Tag: receptor

Researchers in the United States have conducted a pre-clinical study demonstrating the efficacy of two updated versions of the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine against variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Study: Variant SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines confer broad neutralization as primary or booster series in mice

Finding effective and safe vaccines is crucial in the fight against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As a vital component of a subunit vaccine, the adjuvant strengthens the antigen-induced immune responses. Researchers at the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of China, the

Analysis indicated the number of mutations in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) receptor-binding domain (RBD) doubles every 72 days. As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues infecting more people, SARS-CoV-2 is also evolving. Several new variants of the virus have now been discovered, some more infectious than the original strains. This

As new variants of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continue to emerge, fueling the continued spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a new study offers encouragement. Released as a preprint on the bioRxiv* server, the study reports the protection offered by antibodies elicited by natural infection against the newer variants

Researchers led by Professor Carolyn King of the University of Basel have developed a method to study the specialization of T cells in the context of infections. In the journal eLife, they report the different directions this specialization takes, depending on whether it happens in the context of an acute viral infection such as influenza

Several genetic variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have risen to prominence during the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, one of which is the UK variant – termed B.1.1.7 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This variant is associated with increased transmissibility compared to the wild-type

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

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

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.

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

SORLA is a protein trafficking receptor that has been mainly studied in neurons, but it also plays a role in cancer cells. Professor Johanna Ivaska's research group at Turku Bioscience observed that SORLA functionally contributes to the most reported therapy-resistant mechanism by which the cell-surface receptor HER3 counteracts HER2 targeting therapy in HER2-positive cancers. Removing

The brain mechanism that enables us to maintain a constant body temperature may also be the key to rapid weight loss, a new study finds. In experiments involving mice that were given a calorie-restricted diet, scientists at Scripps Research discovered that blocking a brain receptor that normally regulates body heat resulted in significant weight reductions.

Seneca Valley virus sounds like the last bug you’d want to catch, but it could be the next breakthrough cancer therapy. Now, scientists at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) and the University of Otago have described exactly how the virus interacts with tumors—and why it leaves healthy tissues alone. The study, published

When chlamydia attacks the human body, the immune system activates. But the bacteria are adapted to defend themselves. Scientists from Würzburg have deciphered new details of their strategy. Chlamydia trachomatis is a common sexually transmitted disease. More than 131 million people are infected with this bacterium worldwide. If detected at an early stage and treated

DNA is the warehouse of genetic information in each living cell, and its integrity and stability are essential to life. This stability and integrity is maintained by DNA damage repair machinery. In a study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a research team at Baylor College of Medicine found that defects in selective DNA damage repair

During a stroke or an epileptic seizure, neurons in affected parts of the brain fire at an abnormally rapid rate. One byproduct of this condition is that the pH of the brain drops markedly, rendering the local environment inhospitably acidic. Using a powerful microscopy method called cryo-EM, biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have