ACE2 News and Research

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Novel antibody test for SARS-CoV-2

A team of researchers in the United States have developed highly specific and sensitive assays that could improve understanding of the antibody response in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and help to determine the effectiveness of vaccines.

9 Jul 2020

SARS-CoV-2 a dagger to the aging heart

Researchers in Europe have shown that genes involved in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection are expressed to a higher degree in older heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) than they are in younger cardiomyocytes.

9 Jul 2020

Structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein provides clues to its evolution

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have characterized the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein as well as its most similar relative in a bat coronavirus. The structures provide clues about how the spike evolved and could help inform vaccine design.

9 Jul 2020

Tracing adaptation to ACE2 use in sarbecoviruses

A detailed study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in July 2020 argues that recombination accounts for the appearance of the ability of both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 to use the human angiotensin-converting enzyme (hACE) 2 as the binding receptor mediating viral infection of human cells.

8 Jul 2020

Research sheds doubt on the Pangolin link to SARS-CoV-2

A startling new study by researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and the University of British Columbia and published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in July 2020 casts doubt on the hypothesis that the current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was transmitted from pangolins acting as the intermediate host. Instead, the authors suggest, the pangolins themselves were incidentally infected from other animals in captivity or from humans.

8 Jul 2020

Lung physiology and immune function could spare children from severe COVID-19

Differences in lung physiology and immune function in children could be why they are more often spared from severe illness associated with COVID-19 than adults, according to pediatric and adult physicians at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and Baylor College of Medicine, who teamed up to investigate the disparity.

8 Jul 2020

EPA approves Lysol products that kill SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just approved two disinfection sprays that can kill severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on surfaces.

8 Jul 2020

Study of glycosylation on SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

The first intimation of the current COVID-19 crisis came with the news of severe pneumonic illness caused by an unknown agent in a Chinese city called Wuhan, issued on the last day of 2019. Following this, researchers found the cause to be a novel coronavirus, closely related to the earlier SARS virus, now called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

8 Jul 2020

Gene expression networks flag potential therapeutic targets for SARS-CoV-2

An international team of researchers from Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, and the United States has identified dozens of genes that could contribute to the pathology of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and serve as potential therapeutic targets.

7 Jul 2020

Spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 covered by mobile glycans that shield its surface

A new study of the structural dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein published in the preprint server bioRxiv in July 2020 reports on the epitopes that could be possible immune targets for the development of vaccines.

7 Jul 2020

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein hidden as pH changes

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in July 2020 reports the role of pH in helping the virus escape neutralization by antibodies, by inducing a key conformational switch.

7 Jul 2020

COVID-19 complications may be associated with von Willebrand factor in the blood

Anna Aksenova, a senior research associate at the Laboratory of Amyloid Biology at St Petersburg University, has advanced a hypothesis that the severe course of COVID-19 may be associated with von Willebrand factor.

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

Mutated European strain of coronavirus more contagious but less potent

The coronavirus pandemic is far from over as it actively spreads across the globe. The infection toll has reached a staggering 10.84 million people since it emerged in late December 2019 in Wuhan City, China. The virus that has left the city has now spread to 188 countries and territories and has mutated, becoming more infectious.

3 Jul 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

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

Scientists find coronavirus' Achilles' heel

A team of scientists at the University of California San Francisco has found out how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) invades proteins in the cells that serve as master regulators of key cellular processes.

1 Jul 2020

Blood cell damage in COVID-19 may compromise oxygen transport

Researchers in the U.S. have shown that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may alter key protein structures on red blood cells and compromise the transport and delivery of oxygen in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

1 Jul 2020

Striking CryoEM image of SARS-CoV-2

A new study by researchers from the UK and Germany and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports the results of a detailed study of the S protein on the intact virus, using cryoelectron microscopy (cryoEM) and tomography. This could help understand the conformation of the S protein on the virion and how it interacts with neutralizing antibodies.

30 Jun 2020

'Mini-brains' can be infected by SARS-CoV-2 virus

A multidisciplinary team from two Johns Hopkins University institutions, including neurotoxicologists and virologists from the Bloomberg School of Public Health and infectious disease specialists from the school of medicine, has found that organoids (tiny tissue cultures made from human cells that simulate whole organs) known as "mini-brains" can be infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

30 Jun 2020