The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), continues to wreak havoc across the globe. Scientists are racing to develop effective therapeutic regimens to combat the infection. One of therapy currently used to stimulate a robust immune response against the virus is monoclonal antibodies, a treatment used for
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic – caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – is still causing hundreds of thousands of new cases globally. Therapeutic antibodies have been used to attempt to counter and contain the virus. Convalescent plasma (CP) obtained from recovered COVID-19 patients is also in use in many
Neutralizing antibodies develop within two weeks of a SARS-CoV-2 infection, but their durability and intensity can vary by individual, prompting concerns about the prospects of long-lasting immunity and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. In a PLOS ONE paper, published online February 11, 2021, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that individual
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena have developed a software tool called "Variant Database" that has detected an emerging lineage of severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) isolates in New York. The novel SARS-CoV-2 virus is the agent responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that continues to sweep the globe
Researchers in the United States who tracked the evolution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in an immunocompromised patient found that convalescent plasma therapy was associated with the emergence of viral variants that were less susceptible to neutralizing antibodies. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is the agent responsible for the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread across the globe. Caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, the disease exhibits an array of clinical outcomes (from asymptomatic to critical). The majority of cases are asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic, wherein there are no symptoms or only a few manageable ones.
Breastfeeding is still common and continues for a prolonged period in developing countries, whereas its rate has declined steeply in developed nations following the introduction of formula for babies. Women who immigrate to these regions tend to take on the lactational characteristics of their host countries around the beginning of the 19th century. Health Benefits
Visualizing Structures within Tissue To see structure within biological tissue such as organs, it is necessary to first label the tissue. Antibodies are frequently used for this purpose, and this is known as “immunolabelling”. iDISCO: Adult mouse kidney, screen capture via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCdSCMlNafk Antibodies are specific to certain “markers”, or antigens, and immunolabelling is used for
How do you multiplex an immunoassay? There are two main ways of multiplexing an immunoassay; by separating the individual assays into different spaces (spatial separation) or by immobilizing antibodies onto different beads based on what they target. Jarun Ontakrai | Shutterstock Spatial separation is typically achieved by placing antibodies in different parts of a shared
Research has repeatedly shown that women have a stronger immune response to infections than men. Studies from as early as the 1940s have elucidated that women possess an enhanced capability of producing antibodies. Image Credit: Peterschreiber.media/Shutterstock.com Even though this builds an effective resistance barrier to infections, women have a higher predisposition to autoimmunity caused by
A genetic modification in the ‘coat’ of a brain infection-causing virus may allow it to escape antibodies, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. They say testing people for this and other viral mutations may help identify patients at risk for developing a fatal brain disease. Dr. Aron Lukacher, professor and chair of the
Two different types of detectable antibody responses in SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) tell very different stories and may indicate ways to enhance public health efforts against the disease, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain (S-RBD) are speculated to neutralize virus infection, while
A Phase 2 clinical trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of potential new therapeutics for COVID-19, including an investigational therapeutic based on synthetic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to treat the disease. Researchers sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, are working with clinical sites
A novel study from the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet indicates that antibodies against a small lipid entity, phosphorylcholine (PC), can be associated with protection in inflammatory systemic diseases, including SLE and Sjögren’s syndrome. The results support evidence for a potential treatment by providing antibodies (anti-PC) to patients with these diseases or through
A team of researchers from Stanford University, the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center has found that people with peanut allergies have an abundance of allergy-causing immunoglobulin E antibodies (IgE) in their guts. In their paper published in the journal Science Immunology, the group describes sequencing antibody genes from B-lineage plasma cells
Researchers have cleared a major obstacle in the development of an HIV vaccine, proving in animal models that effective, yet short-lasting antibodies can be coaxed into multiplying as a fighting force against the virus. The finding, led by a team of researchers at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI) and Boston Children’s Hospital, publishes online
The fight against infectious diseases: vaccines should now be chemical free In the production of vital vaccines are often used toxic chemicals. German researchers have now developed a novel technology that uses electron beams. This method allows you to be free for the first time, Dead vaccines, chemicals, quickly and reproducibly prepared. Protection against infectious
Scientists at The Wistar Institute and collaborators have successfully engineered novel DNA-encoded monoclonal antibodies (DMAbs) targeting Zaire Ebolavirus that were effective in preclinical models. Study results, published online in Cell Reports, showed that DMAbs were expressed over a wide window of time and offered complete and long-term protection against lethal virus challenges. DMAbs may also
Antibodies could protect against heart attacks, according to a study by researchers from Imperial College London. The researchers, funded by the British Heart Foundation, studied patients with high blood pressure, of whom 87 had developed coronary heart disease. They also studied a further 143 patients who had their heart arteries extensively studied using cutting edge
Certain antibodies in a patient’s blood stream may enable life-threatening bacterial infections to spread instead of fighting them off, a University of Queensland study has found. UQ Diamantina Institute Senior Research Fellow Dr. Timothy Wells said the discovery may be helpful for treating or preventing sepsis in some patients in the future. Researchers examined how
