IUPUI researchers are developing a “biosensing platform” for COVID-19 that’s fast, efficient, accurate and highly sensitive, which could help scientists stay on top of shifting virus variants.

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IUPUI researchers are developing a “biosensing platform” for COVID-19 that’s fast, efficient, accurate and highly sensitive, which could help scientists stay on top of shifting virus variants.
As new Omicron subvariants of COVID-19 continue to sweep across the United States, researchers at the University of Missouri have identified specific mutations within the virus’ spike protein that help Omicron subvariants evade existing antibodies humans have from either vaccines or previous COVID-19 infections.
When infants breastfeed, they receive an immune boost that helps them fight off infectious diseases, according to recent research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.
Despite significant and stunning advances in vaccine technology, the COVID-19 global pandemic is not over.
Two broadly neutralizing antibodies show great promise to provide long-acting immunity against COVID-19 in immunocompromised populations according to a paper published June 15 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM). The antibodies were effective against all SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern tested and could be used alone or in an antibody cocktail to diminish the risk of infection.
Mount Sinai researchers have developed a rapid blood assay that measures the magnitude and duration of someone’s immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This test will allow large-scale monitoring of the population’s immunity and the effectiveness of current vaccines to help design revaccination strategies for vulnerable immunosuppressed individuals, according to a study published in Nature Biotechnology in June.
“Just understanding the immune responses to these vaccines will help us integrate what is successful into vaccine designs going forward.”
In “proof of concept” experiments with mouse and human cells and tissues, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have designed tiny proteins, called nanobodies, derived from llama antibodies, that could potentially be used to deliver targeted medicines to human muscle cells.
About 95% of participants achieved a measurable immune response after vaccination, according to study published in JAMA Oncology.
If you’re wondering why after two vaccination doses and a booster shot, you still got sick from the omicron strain of the virus that causes COVID-19, one possible answer may have been found in a recent study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Researchers studying the effect of the monoclonal antibody Leronlimab on long COVID-19 may have found a surprising clue to the baffling syndrome, one that contradicts their initial hypothesis. An abnormally suppressed immune system may be to blame, not a persistently hyperactive one as they had suspected.
As widely-anticipated decisions about COVID-19 vaccine boosters roll out from U.S. agencies today, insights from an independent study underscore why boosters are important for all adults.
Université de Montréal chemists looked at lab samples of patients who recovered from a mild case of COVID-19 and found that those over 50 produced more antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
A research collaboration between scientists at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has identified and tested an antibody that limits the severity of infections from a variety of coronaviruses, including those that cause COVID-19 as well as the original SARS illness.
Veravas has announced the development of its VeraPrep™ Antibody Detection Kit, a new development platform that provides scientists with a state-of-the-art research tool to detect and measure immunoglobulins against new and emerging pathogens.
Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have published a detailed map of where human antibodies bind to SARS-CoV-2, a map that was generated by a global collaboration comparing nearly all leading clinical candidates. The new research will guide the development of more effective COVID-19 antibody therapies and help scientists develop effective vaccines to address emerging viral variants.
A unique type of tiny antibody produced by llamas could provide a new frontline treatment against Covid-19 that can be taken by patients as a simple nasal spray.
Women who receive COVID-19 mRNA vaccines during pregnancy pass high levels of antibodies to their babies, a new NYU Langone study finds.
Iowa State researchers affiliated with the Nanovaccine Institute have explained how a nanomaterial initiates antibody production by the immune system’s B cells. The technique could be used to turn B cells into factories that provide antibodies for diagnostic tests or treatments.
A preclinical development core where researchers can test the effectiveness of large molecule drug candidates for novel cancer treatments, led by Qingyun Liu, PhD, has been awarded a nearly $4 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).
Two National Institute of Health (NIH) grants totaling over $1.3 million will enable research into antibody-mediated drug delivery technology for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disorders. L. Nathan Tumey, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences, is the Principal Investigator on both grants — $1.2 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and $150,000 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The breast milk of lactating mothers vaccinated against COVID-19 contains a significant supply of antibodies that may help protect nursing infants from the illness, according to new research from the University of Florida.
In a large-scale, population-based surveillance conducted in partnership with the City of Santa Ana, researchers at the University of California, Irvine’s Program in Public Health found 27% positivity of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among participating Santa Ana residents. This unique study was one of the first to examine household transmission of COVID-19 and to include a pediatric population (ages 5+).
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified an antibody that is highly protective against a broad range of viral variants.
The study enrolled 120 transplant patients between May 25th and June 3rd. None of them had COVID previously and all of them had received two doses of the Moderna vaccine. Half of the participants received a third shot of the vaccine (at the 2-month mark after their second dose) and the other half received placebo.
The primary outcome was based on antibody level greater than 100 U/ml against the spike protein of the virus. In the placebo group – after three doses (where the third dose was placebo), the response rate was only 18% whereas in the Moderna three-dose group, the response rate was 55%.
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Antibody testing of health care workers in three rural counties in eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota showed 15% had antibodies to the novel coronavirus.
Göttingen researchers have developed mini-antibodies that efficiently block the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and its dangerous new variants.
Researchers at Michigan Medicine have discovered another functional autoantibody in COVID-19 patients that contributes to the disease’s development and the “firestorm” of blood clots and inflammation it induces. The autoantibody makes it harder for the body to degrade neutrophil extracellular traps, the toxic webs of DNA and proteins produced by overactive immune cells at heightened levels in COVID patients.
A new study in ACS Nano supports increasing evidence that people who had COVID-19 need only one vaccine dose, and that boosters could be necessary for everyone in the future.
Scientists are pursuing a new strategy in the protracted fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus by engineering nanobodies that can neutralize virus variants in two different ways.
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A nasal therapy, built upon on the application of a new engineered IgM antibody therapy for COVID-19, was more effective than commonly used IgG antibodies at neutralizing the COVID-19 virus in animal models, according to research recently published by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB Health), the University of Houston, and IGM Biosciences, Inc.
Antibodies aren’t the only immune cells needed to fight off COVID-19 — T cells are equally important and can step up to do the job when antibodies are depleted, suggests a new Penn Medicine study of blood cancer patients with COVID-19 published in Nature Medicine.
Vaccines are turning the tide of the pandemic, but there’s still a risk of COVID-19 infections. Instant at-home tests would help us return to normal, but current options aren’t very accurate. A new discovery could get reliable tests on the market.
Large-scale supercomputer simulations at the atomic level show that the dominant G form variant of the COVID-19-causing virus is more infectious partly because of its greater ability to readily bind to its target host receptor in the body, compared to other variants.
Most people with cancer who are infected by the novel coronavirus produce antibodies at a rate comparable to the rest of the population—but their ability to do so depends on their type of cancer and the treatments they’ve received, according to a new study by researchers at Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The findings, published online today in Nature Cancer, may lead to better care for cancer patients, who face a heightened risk of dying from COVID-19, and suggests that cancer patients should respond well to COVID-19 vaccines.
Research reveals how mutated SARS-CoV-2 evades immune system defenses
In lab-dish experiments, the mutant virus escaped antibodies from the plasma of
COVID-19 survivors as well as pharmaceutical-grade antibodies
Mutations arose in an immunocompromised patient with chronic SARS-CoV-2 infection
Patient-derived virus harbored structural changes now seen cropping up independently in samples across the globe
Findings underscore the need for better genomic surveillance to keep track of emerging variants
Results highlight importance of therapies aimed at multiple targets on SARS-CoV-2 to minimize risk of resistance
The treatment was safe, transferred the survivors’ antibodies, and did not prevent the recipients from making their own antibodies, according to the results published recently in the journal JCI Insights.
New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 can evade antibodies that work against the original form of the virus that sparked the pandemic, potentially undermining the effectiveness of vaccines and antibody-based drugs now being used to prevent or treat COVID-19.
New Brunswick, N.J. (March 3, 2021) – The 3D structures of more than 1,000 SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus proteins are freely available from the RCSB Protein Data Bank headquartered at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. The data bank reached the milestone this week, with 1,018 proteins as…
ROCKVILLE, MD – The virus that causes COVID-19 belongs to the family of coronaviruses, “corona” referring to the spikes on the viral surface.
By capitalizing on a convergence of chemical, biological and artificial intelligence advances, scientists have developed an unusually fast and efficient method for discovering tiny antibody fragments with big potential for development into therapeutics against deadly diseases.
Irvine, Calif., Feb. 9, 2021 — Monoclonal antibodies are showing promise for improving outcomes for COVID-19 patients, but when a hospital is already beyond capacity, administering them can be a challenge. As hospitalizations soared across California, clinicians with UCI Health created a system for delivering monoclonal antibodies that is keeping hospital beds available for patients with the greatest need.
An alternative approach to train the immunity response is offered by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago and California State University at Sacramento who have developed a novel strategy that redirects antibodies for other diseases existing in humans to the spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2.
The University of Miami Health System is one of five sites nationally and the only one in the Southeast U.S. chosen to participate in a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) study looking at people who have had COVID-19 or have had a COVID-19 vaccine to examine the durability and robustness of participants’ antibody and T-cell responses to the virus.
A collaborative study shows COVID-19 virus triggers antibodies from previous coronavirus infections, such as the common cold. It may also explain how previous exposure could partially account for differences in severity between old vs. young patients
Royalty Pharma today announced a charitable contribution by Royalty Pharma in the amount of $1,000,000 to Mount Sinai Health System.
Pairs of antibodies may be more effective than single antibodies at preventing and treating COVID-19, according to a new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and The Rockefeller University in New York. The study, published November 19 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), also suggests that in addition to blocking SARS-CoV-2’s entry into cells, the antibodies may combat the virus by enlisting various types of white blood cells to fight the infection.
People who have recovered from coronavirus can make potent antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 that evolve in the months after infection. These antibodies may be evolving in response to residual viral antigen hidden in the gut.