Nano-bubbles in Covid patients’ blood could block infection from variants
2 years, 11 months ago

Nano-bubbles in Covid patients’ blood could block infection from variants

Live Mint  

Scientists in the US have identified tiny natural bubbles containing the ACE2 protein in the blood of COVID-19 patients that can block infection from broad strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. "Whenever a new mutant strain of SARS-CoV-2 surges, the original vaccine and therapeutic antibodies may lose power against Alpha, Beta, Delta and the most recent, Omicron," said study co-senior author Huiping Liu, an associate professor at Northwestern University. "However, the beauty of evACE2 is its superpower in blocking broad strains of coronaviruses, including current SARS-CoV-2 and even future SARS coronaviruses from infecting humans," Liu said. The study in mice demonstrates the therapeutic potential of evACE2 in preventing or blocking SARS-CoV-2 infection when it is delivered to the airway via droplets, the researchers said.

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History of this topic

Nano bubbles could treat, prevent current and future strains of SARS-CoV-2: Study
2 years, 11 months ago

Nano bubbles could treat, prevent current and future strains of SARS-CoV-2: Study

Deccan Chronicle  

Evanston: With the COVID-19 virus mutating and bringing in more and deadlier waves with it, medical discoveries are all that humanity is depending on to survive and defeat this dark phase of life. Now, scientists at Northwestern Medicine and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified natural nano-bubbles containing the ACE2 protein in the blood of COVID-19 …

Scientists develop molecule that blocks covid-19 infection
3 years ago

Scientists develop molecule that blocks covid-19 infection

Live Mint  

Scientists have developed a new molecule that attaches to the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and prevents it from entering human cells and spreading the COVID-19 infection. The researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark noted that the molecule is cheaper and easier to manufacture than the antibodies currently used to treat COVID-19, and to detect viral infection using rapid antigen …

Potent, Stable Antibodies to Block SARS-CoV-2, Variants Developed
3 years, 4 months ago

Potent, Stable Antibodies to Block SARS-CoV-2, Variants Developed

News 18  

Researchers have developed highly potent and stable antibodies from the blood of alpacas which can efficiently block SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and its dangerous new variants. The researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Germany noted that these mini-antibodies bind and neutralise the virus up to 1,000 times better than previously developed such antibodies. “For …

Scientists Find New Drug Target to Treat Coronavirus, Fight Future Pandemic
3 years, 5 months ago

Scientists Find New Drug Target to Treat Coronavirus, Fight Future Pandemic

News 18  

Scientists have identified a novel target for a drug that can treat the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, and also help tackle a future coronavirus pandemic. "There is great need for new approaches to drug discovery to combat the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic and infections from future coronaviruses," Satchell said. There is potential to make a drug to fit this unique pocket …

Covid-19 Virus Highly Adapted to Infect Human Cells, Reveals Study
3 years, 6 months ago

Covid-19 Virus Highly Adapted to Infect Human Cells, Reveals Study

News 18  

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, is most ideally adapted to infect human cells, rather than bat or pangolin cells, according to a study which raises questions about the origin of the virus. "The computer modelling found the virus's ability to bind to the bat ACE2 protein was poor relative to its ability to bind human cells, Winkler said. This …

Covid-19 virus highly adapted to infect human cells, finds study
3 years, 6 months ago

Covid-19 virus highly adapted to infect human cells, finds study

India Today  

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, is most ideally adapted to infect human cells, rather than bat or pangolin cells, according to a study which raises questions about the origin of the virus. "The computer modelling found the virus's ability to bind to the bat ACE2 protein was poor relative to its ability to bind human cells,” Winkler said. This …

Coronavirus variants can evade antibodies by spreading via super-cells: Study
3 years, 6 months ago

Coronavirus variants can evade antibodies by spreading via super-cells: Study

India Today  

The antibodies we create after we’re infected with a virus or vaccinated against it can be very powerful. A virus typically spreads within our bodies by entering a cell and using it as a factory to create copies of itself, which then burst out and find new cells to infect. The study by Alex Sigal and colleagues tested two coronavirus …

Scientists see path for the coronavirus to invade the brain
3 years, 7 months ago

Scientists see path for the coronavirus to invade the brain

LA Times  

Scientists experimenting in the lab have found that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is capable of infecting two types of brain cells — neurons and astrocytes. COVID-19 is best known as a respiratory disease, but for many victims, it also triggers an array of problems including memory lapses, fatigue and a certain sluggish, fuzzy feeling often referred to as “brain …

Know what makes SARS-COV-2 a threat
3 years, 8 months ago

Know what makes SARS-COV-2 a threat

India TV News  

Coronavirus pandemic has brought about a sense of fear and anxiety around the globe. Research showed that SARS-CoV-2 uses a receptor called ACE2 to gain entry into human cells, aided by an enzyme called TMPRSS2. The study, led by Jose Ordovas-Montanes, doctoral student at the Boston Children's Hospital, in the US, found that one of the body's main defences against …

World is in need of a universal coronavirus vaccine, warn scientists
3 years, 10 months ago

World is in need of a universal coronavirus vaccine, warn scientists

Firstpost  

The prestigious journal Science on Thursday published an editorial calling for a global effort to develop a universal coronavirus vaccine that would remain effective against other members of the same virus family that might cross over to humans. “Modern agricultural practices, viral evolution, and relentless human encroachment on the natural environment mean there is an increased risk of people encountering …

Scientists reveal how coronavirus could be hijacking human cells
3 years, 10 months ago

Scientists reveal how coronavirus could be hijacking human cells

Live Mint  

Scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have identified parts of human proteins which the novel coronavirus could be using to hijack host cell processes, an advance that may lead to the development of new drugs for treating covid-19. The researchers, including Manjeet Kumar from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in HeidelbGermany, analysed the chain of amino acid molecules that makes up …

Mini antibodies against COVID-19 isolated from llama may prevent infection
4 years ago

Mini antibodies against COVID-19 isolated from llama may prevent infection

India TV News  

Scientists have isolated a set of promising, tiny antibodies or nanobodies against the novel coronavirus from a llama, some of which may help prevent the infection. The researchers from the National Institutes of Health in the US said at least one of these nanobodies, called NIH-CoVnb-112, could prevent infections and detect virus particles by grabbing hold of the spike proteins …

Coronavirus | N501Y mutation in SARS-CoV-2 virus causes increased infectivity in mice: researchers
4 years ago

Coronavirus | N501Y mutation in SARS-CoV-2 virus causes increased infectivity in mice: researchers

The Hindu  

In a preliminary report posted on December 19, Dr. Andrew Rambaut from the University of Edinburgh and others from the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium say that the new variant has been spreading “rapidly” over the last four weeks. Though no studies have so far been done in humans to assess if the new variant increases the severity of COVID-19 disease, …

Studies reveal potential weaknesses in SARS-CoV-2 infection
4 years ago

Studies reveal potential weaknesses in SARS-CoV-2 infection

Hindustan Times  

A single protein that appears necessary for the COVID-19 virus to reproduce and spread to other cells is a potential weakness that could be targeted by future therapies. Representational image The latest finding comes from a pair of studies led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, and colleagues at Rockefeller University …

Synthetic mini-antibody identified to combat Covid-19
4 years, 1 month ago

Synthetic mini-antibody identified to combat Covid-19

India TV News  

In a significant development, scientists have identified a synthetic mini-antibody that turned out to be particularly effective in blocking the new coronavirus from entering human cells. To enable the virus to hook onto the cell surface, the spike protein binds ACE2 using three finger-like protrusions, called the receptor binding domains. The new synthetic mini-antibody blocks the RBDs, therefore has the …

Scientists find new way to stop coronavirus from replicating itself
4 years, 2 months ago

Scientists find new way to stop coronavirus from replicating itself

India Today  

Scientists in the US have developed a new method using which they have been able to prevent the novel coronavirus from replicating itself. "This enzyme executes a double-whammy," Shaun K Olsen, associate professor of biochemistry and structural biology at UT Health San Antonio, who was the senior author for the study, was quoted as saying by PTI. Olsen added, "It …

Scientists identify cellular structure that may play critical role in coronavirus replication
4 years, 4 months ago

Scientists identify cellular structure that may play critical role in coronavirus replication

India TV News  

Scientists have identified a structure in host cells which the novel coronavirus likely uses to synthesise components that will be assembled into fully infectious viruses, an advance which may lead to the development of new drugs against COVID-19. Seeking to understand how viral RNA is exported from sealed DMVs, the scientists, Georg Wolff and his colleagues, used a powerful microscopy …

Covid-19: Scientists develop bio decoys to lure and kill coronavirus
4 years, 5 months ago

Covid-19: Scientists develop bio decoys to lure and kill coronavirus

India Today  

Coronavirus has proven itself to be a smart beast. The discovery was made in a laboratory setting, where researchers used decoy polymers to see if these harmless artificial particles lure novel coronavirus into a trap or not. This is a decoy technique as it works by creating microscopic bio-friendly polymers, which are coated with cells from living lung tissue or …

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