Page 102 - Mutation News Today

Vaccine makers will not have to go through another long round of clinical trials to develop updated COVID-19 vaccines against viral variants. Instead they'll be allowed to estimate efficacy using bloodwork.

A new research paper recently uploaded to the preprint server bioRxiv by Jesse D. Bloom et al. (22nd Feb 2021) aims to map all of the currently circulating SARS-CoV-2 lineages with resistance towards LY-CoV555 and LY-CoV016, and document the specific mutations that confer resistance, ultimately suggesting that future monoclonal antibody cocktails should target a more diverse range of epitopes.

By analyzing the cryoEM structures of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, researchers report that the neutralizing capabilities of two antibodies are not affected by new strains as these antibodies target regions of the virus away from the ACE2 binding regions.

Key mutation sites in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein modulate antibody and ACE2 affinity An allosteric center or site is one where a molecule other than the substrate to the protein can bind, altering the conformation of the protein. A paper recently uploaded to the preprint server bioRxiv* by researchers at Chapman University in California (Feb 22nd, 2021) utilized computational methods to screen severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mutants for affinity with the angioten...

2020 is never going to end, is it?

Using an innovative computational approach to analyze vast brain cell gene expression datasets, researchers at MIT and Sorbonne Université have found...

A coronavirus variant first identified in California is more contagious than previous forms of the virus and is spreading across the state, two new studies show.

Understanding Absolute Stoichiometry of Oligomeric Protein Complexes Using SEC-MALS Thought LeadersSheena DArcy & Prithwijit SarkarDArcy Group University of Texas In this interview, Sheena DArcy and Prithwijit Sarkar from the DArcy Group in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Dallas talks to News-Medical Life Sciences about using SEC-MALS to characterize the native oligomeric state of Nap proteins and their complexes. What is SEC-MALS? SEC-MALS is size-ex...

UK and South African SARS-CoV-2 variants show higher binding affinity to host cell receptor Public health officials are concerned over new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants emerging in various parts of the world. The B.1.1.7 variant was first found in the United Kingdom and found to have the N501Y mutation that allows it to have a faster transmission rate than previous strains. The B.1.351 variant was detected in South Africa and also has the N501Y genetic mu...

Study: Interbacterial toxins may contribute to bacterial genetic diversity A toxin produced by bacteria as a defense mechanism causes mutations in target bacteria that could help them survive, according to a study published today in eLife. The finding suggests that competitive encounters between bacterial cells could have profound consequences on the evolution of bacterial populations. When bacterial cells come into contact, they often produce toxins as a defense mechanism. Although it is know...