The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can cause certain types of cancer or autoimmune diseases, but how the body controls this common viral infection is largely unknown. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn have now identified genetic and non-genetic factors that help the body fight EBV. To do this, they evaluated … Read more
Recent research reveals that nuclear speckles play a key role in modifying viral messenger RNAs and in their transport out of the nucleus; therefore, nuclear speckles are an important subject of study in understanding viral infections. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection dramatically remodels the host cell’s nuclear structures. Infection leads to the formation … Read more
A novel nasal booster approach may help close the gap between systemic vaccination and infection-blocking mucosal immunity, offering fresh insight into next-generation COVID vaccine strategies. Study: Intranasal booster drives class switching and homing of memory B cells for mucosal IgA response. Image Credit: Jo Panuwat D / Shutterstock Current intramuscular vaccines excel at eliciting blood-based … Read more
After nearly 40 years of research on how Listeria bacteria manipulate our cells and battle our immune system to cause listeriosis, Daniel Portnoy and his colleagues have discovered a way to turn the bacteria into a potent booster of the immune system – and a potential weapon against cancer. Three years ago, Portnoy cofounded a … Read more
HIV-1 can be neutralized by antibodies which bind to vulnerable structures on the virus surface. One such vulnerable site is the so-called V3 glycan site of the viral envelope protein. This target structure plays a central role in virus entry into human cells and has therefore long been an important focus for the development of … Read more
The increased size of, and lesser blood supply to, a key brain structure in patients with Long COVID tracks with known blood markers of Alzheimer’s disease and greater levels of dementia, a new study finds. Led by NYU Langone Health researchers, the study concerns the choroid plexus (CP), a network of blood vessels lined by … Read more
Griffith University researchers are on the cusp of a new vaccine to prevent chikungunya, a global health threat which attacks human joint tissue. Professor Bernd Rehm, from Griffith’s Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics, said his team wanted to test whether they could engineer E.coli to assemble biopolymer particles which displayed chikungunya antigens and performed as … Read more
Researchers at UC San Francisco have uncovered a new clue to how Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) could contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic autoimmune disease that affects nearly one million Americans. The study, published Feb. 5 in Nature Immunology, found that certain types of CD8+ “killer” T cells – immune cells that destroy damaged or infected cells … Read more
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine report in Science Advances a breakthrough in human norovirus (HuNoV) research. Norovirus is a leading cause of acute viral gastroenteritis worldwide with severe outcomes mostly among young children, the elderly and people with weakened or compromised immune systems. There are currently no approved vaccines or antiviral therapies, and management … Read more
A recent international research project has used advanced microscopy techniques and computational modeling to discover why virus infection changes the nuclear structures and biomechanical forces affecting the nucleus. Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland), in cooperation with national and international research groups, have shown that DNA viruses infect cells and take over the host … Read more