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A new study reports the level of ACE2 and furin, two enzymes that are intimately linked to infection with SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19.
Credits: Photo courtesy of Caltech. Previous image Next image Last month, the world welcomed the rollout of vaccines that may finally curb the Covid-19 pandemic. Pamela Björkman , the David Baltimore Professor of Biology and Bioengineering at Caltech, wants to understand how antibodies like the ones elicited by these vaccines target the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19. She hopes this understanding will guide treatment strategies and help design vaccines against future pandemics. She shared her lab’s work during the MIT Department of Biology’s Indep...
Research suggests seaweed used in traditional Chinese medicine could protect against COVID-19 Researchers in China have conducted a study showing that a carbohydrate found in the seaweed Ecklonia kurome blocks the activity of an enzyme that is essential for the replication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The seaweed – also called “Kun Bu” in China – has long been used as a medicinal plant in traditional Chinese medicine. Kan Ding from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing...
Closed SARS-CoV-2 spikes could be a valuable component of future vaccines As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continues to rage across the globe, many countries have rolled out vaccines. Populations to be vaccinated first are healthcare workers, front-liners, and high-risk individuals. The majority of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines in use or advanced clinical development are based on the viral spike protein (S) as their immunogen. Since the start of the pandemic, there are now 235 vaccine candidates for SARS-CoV-2. Of these, 172 vaccines are i...
Which SARS-CoV-2 mutations can potentially evade antibody recognition? To date, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread to 191 countries and infected more than 95.62 million people. Of these, more than 2 million people have lost their lives. The United States remains the nation with the highest number of cases, reaching 24 million, while India and Brazil follow, with over 10.58 million and 8.51 million cases, respectively. New strains of the virus have begun to emerge with increased infectivity – including the VUI 202012/01 in Britain and 501.V2 in South Africa. This has...