Glycan News and Research

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How will mutations change the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in the future?

A new Cells review discusses the factors that affect the function of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein and provides theoretical limits of this viral protein.

8 Mar 2022

Research uncovers a new molecular interaction mechanism for SARS-CoV2

The virus causing the current COVID-19 pandemic is the SARS-CoV-2. Soon after the pandemic outbreak in 2019, the ACE-2 protein, which is present on some of our cells´ surface, was identified as the receptor facilitating host cell viral entry.

3 Mar 2022

Sugar-decorated proteins in mucus could prevent SARS-CoV-2 viruses from spreading from surfaces

Early in the pandemic, many people fastidiously disinfected surfaces because laboratory studies predicted that SARS-CoV-2 could be easily transmitted in this way.

2 Mar 2022

Study proposes structural explanation for immune evasion effect of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2 variant mutations S371L/F

Researchers proposed a structural mechanism to explain immune evasion effects of the two-point mutations, S371L and S371F, in the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant.

1 Mar 2022

Protective immunity signatures provided by convalescent plasma for the development of COVID-19 antibody therapeutics

Researchers conducted a comprehensive and systematic analysis of functional SARS-CoV-2 antibody profiles in a controlled randomized trial of severe COVID-19 hospitalized individuals treated with COVID-19 CCP.

25 Feb 2022

Foundational characterization of a new bat-borne ebolavirus and its potential as a human pathogen

Researchers sought to evaluate the zoonotic potential of BOMV to assess the level of risk to public health.

24 Feb 2022

Molecular characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 variants enabling antibody escape

A new review paper published in PLoS Pathogens discusses the new variants and the structural mechanism underlying antibody-mediated neutralization as well as mutational antibody escape.

21 Feb 2022

N-glycosylation blockers reduce SARS-CoV-2 infection

A new Virology study shows that the N-glycosylation pattern of SARS-CoV-2 is crucial to normal spike activity.

20 Feb 2022

mRNA COVID-19 vaccine shown to induce afucosylated antibodies in individuals without prior SARS-CoV-2 exposure

New study findings reveal that the level of afucosylated anti-spike antibodies increases transiently in infection-naïve individuals after the first COVID-19 vaccine dose.

17 Feb 2022

Prediction of SARS-CoV-2 epitope candidates for future vaccines

Researchers identify and investigate the presence and evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 N and S glycoprotein proteins.

15 Feb 2022

Novel glycation patterns help understand Omicron immune escape

A new study explores changes in the sugar structure of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, which may shed light on its immunologic escape and transmissibility characteristics.

15 Feb 2022

New nanoparticle SARS-CoV-2 vaccine shows stronger, broader, and more durable protection

The first generation of COVID-19 vaccines have been highly effective, but also have limitations: their efficacy can wane without a booster shot, and they may be less effective against some variants.

2 Feb 2022

Illustrating the structural diversity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron spike

In a new study, a team of researchers used cryo-electron microscopy to determine the spike (S) structures of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant to understand how the mutations that alter its primary sequence impact S conformation.

1 Feb 2022

Scientists evaluate zoonotic potential of NeoCoV, a coronavirus related to MERS-CoV

Researchers identify ACE2 as the functional receptor of the two close relatives of MERS-CoV, NeoCoV and PDF-2180-CoV, in bats.

30 Jan 2022

The Role of Glycans in the Cell and Glycans Imaging Method

In this interview, News-Medical talks to a pioneer of glycan imaging, Richard Drake about glycans, their role in maintaining cellular homeostasis, glycopeptide analysis, and method development for glycan imaging.

From Bruker Life Sciences Mass Spectrometry 26 Jan 2022

Engineering higher affinity SARS-CoV-2 antibodies

A new study describes the potential of engineered neutralizing antibodies that have a high affinity for the binding epitopes.

11 Jan 2022

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant leads to widespread escape from neutralizing antibody responses

A new study reported the neutralization of Omicron by a large panel of sera collected from convalescent early pandemic, Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta infected individuals, as well as among vaccinees receiving three doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca (AZD1222) or the Pfizer BioNtech (BNT16b2) vaccines.

7 Jan 2022

Scientists provide a structural framework for Omicron immune evasion and ACE2 receptor recognition

An interesting preprint research paper describes structural changes resulting from the multiple mutations found in the recent Omicron variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent behind the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In addition, the research describes the consequent effects of these changes on Omicron’s infectivity and immune evasion capabilities.

5 Jan 2022

Study finds pan-sarbecovirus nanobodies can enhance development of super-immunity

A new study found that applying pan-sarbecovirus nanobodies shows a strong affinity toward all sarbecovirus clades and neutralized SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domains

4 Jan 2022

Production of functional SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in single-cell green alga

A new study uses a novel algal platform for the generation of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

19 Dec 2021