Researchers investigate protein phosphatase to identify new treatments for cancer, other diseases
The abundant presence of an enzyme known as low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase (LMWPTP) in tumor cells has long been considered an indicator of cancer aggressiveness and metastatic potential. It is also known to perform important functions in cells under normal conditions, participating in both the proliferation process and the regulation of intracellular systems. Research continues on its role in cancer progression.
In Brazil, a group of researchers at the University of Campinas s In Vitro Bioassay and Signal Transduction Laboratory led by Professor Carmen Veríssima Ferreira-Halder are studying the possibility of inhibiting this protein phosphatase to create novel opportunities for monitoring and treatment of cancer and other diseases.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Pirbright Institute in the UK have identified key genetic changes in SARS-CoV-2 that may be responsible for the virus’s jump from bats to humans. The team also determined which animals contain cellular receptors that allow the virus to enter cells more effectively, zoning in on potential animals that acted as an intermediary host in facilitating SARS-CoV-2’s zoonosis.
Structure of SARS-CoV-2 cytoplasmic tail uncovered
The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has claimed over 1.9 million lives so far, and scientists have been racing to develop vaccines that will curtail its spread. Most of these target the spike (S) protein of the virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The spike is anchored to the host cell membrane, as it mediates viral binding to the host cell receptor. This is the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2).
The virus s cytosolic tail also interacts with the host cell to promote its entry into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). A new study appearing on the
Researchers pinpoint spike protein regions as targets for passive and active COVID-19 vaccines
Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine have identified regions of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that have relatively few mutations and might therefore serve as important targets for prophylactic agents against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Drugs that target these “less variable” regions are more likely to be effective against future variants of SARS-CoV-2 because they remain unchanged or “conserved” as the virus mutates and evolves.
Daria Mochly-Rosen and colleagues identified the regions using a database of almost 190,000 individual virus sequences isolated from patients across the globe, thereby reflecting the natural evolution of the virus.
A fast and accurate virus detection strategy is very crucial to reduce the rate of transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the pathogen responsible for COVID-19. The global scientific research community responded to this unprecedented demand in diagnostic testing by developing several detection platforms, the most sensitive of which detect the viral RNA.