UMass Medical School receives $2 8 million grant for advanced cryo-EM microscope umassmed.edu - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from umassmed.edu Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
SARS-CoV-2 variants with multiple spike mutations enable increased transmission and antibody resistance. Here, we combine cryo-EM, binding and computational analyses to study variant spikes, including one that was involved in transmission between minks and humans, and others that originated and spread in human populations. All variants showed increased ACE2 receptor binding and increased propensity for RBD up states. While adaptation to mink resulted in spike destabilization, the B.1.1.7 (UK) spike balanced stabilizing and destabilizing mutations. A local destabilizing effect of the RBD E484K mutation was implicated in resistance of the B.1.1.28/P.1 (Brazil) and B.1.351 (South Africa) variants to neutralizing antibodies. Our studies revealed allosteric effects of mutations and mechanistic differences that drive either inter-species transmission or escape from antibody neutralization.
Escherichia coli and purified under GMP-compatible conditions by Biomeva GmbH (Heidelberg, Germany) using the
P. falciparum MSP-1D construct described by Kauth
et al. (
28). Briefly, the coding sequence of MSP-1D is largely based on the
P. falciparum strain 3D7, but the N-terminal signal peptide and the C-terminal GPI anchor have been removed. The coding sequence was split into two halves (p83/30 and p38/42); each was expressed individually in
E. coli W3110-Z1 and recovered as inclusion bodies. The recombinant MSP-1D was reconstituted as a heterodimer (hdMSP-1) in a process called “pulse renaturation” (
39). The protein was purified using ion exchange and hydroxyapatite chromatography followed by dialysis into phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and lyophilization. MSP-1 produced in this way was previously shown to assemble in the same manner as the native MSP-1 complex (
Ship & Bunker Begins Publication of LNG Bunker Prices in Rotterdam
by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday May 13, 2021 Leading marine fuels publication
Rotterdam effective immediately.
Titan LNG. The prices include delivery and are based on an underlying front month contract. As well as being expressed in terms of a quantity of LNG, like the LNG bunker price indications Ship & Bunker already publishes for
Vancouver, the Rotterdam LNG bunker price indications are also expressed in energy equivalent terms for fuel oil bunkers and MGO.
LNG-380e is the price for an amount of LNG that delivers the energy equivalent of one metric tonne of
Among the most promising therapeutic options for individuals with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). In this study, Jones et al . identified, characterized, and tested one such mAb, LY-CoV555, in vitro and in vivo. They found that LY-CoV555 bound to the severe acute respiratory distress syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein and prevented its interaction with angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. Prophylactic treatment with LY-CoV555 protected the upper and lower respiratory tracts of nonhuman primates from becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2. Together, these data support the clinical use of LY-CoV555 for treating patients with COVID-19.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) poses a public health threat for which preventive and therapeutic agents are urgently needed. Neutralizing antibodies are a key class of therapeutics that may bridge widespread vaccination campaigns and offer a treatment solution in populations less res