Researchers find vital enzyme holds key to the fight against cancer and viral infections

Understanding how to control the enzyme may lead to new treatments

19-Aug-2021 - A new study led by University of California, Irvine (UCI) researchers identifies two ways in which APOBEC3A— a vital enzyme that is responsible for genetic changes resulting in a variety of cancers while protecting our cells against viral infection—is controlled. The enzyme APOBEC3A is a vital ...

Immune cells may be key to better allergy, infection therapies

07-Aug-2017 - By learning how a recently discovered immune cell works in the body, researchers hope to one day harness the cells to better treat allergies and infections, according to new Cornell University research. Type 1 regulatory (Tr1) cells are a type of regulatory immune cell that help suppress immune ...

Rescue protein gives doomed cells a stay of 'execution'

11-Apr-2017 - A research team led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital immunologists has discovered how a set of proteins delays the "executioner" machinery that kills damaged or infected cells in a process called necroptosis. The scientists believe the finding may have wide clinical implications if ...

New sensors can detect single protein molecules

Modified carbon nanotubes could be used to track protein production by individual cells.

25-Jan-2017 - For the first time, MIT engineers have designed sensors that can detect single protein molecules as they are secreted by cells or even a single cell. These sensors, which consist of chemically modified carbon nanotubes, could help scientists with any application that requires detecting very small ...

New hope for Zika treatment found in large-scale screen of existing drugs

31-Aug-2016 - Scientists report that a specialized drug screen test using lab-grown human cells has revealed two classes of compounds already in the pharmaceutical arsenal that may work against mosquito-borne Zika virus infections. In a summary of their work the investigators say they screened 6,000 existing ...

Viruses thrive in big families, in sickness and in health

06-Aug-2015 - The BIG LoVE (Utah Better Identification of Germs-Longitudinal Viral Epidemiology) study, led by scientists at the University of Utah School of Medicine, finds that each bundle of joy puts the entire household at increased risk for infection with viruses that cause colds, flu, and other ...

Erasing a genetic mutation

01-Apr-2014 - Using a new gene-editing system based on bacterial proteins, MIT researchers have cured mice of a rare liver disorder caused by a single genetic mutation. The findings, described in Nature Biotechnology, offer the first evidence that this gene-editing technique, known as CRISPR, can reverse ...

Now in 3-D: Video of virus-sized particle trying to enter cell

26-Feb-2014 - Tiny and swift, viruses are hard to capture on video. Now researchers at Princeton University have achieved an unprecedented look at a virus-like particle as it tries to break into and infect a cell. The technique they developed could help scientists learn more about how to deliver drugs via ...

Role of infliximab in treating Kawasaki disease

Antibody treatment helps children with dangerous heart disorder

26-Feb-2014 - Kawasaki Disease (KD) is a severe childhood disease that many parents, even some doctors, mistake for an inconsequential viral infection. If not diagnosed or treated in time, it can lead to irreversible heart damage. Signs of KD include prolonged fever associated with rash, red eyes, mouth, lips ...

Viruses: More survival tricks than previously thought

Research uncovers a virus which infects a host that has a non-standard nuclear genetic code

06-Mar-2013 - Among eukaryotes with modified nuclear genetic codes, viruses are unknown. Until now it had been believed that the modifications to the genetic code effectively prevented new viral infections. However, researchers have now reported the first example of a virus that can be shown to have crossed ...