong from the University of Texas at Arlington talks to News-Medical Life Sciences about his upcoming Pittcon presentation.

From Pittcon 4 Mar 2021

New Nature Communications publication by Mann & Theis Groups harnesses the benefits of large-scale peptide collisional cross section (CCS) measurements and deep learning for 4D-proteomics

Bruker Corporation today announces a seminal publication from the groups of Professors Matthias Mann and Fabian Theis in the journal Nature Communications with the title ‘Deep learning the collisional cross sections of the peptide universe from a million experimental values’ by Florian Meier et al.

From Bruker Daltonics 4 Mar 2021

Vaccine candidate shows promise to protect against dozen-plus flu strains

Ask Eric Weaver about pandemics, and he's quick to remind you of a fact that illustrates the fleeting nature of human memory and the proximal nature of human attention: The first pandemic of the 21st century struck not in 2019, but 2009.

3 Mar 2021