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Proteins are complex molecules that are made up of amino acids. They can be found in every cell in the body, and carry out vital processes that keep human beings alive. Mutations in proteins can lead to a multitude of diseases, the most common being cancer.

Scientists target critical interface that is key for cancer cell survival

Proteins control almost all vital processes in our cells. If they do not function correctly, if there is too much or too little of them, this can lead to the development of a variety of diseases including cancer.

9 Mar 2021

Parkinson’s UK, University of Sheffield to develop new Parkinson’s drug

Parkinson's UK, the largest charitable funder of Parkinson's research in Europe, is investing up to £1.2 million into a pioneering one-year project in partnership with the University of Sheffield.

9 Mar 2021

New research project aims to treat patients with secondary brain damage

The Universities of Birmingham and Cambridge have launched a new research project aimed at discovering if selective P2X7 receptor blocker drugs can be repurposed to treat patients with secondary brain damage.

9 Mar 2021

Critical mechanism allows deadly bacteria to gain resistance to antibiotics

Researchers have identified a critical mechanism that allows deadly bacteria to gain resistance to antibiotics.

9 Mar 2021

Study suggests sewer rats immune to SARS-CoV-2

Although the researchers found that the rats tested negative for the virus, they say it is important to continue monitoring animals for the virus as it mutates, making previously resistant species susceptible to infection.

8 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

Current vaccines and therapies may be less effective at neutralizing new SARS-CoV-2 variants

A new study of the U.K. and South Africa variants of SARS-CoV-2 predicts that current vaccines and certain monoclonal antibodies may be less effective at neutralizing these variants and that the new variants raise the specter that reinfections could be more likely.

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 do viruses evolve in bats?

Bats have played a crucial epidemiological role in the evolution of many viruses and house many coronaviruses. Until 2002, coronaviruses had been known to cause mild respiratory ailments in human beings. However, this notion changed in the same year when a bat-borne virus caused the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic.

8 Mar 2021

Self-assembling nanoparticles an effective vaccine candidate for SARS-CoV-2

The currently developed vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 include the RBD in their immunogen. With a similar objective, a new study developed an RBD protein-based vaccine candidate against the SARS-CoV-2, using self-assembling Helicobacter pylori-bullfrog ferritin nanoparticles as an antigen delivery system. The study is published recently in the journal mBio (by the American Society of Microbiology).

8 Mar 2021

New findings could help speed the treatment for UTIs in children

A study led by UT Southwestern and Children's Health researchers defines parameters for the number of white blood cells that must be present in children's urine at different concentrations to suggest a urinary tract infection (UTI).

8 Mar 2021

Inflammation linked to intensity of tobacco smoking among HIV-positive people

Inflammation in the body has been linked to the intensity of tobacco smoking among people with HIV, according to a team of University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers.

8 Mar 2021

Compounds in green and black tea relax blood vessels by activating ion channel proteins

A new study from the University of California, Irvine shows that compounds in both green and black tea relax blood vessels by activating ion channel proteins in the blood vessel wall.

8 Mar 2021

Narrowing down on small molecular inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 key protease

A recent methodological study by researchers from the University of Luxembourg shows that the combination of virtual screening approaches, molecular dynamics simulations and machine learning can substantially facilitate small molecule screening investigations targeted at key SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins.

8 Mar 2021

New inhibitor makes drug-resistant tumor cells respond again to chemotherapy

A new substance could improve the treatment of persistent cancers. Researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the University of Greifswald have developed a new inhibitor that makes drug-resistant tumour cells respond again to chemotherapy.

8 Mar 2021

Weedy grass may be effective against several human diseases

Native to the southeastern United States, a weedy grass has spread northward to Canada and also made its way to Australia and Japan. Andropogon virginicus grows densely packed and up to seven feet tall, disrupting growth patterns of other plants and competing for resources.

8 Mar 2021

New academic spin-out based in Finland introduces a nasal spray vaccine against COVID

Rokote Laboratories Finland Ltd., a newly-founded academic spin-out based in Finland is working to develop and introduce to the markets a nasal spray vaccine against COVID.

8 Mar 2021

Data from Israel’s vaccination program suggests Pizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine induces strong host antibody response

A team of scientists from Israel has recently evaluated the efficacy of an mRNA-based coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine, BNT162b2, in inducing host humoral immune response. The findings reveal that the vaccine is capable of inducing strong anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibody response and that the response varies significantly with age. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

8 Mar 2021

Study rethinks the role of ACE2 in SARS-CoV-2 viral entry

Researchers in the US recently infected a series of human lung and head/neck cancer cell lines with SARS-CoV-2 that expressed varying levels of ACE2 and the TMPRSS2 protease to reassess their role in viral entrance.

8 Mar 2021