ACE2 tagged posts

Preclinical Data suggest Antioxidant Strategy to address Mitochondrial Dysfunction caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus

SARS-CoV-2
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Building upon groundbreaking research demonstrating how the SARS-CoV-2 virus disrupts mitochondrial function in multiple organs, researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) demonstrated that mitochondrially-targeted antioxidants could reduce the effects of the virus while avoiding viral gene mutation resistance, a strategy that may be useful for treating other viruses.

The preclinical findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Last year, a multi-institutional consortium of researchers found that the genes of the mitochondria, the energy producers of our cells, can be negatively impacted by the virus, leading to dysfunction in multiple organs beyond the lungs.

SARS-CoV-2 proteins can...

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COVID-19 Research: Study reveals New Details about Potentially Deadly Inflammation

COVID-19 research: New details about potentially deadly inflammation revealed in USC study
SARS-CoV-2 NSP14 facilitates the activation of NF-κB signaling and inflammatory response. a, HEK293T cells were transfected with the plasmids of 27 SARS-CoV-2 proteins, along with MyD88 and a reporter plasmid carrying the NF-κB promoter (NF-κB-Luc) and the cells were analyzed for NF-κB activity by reporter gene assay. The horizontal dashed line indicates the activation level of the positive control (EV+MyD88) group. b, Expression of the proinflammatory genes TNFA, IL1B, IL6 and IL8 in human MDMs transfected with NSP14-specific or scramble control (Ctrl) siRNA, followed with SARS-CoV-2 infection at MOI = 1 for 48 h. c, Expression of the proinflammatory genes from b in Dox-inducible SARS-CoV-2 NSP14-expressing THP-1 cells, measured after treatment with Dox (1 μg ml...
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Surprise COVID Discovery Helps Explain How Coronaviruses Jump Species

DNA-tethering and fusion of SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviruses and virus-like particles (VLP). The experiment design is schematized in panel (a), where DNA-functionalized viral particles are added to a microfluidic flow cell and allowed to bind to protein-free liposomes functionalized with complementary DNA. After unbound particles are washed away, fusion is initiated by addition of a soluble protease and monitored via lipid mixing, detected as fluorescence dequenching of Texas Red dye in the VLP or pseudoviral envelope. Representative images of a 10.1 × 9.6 μm sub-micrograph before and after lipid mixing are shown in panel (b) with a fusing particle outlined in magenta. The corresponding fluorescence intensity trace is plotted in panel (c).

Unexpected new insights into how COVID-19 infects ce...

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Experimental ‘Decoy’ Protects Against SARS-CoV-2 Infection

An experimental “decoy” has provided long-term protection from infection by the pandemic virus in mice, a new study finds. Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the work is based on how the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, uses its spike protein to attach to a protein on the surface of the cells that line human lungs. Once attached to this cell surface protein, called angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the virus spike pulls the cell close, enabling the virus to enter the cell and hijack its machinery to make viral copies.

Earlier in the pandemic, pharmaceutical companies designed monoclonal antibodies to glom onto the spike and neutralize the virus. Treatment of patients soon after infection was successful in preventing hospitalization and death...

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