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UTHSC receives $3.2 million to upgrade the Regional Biocontainment Laboratory

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center has been awarded $3.2 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to upgrade the equipment and infrastructure in the UTHSC Regional Biocontainment Laboratory (RBL) on the Memphis campus to enhance the university's research of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.

6 Oct 2021

A possible protective genetic polymorphism in COVID-19

A new study discusses the role of a mucin gene enhancer on the clinical phenotype of the COVID-19.

5 Oct 2021

SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitors show antiviral activity

A new study used a combination of a computer-aided drug design approach and cell-based in vitro assays to identify five potential SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors.

27 Sep 2021

Discovery points toward a new strategy for treating Parkinson's disease

University of Utah Health scientists have identified a molecule that slows cells' production of alpha-synuclein, a protein that forms toxic aggregates in the brains of people with Parkinson's disease.

23 Sep 2021

Discovery points toward a new strategy for treating Parkinson’s disease

University of Utah Health scientists have identified a molecule that slows cells’ production of alpha-synuclein, a protein that forms toxic aggregates in the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease.

21 Sep 2021

Genetic capacity of the gut microbiome determines weight loss success or failure

The strongest associations with weight loss success or failure – independent of BMI – are found in the genetic capacity of the gut microbiome.

15 Sep 2021

Scientists identify a possible “Achilles’ heel” in the frustration of amyloid beta peptides

Progress on treating Alzheimer's disease has been frustratingly slow. A group of scientists in Houston suggest frustration at a very small scale may lead to a new path toward treatment.

14 Sep 2021

Baylor researchers use a faster, more cost-effective technology to discover SARS-CoV-2 inhibitor

Much progress has been made on the development of vaccines aiming at triggering human immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. In addition, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine are involved in the development of antiviral drugs to treat infected individuals.

1 Sep 2021

Researchers convert human stem cells into beta cells using small molecules

The human body can be genetically inclined to attack its own cells, destroying the beta cells in the pancreas that make insulin, which helps convert sugar into energy.

27 Aug 2021

Researchers identify a cluster of small molecules that contribute to coffee's mouthfeel

Coffee drinkers intuitively recognize the pleasure of swallowing a smooth, rich brew versus a watery one.

24 Aug 2021

Curia to expand U.S. commercial manufacturing capability

Curia, formerly AMRI, a leading contract research, development and manufacturing organization, today announced plans to expand its commercial manufacturing capacity at its Rensselaer, New York facility.

From Curia 23 Aug 2021

Researchers receive $26.5 million NIH grant to pursue a new strategy for curing HIV

Over the last 40 years, HIV has shifted from a deadly and mysterious virus to one that can be controlled with daily drugs. But attempts to completely eliminate the virus from the bodies of people living with HIV, curing them for good, have failed.

17 Aug 2021

UC San Diego scientists develop new method to keep cultured cells healthy

Hematopoietic stem cells — the precursors to blood cells — have been notoriously difficult to grow in a dish, a critical tool in basic research.

12 Aug 2021

Scientists identify calpeptin as potential inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2

A team of US-based scientists has recently conducted a robust high-throughput screening to identify potential entry inhibitors of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The screening identifies calpeptin as a potent and highly specific inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

9 Aug 2021

Immunocompromised patients could be potential hosts for immune-escape mutants of SARS-CoV-2

In a recently published article in The New England Journal of Medicine, scientists have described how multi-mutational variants of SARS-CoV-2 may evolve in patients with immunosuppression.

5 Aug 2021

Study investigates the role of eIF4A3 protein in the growth of cancer cells

For a cell to grow and divide, it needs to produce new proteins. This also applies to cancer cells. In a new study published today in Science Advances, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have investigated the protein eIF4A3 and its role in the growth of cancer cells.

4 Aug 2021

Study offers molecular views on how olfactory receptors work

All senses must reckon with the richness of the world, but nothing matches the challenge faced by the olfactory system that underlies our sense of smell.

4 Aug 2021

Scientist explore conserved RNA elements as potential targets for anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs

The study, published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, identified many small molecules that bind to certain parts of the SARS-CoV-2 genome that are less likely altered by mutations using dedicated substance libraries. The scientists derived key functional units and groups in ligands for effective and safe targeting of SARS-CoV-2 RNA.

22 Jul 2021

Vitamin C and TET proteins can work together to give regulatory T cells their life-saving power

You can't make a banana split without bananas. And you can't generate stable regulatory T cells without Vitamin C or enzymes called TET proteins, it appears.

21 Jul 2021

Researchers discover major metabolite involved in regulating intestinal bacteria

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS) have discovered that acetate, a major metabolite produced by some intestinal bacteria, is involved in regulating other intestinal bacteria.

19 Jul 2021