Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus, called SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). SARS was first reported in Asia in February 2003. Over the next few months, the illness spread to more than two dozen countries in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia before the SARS global outbreak of 2003 was contained.
In the human body, virus particles are identified by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) either within or on the cell surface. When a receptor is activated, a signaling cascade is initiated, which results in the production and release of signaling molecules like interferons and cytokines.
Heart damage is prevalent in COVID-19 patients, leading many to doubt how the virus impacts the heart.
A research team led by Jae Jung, PhD, Director of Cleveland Clinic's Global Center for Pathogen & Human Health Research, has uncovered the critical role a viral gene, ORF8, plays in infection and disease outcomes of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19.
A ubiquitous protein called sigma 1 receptor, which is known to protect cells from stress, appears key to the function and survival of the neurons most impacted by glaucoma, scientists report.
Preclinical models that recapitulate aspects of human airway disease are essential for the advancement of novel therapeutics and vaccines.
The solutions to many of humanity's problems can be found within nature. For instance, who could have guessed that an antibiotic as powerful as penicillin would be found in a common mold, or that the drug aspirin would be derived from the bark of the willow tree?
In a new study in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, published by Elsevier, investigators report on the design and testing of a breathalyzer, known as the Bubbler, that relies on viral RNA detection to diagnose SARS-CoV-2. Its name is derived from the bubbling sound that occurs when the patient exhales into the device.
Since the early days of the COVID pandemic, scientists have aggressively pursued the secrets of the mechanisms that allow severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to enter and infect healthy human cells.
Researchers have discovered that a majority of the COVID-19 convalescent patients develop and maintain T cell memory for more than 10 months.
Global land-use changes -- including forest fragmentation, agricultural expansion and concentrated livestock production -- are creating "hot spots" favorable for bats that carry coronaviruses and where conditions are ripe for the diseases to jump from bats to humans, finds an analysis published this week by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, the Politecnico di Milano (Polytechnic University of Milan) and Massey University of New Zealand.
Global greenhouse gas emissions over the last century have made southern China a hotspot for bat-borne coronaviruses, by driving growth of forest habitat favored by bats.
The results of a study led by Northern Arizona University and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, suggest the immune systems of people infected with COVID-19 may rely on antibodies created during infections from earlier coronaviruses to help fight the disease.
According to the results of a study, the immune systems of COVID-19 patients may depend on antibodies that were produced during infections from previous coronaviruses to help combat the disease.
A new study indicated that many of the unusual symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infections may be due to induced autoimmune responses.
A large international consortium of almost 200 researchers from 14 leading institutions in six countries has studied three different coronaviruses - SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV - with the aim of finding vulnerabilities shared by these three pathogens.
An effective method for treating the 2003 SARS epidemic, also works on the closely associated SARS-CoV-2 virus.
A group of scientists from the University of Alberta is preparing to initiate clinical trials of a drug used for treating a lethal disease caused by the novel coronavirus in cats.
Army scientists have developed the first lethal mouse model of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, using mice that were genetically engineered to express the human ACE2 gene--a key mechanism by which the virus enters human cells.
A new study by researchers at MassBiologics of UMass Medical School published in Nature Communications suggests that COVID specific IgA monoclonal antibodies may provide effective immunity in the respiratory system against the novel coronavirus - a potentially critical feature of an effective vaccine.
Mild cases of COVID-19 pandemic can activate strong responses from memory T cells, even when detectable virus-specific antibody responses are absent.