A brain enzyme plays an important role in waking up neural stem cells
Researchers studying an enzyme in fruit fly larvae have found that it plays an important role in waking up brain stem cells from their dormant quiescent state, enabling them to proliferate and generate new neurons. Published in the journal EMBO Reports, the study by Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, could help clarify how some neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and microcephaly occur.
Quiescent neural stem cells in the fruit fly larval brainPr-set7 is an enzyme involved in maintaining genome stability, DNA repair and cell cycle regulation, as well as turning various genes on or off. This protein, which goes by a few different names, has remained largely unchanged as species have evolved. Professor Wang Hongyan, a professor and deputy director at Duke-NUS Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme, and her colleagues set out to understand the protein s function during brain development.
Study finds SARS CoV-2-related viruses in Southeast Asian animals
Only 19 mammal species are longer-lived than humans relative to body size. Eighteen of them are bats, some living more than four decades. Photo: ReutersPremium
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While various researches are ongoing to investigate the origin and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in China, a new study has warned that SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses (SC2r-CoVs) are circulating in animals such as bats and pangolins as far away as Thailand and are likely in other parts of Southeast Asia.
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While the World Health Organization (WHO) continues its mission to Wuhan investigating the origin and early transmission of SARS-CoV-2, a new study led by scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, and Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, shows that SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses (SC2r-CoVs) are circulating in animals as far away as Thailand. The study, published in
Nature Communications today, reported that high levels of neutralising antibodies against the virus were present in both bats and pangolins found in the Southeast Asian country. The study further indicates that more SC2r-CoVs are likely to be discovered in the region. Southeast Asia with its large and diverse bat populations may be a more likely hotspot for such viruses.
Early induction of functional SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells linked with mild symptoms in COVID-19 patients
Humoral and cellular adaptive immunity are two immune mechanisms that act against pathogens. Humoral immunity is mediated by antibodies, while cellular immunity does not involve antibodies and is, instead, facilitated by T cells. Studying how these immune mechanisms mediate SARS-CoV-2 infections could be beneficial in controlling the progression of the disease. However, their roles in viral control or disease pathogenesis is not fully understood and only a few studies have thoroughly monitored COVID-19 patients longitudinally, especially during the acute phase of infection.
To fill this knowledge gap, the team of researchers at Duke-NUS investigated the changes in virological and immunological parameters in 12 patients with symptomatic acute SARS-CoV-2 infection from onset of the disease to recovery or death.