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Researchers discover potential new way to target pancreatic tumors with high IFN signaling

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have uncovered a potential new way to target pancreatic tumors that express high intratumoral interferon signaling (IFN).

18 Feb 2021

Probiotics may be beneficial in COVID-19 treatment

A new study explores the role of common probiotics in managing the disease, which could prove to be of great value, given the emergence of new variants and the broad spectrum of clinical disease in COVID-19.

17 Feb 2021

Study shows how SARS-CoV-2 uses an immune system defense for replication

The immune system actually wants to fight SARS-CoV-2 with antiviral signaling molecules. But a research team from Charité and MDC has now shown how such a signaling molecule can promote the replication of the virus. The results have been published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.

17 Feb 2021

Humidity created inside facemasks may help combat COVID-19, study finds

A new study, published in the journal Biophysical Journal by researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), showed that face masks increase the humidity in the air that the mask-wearers inhale. The level of moisture in inhaled air could be linked to lower levels of COVID-19 severity.

16 Feb 2021

Study suggests a new way to personalize anti-CTLA-4 therapy for cancers

A Ludwig Cancer Research study has identified a novel mechanism by which a type of cancer immunotherapy known as CTLA-4 blockade can disable suppressive immune cells to aid the destruction of certain tumors.

15 Feb 2021

RIG-1-like receptors may play dominant role in suppressing SARS-CoV-2 infection

A new study by researchers at the University of Connecticut Health Center, USA, reports the crucial nature of the pathogen pattern recognition receptor (PRRs), especially the two RLRs, retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) and melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5 (MDA5), in triggering host cell immune responses within the cell. The RLRs are viral RNA sensors.

15 Feb 2021

Immunosuppressive therapies may be linked to severe COVID-19 in those with multiple sclerosis

A new study examines the associations between immunosuppressive disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) used in MS with adverse outcomes in an international cohort of patients with MS COVID-19.

15 Feb 2021

Researchers study host and viral transcriptomes in tandem to shed light on SARS-CoV-2 infection

In a new study, researchers discuss the use of simultaneous sequencing of both human and viral genes to better understand SARS-CoV-2's infection pathway.

15 Feb 2021

Humidity created inside the face masks may help combat COVID-19

Masks help protect the people wearing them from getting or spreading SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, but now researchers from the National Institutes of Health have added evidence for yet another potential benefit for wearers: The humidity created inside the mask may help combat respiratory diseases such as COVID-19.

14 Feb 2021

New mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection reflects features of human infection

Now, a new preprint research paper posted to the bioRxiv server reports the development of a modified mouse model that allows productive SARS-CoV-2 infection of the mouse lungs, as well as the exploration of type I and III interferon responses in this condition.

14 Feb 2021

STING activation may be a new approach to reduce graft-versus-host disease

MUSC Hollings Cancer Center researcher Yongxia Wu, Ph.D., identified a new target molecule in the fight against graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).

11 Feb 2021

Brain pericytes serve as a potential hub for SARS-CoV-2 infection

A team of scientists from the United States has recently conducted a study using pericyte-like cell-containing brain cortical organoids as an experimental model to investigate the impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection on the central nervous system.

11 Feb 2021

Inherited genetic variation may affect the response to cancer immunotherapy

For all their importance as a breakthrough treatment, the cancer immunotherapies known as checkpoint inhibitors still only benefit a small minority of patients, perhaps 15 percent across different types of cancer.

10 Feb 2021

Orally administered experimental drug halts SARS-CoV-2 replication, prevents infection

Publishing their work in Nature, scientists at the UNC School of Medicine and UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health found that the orally administered experimental drug EIDD-2801 halts SARS-CoV-2 replication and prevents infection of human cells in a new in vivo lab model containing human lung tissue.

10 Feb 2021

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine immune response in the elderly

In a recent medRxiv preprint publication, the team led by Professor Ravindra K. Gupta has assessed the real-world immune responses following the vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2. The team measured 1) IFN-gamma (interferon-gamma) T cell responses, 2) both total IgG Spike/ IgG Spike RBD (receptor binding domain) and 3) neutralizing antibody responses to Spike in sera.

8 Feb 2021

New nanoparticle-based drug boosts the body’s innate immune system to fight tumors

A new nanoparticle-based drug can boost the body's innate immune system and make it more effective at fighting off tumors, researchers at UT Southwestern have shown.

8 Feb 2021

Experimental antiviral drug can significantly speed up recovery for COVID-19 outpatients

A clinical study led by Dr. Jordan Feld, a liver specialist at Toronto Centre for Liver Disease, University Health Network (UHN), showed an experimental antiviral drug can significantly speed up recovery for COVID-19 outpatients – patients who do not need to be hospitalized.

8 Feb 2021

SARS-CoV-2 delays interferon signaling in host cells

A team of scientists from Sweden and India has recently conducted a study to evaluate type I interferon (IFN-I) responses in cells infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The findings reveal that SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with a delayed and dysregulated IFN-I response and that pretreatment with IFN-I can reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

7 Feb 2021

New combination therapy proven to be highly effective in HBV infection model

Around 260 million people, more than three percent of the global population, are chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV); in the long term, this often leads to complications such as liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.

4 Feb 2021

Insight into role of aging in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine set out to determine the differences between young people and older adults regarding their host responses against SARS-CoV-2. The team revealed that independent of disease severity, COVID-19 was linked to a significant shift in plasma inflammatory factors. The research is posted to the pre-print server medRxiv*.

3 Feb 2021