Creative Biomart Blog

Mon, 2020/03/30

PNAS: New Study Shows that Remdesivir Prevents Coronavirus MERS-CoV Infection in Monkeys

In a new study, researchers from the National Institutes of Health reported that the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir (also known as GS-5734) successfully prevented rhesus monkeys infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus (MERS-CoV) from becoming ill from this virus infection. Giving remdesivir before infection can prevent them from getting sick, while giving this drug after they are infected can improve their condition. The results were published in the journal PNAS, entitled "Prophylactic and therapeutic remdesivir (GS-5734) treatment in the rhesus macaque m

Mon, 2020/02/24

VDAC Oligomers Found to Promote Mitochondrial DNA Release and Autoimmune Responses

The immune system uses its mitochondria to self-stimulate innate and adaptive responses against infection. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), immunogenic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and even whole mitochondria are mobilized locally in a delicate balance, generating hotspots of inflammatory action. When the normally limiting feedback of these processes is disrupted, detrimental autoimmune responses often arise. A common sign of an abnormal immune system is the presence of antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA) in the blood. For example, in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), AMAs that target multiple

Sat, 2020/02/22

New Method to Predict Protein-Environment Interactions

It is well-known that proteins are the cornerstone of life and play a key role in all biological processes. Therefore, understanding how they interact with the environment is critical to developing effective treatments and designing the basis for artificial cells. Recently, the Protein Design and Immune Engineering Laboratory (LPDI) of the Institute of Bioengineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), in collaboration with the Institute of Computational Science at the USI School of Information, Imperial College, and other units in the United Kingdom, has developed a groundbr

Thu, 2020/01/02

New Study Reveals Mechanism by Which Lactose Promotes Graft-versus-host Disease

Gut microorganisms play an important role in intestinal nutrition absorption, body metabolism, immune development, and resistance to pathogens. Imbalance of intestinal microecology can not only cause gastrointestinal related diseases such as indigestion, diarrhea, necrotic colitis (NE), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); metabolic diseases (obesity, diabetes, fatty liver, and cirrhosis, etc.); clostridium difficile infections; acute pancreatitis; allergic asthma; cardiovascular diseases (such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, and heart fail

Thu, 2020/01/02

Key Proteins to Fight Aging Found

In the face of current demographic changes, aging is a serious public health problem: by 2050, the proportion of the global population aged 60 years and over will almost double. Recently, researchers in the Department of Development and Stem Cell Biology of the Pasteur Institute have identified key proteins related to aging and clarified the mechanism of aging, which may help to delay the aging process in humans. Currently, even in developing countries, most elderly people die from non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, rather than infectious or parasitic dis

Tue, 2019/12/17

Mechanism of Human Immune Dysregulation Induced by Roquin-1 Protein Mutation Unveiled

Recently, researchers from Ghent University Hospital in Belgium published an article entitled "A human immune dysfunction syndrome characterized by severe hyperinflammation with a homozygous nonsense roquin-1 mutation" in Nature Communications. By studying a case of the hyperinflammatory syndrome with a homozygous nonsense mutation in Roquin-1, they discovered the mechanism of human immune dysregulation triggered by mutations in Roquin-1 protein, which may provide a new approach for the diagnosis and treatment of human immune dysregulation syndrome. Hyperinflammation is a life-threatening

Tue, 2019/12/17

Protein Scaffolds Found to Play a Key Role in Repairing DNA Breaks

Recently, researchers from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark have discovered how certain types of proteins keep damaged DNA stable, thereby preserving its function and integrity. The new findings also explain why people with congenital or acquired defects in certain proteins cannot keep their DNA stable and develop diseases such as cancer. The results were recently published in Nature under the title “Stabilization of Chromatin Topology safeguards genome integrity”. Every day, cells in the body divide millions of times, and to maintain their identity, it requires the mother cell to tr

Wed, 2019/11/20

Key Protective Proteins Affect the Prognosis of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Isolated Recently

Recently, scientists at Trinity College Dublin have identified for the first time a family of proteins that may be directly linked to lower blood sugar levels in obese patients with type 2 diabetes. The results of this study show that patients with type 2 diabetes who have higher levels of IL-36 cytokines tend to have lower blood glucose levels, suggesting that these proteins (IL-36) may better control blood glucose levels and disease progression in patients. IL-36 is a member of the interleukin-1 protein family, which plays a central role in the development of obesity-related diseases.