by Bill Snyder, Vanderbilt University Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have identified antibodies that, in animals, block infection by alphaviruses, which can cause chronic and debilitating joint pain and arthritis and are an increasing global health concern. The findings, published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, could lead to potential broad-based therapies or a vaccine to...
Month: <span>September 2020</span>
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Some severe COVID-19 cases linked to genetic mutations or antibodies that attack the body
by Howard Hughes Medical Institute Infection with the novel coronavirus (gold spheres) can cause a range of symptoms. Some people with severe cases of COVID-19 have genetic mutations in key immunity genes or antibodies that attack the immune system. Credit: NIAID People infected by the novel coronavirus can have symptoms that range from mild to deadly....
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Secure nano-carrier delivers medications directly to cells
TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH (TUM) IMAGE: PROF. OLIVER LIELEG AND CEREN KIMNA ARE CONDUCTING RESEARCH ON NANOPARTICLES THAT RELEASE DRUGS PRECISELY INTO THE AFFECTED CELLS. Medications often have unwanted side-effects. One reason is that they reach not only the unhealthy cells for which they are intended, but also reach and have an impact on healthy...
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A genetic variant that protects against Alzheimer’s disease promotes immune cell functions
UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Eastern Finland found that the PLCG2-P522R genetic variant, which protects against Alzheimer’s disease, enhances several key functions of immune cells. The results obtained in the study highlight the importance of immune cells as a target of future development of new therapies for Alzheimer’s...
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Ultrapotent antibody mix blocks COVID-19 virus attachment
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON HEALTH SCIENCES/UW MEDICINE IMAGE: PANDEMIC CORONAVIRUS RESEARCHERS DAVID VESSLER (LEFT) AND ALEJANDRA TORTORICI (RIGHT) AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN SEATTLE. THE VEESLER LAB USES CRYO-ELECTRON MICROSCOPY TO STUDY. A mix of ultrapotent antibodies from recovered COVID-19 patients has been shown to recognize and lock down the infection machinery...
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Ultrapotent compound may help treat C. diff, reduce recurrence
PURDUE UNIVERSITY IMAGE: HERMAN O. SINTIM, THE DRUG DISCOVERY PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN PURDUE UNIVERSITY’S DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY, HAS HELPED ADVANCE NOVEL COMPOUNDS TO HELP TREAT PATIENTS WITH C. DIFF. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Clostridioides difficile, or C. diff, is the leading cause of health care-associated infection in the U.S. Only two antibiotics, vancomycin and...
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New Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug shows benefit in clinical trial
by Duke University Medical Center A new drug offers hope for young boys with the progressive neuromuscular disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) by potentially offering an alternative to high-dose glucocorticoids that have significant side effects. Interim results from a 24-month clinical trial at Duke Health and other institutions suggest that the drug, vamorolone, may retain or...
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Hearing speech requires quiet— in more ways than one
by Kim Krieger, University of Connecticut Perceiving speech requires quieting certain types of brain cells, report a team of researchers from UConn Health and University of Rochester in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Neurophysiology. Their research reveals a previously unknown population of brain cells, and opens up a new way of understanding how the brain hears. Your brain is...
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AI-basedc device will help monitoring blood sugar without painful finger pricks
Would you like to stab your finger several times per day every day just to survive? Probably not and yet millions of people with diabetes live like that. Finger pricks are necessary to measure blood glucose levels, but they are also painful or at least uncomfortable. Now scientists found a better way – they designed...
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TEAMS FIND CLUES TO PUZZLING COVID-19 CASES IN KIDS
New findings may clarify the surprisingly small percentage of COVID-19 cases in children. In a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Naftali Kaminski, professor of internal medicine and chief of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine at Yale University, and colleagues share findings related to children’s surprising immunity to the virus. They...