Viral Envelope

Marketing authorization for the first EU vaccine to protect adolescents against chikungunya has been expedited for its public health interest.

Only certain cleaners kill norovirus, a leading cause of vomiting, diarrhea and foodborne illness. Why is that?

Investigating Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) prevalence, genetic diversity, and evolution in respiratory tract infections (RTIs) for better understanding and management.

MIT chemists have come up with a new way to identify neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in a blood sample, by analyzing how the antibodies interact with sugar molecules found on the surface of the virus' spike protein.

Viruses like influenza A and Ebola invade human cells in a number of steps. In an interdisciplinary approach, research teams from Heidelberg University and Heidelberg University Hospital investigated the final stages of viral penetration using electron tomography and computer simulations. In the case of influenza A, they were able to determine how the immune system fights off the virus using a small protein.

mRNA vaccines helped us through the covid-19 pandemic—but they could also help defend against many other infectious diseases, offer universal protection against flu, and even treat cancer.

In 2019, the United States Food and Drug Administration accorded restricted approval to Sanofi Pasteur's Dengvaxia, a live attenuated vaccine (LAV) for dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral disease, caused by four antigenically distinct dengue virus serotypes (DENV 1-4). The reason for this limited a …

Nearly all patients had lesion resolution, though unclear to what degree antiviral played a part

An unexpected relationship between two of the most frequent cancer-causing factors might lead to more effective drugs. According to a recent study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, two of the most common genetic changes that result in cancerous cells, which were previously believed to be di

A study presents the theory that egg-sperm fusion, a crucial feature of sexual reproduction in plants and animals, may have originated from an ancient form of genetic exchange that involved the fusion of bacteria-like microorganisms called archaea. The results, published in Nature Communications, may open an entirely new perspective on the evolution of sex.

Patients with COVID-19 may develop abnormal inflammatory response and lymphopenia, followed in some cases by delayed-onset syndromes, often long-lasting after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. As viral infections may activate human endogenous retroviral elements (HERV), we studied the effect of SARS-CoV-2 on HERV-W and HERV-K envelope (ENV) expression, known to be involved in immunological and neurological…

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich researchers have developed a new strategy for manufacturing nanoscale structures in a time- and resource-efficient manner.

Europe has announced a €2 million project to research long COVID, following €100 million already invested since 2021. Is all this money bringing new insights?

Autophagy is a process used by cells as a recycling system to transport and break down organelles and other cytosolic components, which become enveloped in a membrane called the autophagosome. When this involves the removal of damaged mitochondria, it is known as mitophagy.

From a seasonal cold to a stomach bug, nobody likes catching a virus—and epidemics can be devastating. We need safe, sustainable antiviral options to treat the outbreaks of the future. Scientists in Finland have now shown that an extract of willow bark—a plant that has already provided several medicines, including the precursor to modern aspirin—has a broad-spectrum antiviral effect in cell sample experiments.

Targeting the membrane of a virus, rather than its proteins, could lead to a new generation of antivirals

The bacterial cell wall must be constantly remodeled in order to grow and divide. This involves the close coordination of lytic enzymes and peptidoglycan synthesis.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, many potential therapeutics that target SARS-CoV-2 and/or human proteins to control viral infection have been investigated, with a few receiving authorization by regulatory agencies. This Review article summarizes progress with COVID-19 drug discovery, and discusses the lessons learned about aspects such as drug repurposing, disease models and clinical development strategies.

One question for Brad Ringeisen, a chemist and executive director of the Innovative Genomics Institute.

Chloroplasts of algae and plants are the cellular engines that convert solar energy into chemical energy through photosynthesis. These organelles, bounded by an envelope with two membranes, contain their own genome whose expression is tightly coordinated with that of the nuclear genome. The majority of chloroplast proteins are encoded by nuclear genes, translated in the cytosol as precursor proteins containing a…