Creative Biomart Blog

Tue, 2020/05/19

Why SARS-CoV-2 Spread So Easily Among People?

Researchers have identified microscopic features that may make this pathogen more infectious than the SARS virus and can serve as drug targets. With nearly 100,000 people infected with SARS-CoV-2 worldwide, researchers are racing to understand what makes it so easy to spread. Several genetic and structural analyses have identified a key feature of this virus—a protein on the surface—which may explain why it is so susceptible to infect human cells. Other groups are studying how SARS-CoV-2 enters human tissue. Both cellular receptors and viral proteins provide potential targets for drug

Tue, 2020/05/19

Nature: Scientists are Developing Nanovaccines to Fight New Crown Viruses

As infections from SARS-CoV-2 spread from Wuhan, China, to all over the world, researchers are scrambling to develop a vaccine, and life science companies are providing help. On January 28, 2020, a few weeks after the first official report of the first case of coronavirus in 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services held a press conference in Washington, D.C., saying that SARS-CoV-2 infected thousands of people and that millions of people in China were isolated, but there was no way to treat the virus. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious

Tue, 2020/05/19

Immunity: Activating Tumor-Associated Macrophages to Fight Cancer

Cancer immunotherapy is continuing to revolutionize the means of patient care, bringing hope and good news to patients. However, only a minority of patients respond to treatment, which drives the development of strategies to further address the immunosuppressive tumor environment. In a recent report, Zhou et al developed a method to enhance the immune response to tumors by preventing tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) from removing dying tumor cells. In tumors and throughout the body, dead cells are cleared by macrophages. These phagocytic immune cells recognize dead cells through a myriad

Mon, 2020/03/30

Nat Immunol: Revealing New Mechanisms of Increased Immunity Following Lung Infection

According to a recent study by the Francis Crick Institute, the immune system response to respiratory infections is constantly changing, depending on the history of previous unrelated infections. The body has two kinds of immunity to infection. Adaptive immunity provides an immune "memory" that can respond rapidly and strongly when the same disease occurs more than once. In contrast, innate immunity provides a broad and less specific first line of defense against all pathogens, and is essential for controlling infections that the body has not previously experienced. The study, publis

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