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Targeting epigenetic mechanisms to advance pharmacological treatments for alcoholism

Abusive alcohol drinking considerably impacts human health. Alcoholism, better defined as Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD), includes a group of pathological entities related to alcohol-induced damage.

1 Apr 2021

B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 spreading quickly in the United States

The faster-spreading B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 first detected in the United Kingdom, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, is quickly on its way to becoming the dominant variant of the virus in the United States, according to a study from scientists at Scripps Research and the COVID-19 test maker Helix.

31 Mar 2021

Virus-cell interaction may explain the high infection rate of COVID-19 virus

Bioengineering scientists have now detected a formerly unknown interaction between the spike (or “S”) protein of SARS-CoV-2 and receptors in human cells.

From Lehigh University 29 Mar 2021

Study shows how WAVE2 protein maintains the immune system balance

Sinai Health researchers have reported that they have uncovered a new mechanism that regulates harmful overreactions in the body’s immune system.

26 Mar 2021

New technique can measure thousands of proteins in a few minutes

Researchers from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Francis Crick Institute have developed a mass spectrometry-based technique capable of measuring samples containing thousands of proteins within just a few minutes.

26 Mar 2021

Salivary gland cells could play role in SARS-CoV-2 virus transmission

Scientists have shown that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can infect specific cells in the salivary gland in the mouth.

26 Mar 2021

Antibody used for COVID-19 therapy can no longer inhibit new SARS-CoV-2 variants

Cell culture studies show that mutated viruses are less susceptible to inhibition by antibodies from recovered or vaccinated individuals.

26 Mar 2021

New label-free immune profiling assay to assess rapidly changing host immune response

Researchers from Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized-Medicine (CAMP), an Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, have developed a new label-free immune profiling assay that profiles the rapidly changing host immune response in case of infection, in a departure from existing methods that focus on detecting the pathogens themselves, which can often be at low levels within a host.

26 Mar 2021

Silencing a key protein to “domesticate” COVID-19 virus

When cells in the human body are invaded by a virus, they send a signal to adjacent cells to boost their antiviral defenses to stop the spread of infection.

25 Mar 2021

Scientists generate a detailed molecular atlas of lung development

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have produced a detailed molecular atlas of lung development, which is expected to be a fundamental reference in future studies of mammalian biology and of new treatments for diseases, such as COVID-19, that affect the lungs.

25 Mar 2021

Study shows SARS-CoV-2 antibodies wane at different rates

Researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School, the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Infectious Diseases Labs have discovered that antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 decline at different speeds, and these antibodies last for only a few days in some people but remain for many years in other individuals.

24 Mar 2021

Hormone drugs may help disarm coronavirus spike protein and stop disease progression

Hormone drugs that reduce androgen levels may help disarm the coronavirus spike protein used to infect cells and stop the progression of severe COVID-19 disease, suggests a new preclinical study from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania and published online in Cell Press's iScience.

23 Mar 2021

Study provides clues for designing more effective antiviral drugs

An international research team from the University of Turku based in Finland and PennState University based in the United States has solved an ancient puzzle of how living organisms differentiate between DNA and RNA building blocks at the time of gene expression, offering new possibilities for designing novel antiviral medications.

18 Mar 2021

Study shows how human viruses are better adapted to infect certain tissues

The world’s first systematic study has explained how SARS-CoV-2 and other human viruses are more adapted to infect specific types of tissues..

17 Mar 2021

Revealing clues about the immune system through ancient DNA

AZoLifeSciences speaks to Dr. Gaspard Kerner about tuberculosis, and how ancient DNA could help us to further understand the immune system.

From Institut Pasteur 12 Mar 2021

Study on AEG12 mosquito protein could lead to therapeutics against deadly viruses

Researchers have found that AEG12, a mosquito protein, strongly suppresses the class of viruses causing dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and West Nile.

11 Mar 2021

Face masks made of cotton fabrics work best to slow down the spread of COVID-19

Researchers have come up with a better way to test which fabrics work best for masks that are meant to slow the spread of COVID-19.

From National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 10 Mar 2021

Mutant peptides derived from SARS-CoV-2 hamper activation of CD8+ killer T cells

A deep sequencing study of 747 SARS-CoV-2 virus isolates has revealed mutant peptides derived from the virus that cannot effectively bind to critical proteins on the surface of infected cells and, in turn, hamper activation of CD8+ killer T cells that recognize and destroy these infected cells.

5 Mar 2021

UN research: 17% of total food available to consumers went into waste bins

An estimated 931 million tonnes of food, or 17% of total food available to consumers in 2019, went into the waste bins of households, retailers, restaurants and other food services, according to new UN research conducted to support global efforts to halve food waste by 2030.

5 Mar 2021

Three new COVID-19 variants can evade antibodies that act against original 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