ACE2 News and Research

RSS

Dominant SARS-CoV-2 strain A2a binds more easily to ACE2 receptors

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost all countries across the world, and India is no exception. Researchers have found that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has undergone several mutations with time.

28 Apr 2020

COVID-19 study shows that men have over double the death rate of women

A study has found that men are significantly more likely to suffer severe effects of COVID-19 and die.

28 Apr 2020

Study shows why people with certain heart diseases may be more susceptible to COVID-19

People with certain heart diseases may be more susceptible to worse outcomes with COVID-19, but the reason why has remained unknown.

28 Apr 2020

Gut microbiota could predict severity of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading to every corner of the world. But not everyone is falling sick at the same rate. A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in April 2020 suggests that the composition of the gut microbiome could partially explain the difference in susceptibility. This adds a new dimension to what is currently known about the disease.

27 Apr 2020

SARS-CoV-2 readily infects human intestinal cells in a laboratory model

A new Dutch study available on bioRxiv uses differentiated human small intestinal organoids in vitro to demonstrate that intestinal epithelium supports the replication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and elicits a strong generic immune response.

27 Apr 2020

Rice University looks to ‘trap and zap’ SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater

A team of researchers from Rice University has won a National Science Foundation (NSF) RAPID grant to adapt their wastewater nanotechnology project to help trap and inactivate the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), (which causes COVID-19 disease), in wastewater. This could help public health officials deal with the threat of disease transmission through wastewater.

27 Apr 2020

Goblet cells in the human nasal passage may play key role in enabling COVID-19 infections

Two significant international studies involving hundreds of scientists, including a human geneticist at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, suggest that specific cells in the human nasal passage shaped like a champagne glass, known as goblet cells, may play a significant role in enabling COVID-19 infections.

24 Apr 2020

Scientists are developing synthetic COVID-19 antibody to treat sick patients

A team of researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in collaboration with GenScript, is developing a synthetic antibody to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This antibody is intended to block the virus from entering human lung cells, and would be another potential treatment option for COVID-19.

24 Apr 2020

Research looks at best ways to tackle coronavirus crisis

A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology in April 2020 discusses the most attractive approaches among the broad spectrum of experimental and theoretical strategies being worked on to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.

24 Apr 2020

SARS-CoV-2 targets specific cells in the lung, nasal passage, and intestine

Now, the researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have identified specific types of cells that are targets of the SARS-CoV-2 that causes the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of the study published in the journal Cell may help in developing novel therapeutics to combat the deadly viral infection.

23 Apr 2020

Is the confidence in hydroxychloroquine for the management of COVID-19 justified?

A new review paper published in the preprint open-access journal medRxiv in April 2020 reports that there is not enough evidence to justify the widespread use of the drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in the treatment or prophylaxis of the current COVID-19 illness.

23 Apr 2020

RAS inhibitors and COVID-19 severity in hypertensive patients

A new study published in the journal JAMA Cardiology in April 2020 reports that patients with hypertension who are taking medications called ACE inhibitors (ACEI) or ARBs are not at higher risk for death or more severe illness with COVID-19. This conclusion supports current guidelines for the treatment of hypertension during this pandemic.

23 Apr 2020

Study identifies key nose cells as likely COVID-19 virus entry points

Two specific cell types in the nose have been identified as likely initial infection points for COVID-19 coronavirus. Scientists discovered that goblet and ciliated cells in the nose have high levels of the entry proteins that the COVID-19 virus uses to get into our cells.

23 Apr 2020

Ablexis, AlivaMab Discovery Services, and Berkeley Lights Collaborate to Identify a Diverse Panel of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Human Antibodies

Ablexis, LLC, ADS, and Berkeley Lights, Inc. today announced the generation and recovery of sequences against the S1 spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

From Bruker Cellular Analysis 23 Apr 2020

Scientists identify cells likely targeted by novel coronavirus

Researchers at MIT; the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard; and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; along with colleagues from around the world have identified specific types of cells that appear to be targets of the coronavirus that is causing the Covid-19 pandemic.

22 Apr 2020

COVID-19 unlikely to be transmitted through semen, study shows

COVID-19 is unlikely to be spread through semen, according to University of Utah Health scientists who participated in an international study of Chinese men who recently had the disease.

22 Apr 2020

Research offers clues to how SARS-CoV-2 gets into respiratory tissue and exploits our defenses

What makes SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19, such a threat? A new study, led by Jose Ordovas-Montanes, Ph.D. at Boston Children's Hospital and Alex K. Shalek, Ph.D. at MIT, pinpoints the likely cell types the virus infects.

22 Apr 2020

Role of ACE/ARB inhibitors in the treatment of COVID-19

A new opinion piece published in the journal Circulation Research in April 2020 defends the use of antihypertensive drugs called ACE inhibitors and ARBs in patients with pandemic viral pneumonia called COVID-19.

20 Apr 2020

ACE2 receptor expression by SARS-CoV-2 across different animal species

A new report published on the preprint server bioRxiv in April 2020 reports that several species of animals can be infected with relative ease by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is the causative agent of the currently raging COVID-19 pandemic. This casts much light on the possible natural hosts and routes of transmission of this virus.

20 Apr 2020

Mutations in novel coronavirus make it more dangerous

A new report published on the preprint server medRxiv in April 2020 reveals that the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 shows the presence of new mutations acquired within infected human cases, which significantly increase its ability to cause human disease.

20 Apr 2020