R&D

Targeted enzymes destroy virus RNA

A research team led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has successfully used specific enzymes to destroy the genetic information of SARS-CoV-2 directly after the virus penetrates the cell. The findings could serve as the basis for a therapy to treat COVID-19.

Our genome contains building instructions for proteins and other molecules. In order for these to be produced by the cell, a kind of transcript of these building instructions must first be created, which takes the form of so-called RNA molecules.

Healthy gut microbiome improves success of cancer treatment

The largest study to date has confirmed the link between the gut microbiome and the response to cancer immunotherapy therapy for melanoma.

The study is published today in Nature Medicine and co-ordinated by King’s College London, CIBIO Department of the University of Trento and European Institute of Oncology in Italy, University of Groningen in the Netherlands and funded by the Seerave Foundation.

Autoimmune diseases: discovery of central building block in immune cells

Autoimmune diseases are triggered when the immune system malfunctions and attacks the body's own structures. Although there is not, as yet, any cure for such diseases, their progression can be slowed down by therapeutic measures. Researchers at MedUni Vienna's Center for Physiology and Pharmacology have now discovered a central signaling pathway in immune cells that may help in the development of a new therapeutic approach.

Why natural killer cells react to COVID-19

Little has been known to date about how the immune system's natural killer (NK) cells detect which cells have been infected with SARS-CoV-2. An international team of scientist led by researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now shows that NK cells respond to a certain peptide on the surface of infected cells.

New study finds COVID-19 vaccination boosts mental health along with immunity

Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 measurably improved the psychological well-being of participants in the Understanding Coronavirus in America study, a large longitudinal look at the impact of the pandemic on individuals in the United States. Vaccination was associated with declines in distress and perceived risks of infection, hospitalization, and death.

Antibodies improve in quality for months after COVID-19 vaccination

For at least six months after COVID-19 vaccination, antibodies produced by immune cells become steadily more formidable and more precisely targeted against the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a study of the antibody response to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Promising molecule for treatment of COVID-19

Uppsala researchers have succeeded in designing a molecule that inhibits the replication of coronaviruses and that has great potential for development into a drug suitable for treating COVID-19. The molecule is effective against both the new variant and previously identified coronaviruses. The article has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Research & Development

Targeted enzymes destroy virus RNA

Healthy gut microbiome improves success of cancer treatment

Autoimmune diseases: discovery of central building block in immune cells

Why natural killer cells react to COVID-19

New study finds COVID-19 vaccination boosts mental health along with immunity

Antibodies improve in quality for months after COVID-19 vaccination

Promising molecule for treatment of COVID-19

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