Research suggests seaweed used in traditional Chinese medicine could protect against COVID-19
Researchers in China have conducted a study showing that a carbohydrate found in the seaweed
Ecklonia kurome blocks the activity of an enzyme that is essential for the replication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The seaweed – also called “Kun Bu” in China – has long been used as a medicinal plant in traditional Chinese medicine.
Kan Ding from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and colleagues found that a crude polysaccharide extracted from the seaweed completely blocked the activity of an enzyme called 3C-like protease (3CLpro).
Two common blood pressure drugs are not tied to increased risk of COVID-19
Research published in the peer-reviewed journal
The Lancet Digital Health and co-led by a UCLA Fielding School of Public Health faculty member has found that two widely used types of blood pressure drugs are not tied to an increased risk of COVID-19 infection or complications.
The international team co-led by Dr. Marc Suchard, UCLA Fielding School professor of biostatistics, found that there was no increased risk of COVID-19 diagnosis, hospitalization, or subsequent complications for users of either angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs). The study, the world s largest, examined a group of more than 1.1 million patients in the United States and Spain using antihypertensives, researchers said.
Gene-cutting system may play second role as a genetic dimmer switch
In a series of experiments with laboratory-cultured bacteria, Johns Hopkins scientists have found evidence that there is a second role for the widely used gene-cutting system CRISPR-Cas9 as a genetic dimmer switch for CRISPR-Cas9 genes. Its role of dialing down or dimming CRISPR-Cas9 activity may help scientists develop new ways to genetically engineer cells for research purposes.
A summary of the findings was published Jan. 8 in
Cell.
First identified in the genome of gut bacteria in 1987, CRISPR-Cas9 is a naturally occurring but unusual group of genes with a potential for cutting DNA sequences in other types of cells that was realized 25 years later. Its value in genetic engineering programmable gene alteration in living cells, including human cells was rapidly appreciated, and its widespread use as a genome editor in thousands of laboratories worldwide was recognized in the awarding of the Nobel Prize
A recent study by US researchers shows how the 501Y.V2 variant of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), characterized by several mutations, is able to escape neutralization by present first-wave anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and potentially re-infect COVID-19 convalescent individuals.
Can transgenic mice studies illuminate neurological complications associated with SARS-CoV-2 in humans?
The potentially deadly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that has swept the world over the last 12 months has not affected animals with corresponding severity. In order to understand the mechanism of severe disease, animal models have been used. This includes a mouse model that expresses human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) under the cytokeratin 18 promoter (K18-hACE2). A new preprint appearing on the
bioRxiv server indicates that this may not be a faithful model of human lethal infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
In most cases, COVID-19 causes respiratory disease with a wide spectrum of symptom severity, from mild to severe. Critical disease usually terminates in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), often with multi-organ dysfunction. A subset of infected patients also have neurological features, including headache, a