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MossyRock
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MossyRock
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From the New York Times today, regarding UW's work. They did not specifically mention Rosetta@Home:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/21/science/coronavirus-antibodies-artificial-intelligence.html
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Sid Celery
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Joined: 11 Feb 08 Posts: 2126 Credit: 41,254,333 RAC: 7,970
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A good piece illustrating how research that's non-specifically Covid might have a significant effect on vaccines including Covid.
Relating to work I assume that's done here and why it's worth continuing with it even without Covid in its name.
UW Newsroom: Designer protein patches boost cell signaling
Proteins engineered to form honeycomb structures can block uptake of receptors from the surface of cells.
A new class of protein material that interacts with living cells without being absorbed by them can influence cell signalling by binding and sequestering cell surface receptors, a new study shows. This breakthrough could have far-reaching implications for stem cell research and enable the development of new materials designed to modulate the behaviour of living systems.
The research, which appears in the January 6 edition of Nature, was led by the Baker lab at the University of Washington School of Medicine and the Derivery lab at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK. The paper is available here.
Cells interact with their environment via receptors at their surface, which can bind to hormones, neurotransmitters, drugs, and toxins. When such molecules bind to a receptor, this triggers some kind of response inside the cell, a process known as signalling. But for the cell, it is important that this response be transient, to still be responsive to the signal later on. To achieve this, cells will commonly terminate signalling by absorbing both an activated receptor and the molecule that stimulated it, targeting both for destruction inside the cell.
“This tendency of cells to internalize receptors likely lowers the efficiency of immunotherapies,” said Emmanuel Derivery, assistant professor at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. “Indeed, when antibody drugs bind their target receptors and then become internalized and degraded, more antibody must always be injected.”
To create a way around this, Baker lab postdoctoral scholar Ariel Ben-Sasson designed new proteins that assemble into large, flat patches. This molecular scaffolding was then further engineered to display signalling molecules. Graduate student Joseph Watson of the Derivery lab showed that such protein materials could latch onto cells, activate surface receptors, and resist being absorbed by the cell for hours or even days.
“This work paves the way towards a synthetic cell biology, where a new generation of multi-protein materials can be designed to control the complex behaviour of cells,” said David Baker, professor of biochemistry and director of the UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design.
By swapping out which cell surface receptors were targeted by the patch, the researchers showed that different cell types could be activated. “We now have a tool that can interact with any type of cells in a very specific way,” said Ben-Sasson. “This is what is exciting about protein engineering — it opens fields that people may not expect.”
According to co-author Hannele Ruohola-Baker, professor of biochemistry and associate director of the UW Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, versions of these new materials could eventually help physicians alleviate the dangers of sepsis by controlling the inflammatory response to infection and even enable entirely new ways to treat COVID-19, heart disease, and diabetes, and even mitigate the downstream effects of strokes, including Alzheimer’s disease. “This breakthrough helps pave the way for the use of synthetic cell biology in regenerative medicine,” said Ruohola-Baker.
This research was supported by the UK Medical Research Council, UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Wellcome Trust, Human Frontier Science Program, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, US National Institutes of Health, US Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences Biomolecular Materials Program at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Medimmune, and Infinitus.
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Description of embedded video created by Ariel Ben-Sasson:
Self-assembly is a process where same molecules, or building blocks, interact to form complex materials. Here we show yet a more complex process - co-assembly - where materials are assembled from a mix of two different building blocks. For materials engineers and biologists looking for new tools this is an important breakthrough as it allows to control where, when, or under what conditions the material would assemble and its emergent properties evolve. In the video we show that we can form flat arrays embedded to cell surfaces, trigger and boost biological activation through receptors clustering and uptake impediment (endocytosis block). This proof-of-concept demonstrates the far-reaching potential of this new class of designer materials to narrow the gap between synthetic and living systems. This video was produced using python and the Pymol graphical interface (Schrödinger).
News release written by Ian Haydon, UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design.
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Sid Celery
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Joined: 11 Feb 08 Posts: 2126 Credit: 41,254,333 RAC: 7,970
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BBC: Two more life-saving Covid drugs discovered
By Michelle Roberts
Health editor, BBC News online
Two more life-saving drugs have been found that can cut deaths by a quarter in patients who are sickest with Covid.
The anti-inflammatory medications, given via a drip, save an extra life for every 12 treated, say researchers who have carried out a trial in NHS intensive care units.
Supplies are already available across the UK so they can be used immediately to save hundreds of lives, say experts.
There are over 30,000 Covid patients in UK hospitals - 39% more than in April.
The UK government is working closely with the manufacturer, to ensure the drugs - tocilizumab and sarilumab - continue to be available to UK patients.
As well as saving more lives, the treatments speed up patients' recovery and reduce the length of time that critically-ill patients need to spend in intensive care by about a week.
Both appear to work equally well and add to the benefit already found with a cheap steroid drug called dexamethasone.
Life-saving coronavirus drug 'major breakthrough'
Although the drugs are not cheap, costing around £750 to £1,000 per patient, on top of the £5 course of dexamethasone, the advantage of using them is clear - and less than the cost per day of an intensive care bed of around £2,000, say experts.
Lead researcher Prof Anthony Gordon, from Imperial College London, said: "For every 12 patients you treat with these drugs you would expect to save a life. It's a big effect."
In the REMAP-CAP trial carried out in six different countries, including the UK, with around 800 intensive care patients:
- Nearly 36% of intensive care Covid patients receiving standard care died
- The new drugs reduced that by a quarter, to 27%, when given to patients within 24 hours of them entering intensive care
Prof Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: "The fact there is now another drug that can help to reduce mortality for patients with Covid-19 is hugely welcome news and another positive development in the continued fight against the virus."
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: "The UK has proven time and time again it is at the very forefront of identifying and providing the most promising, innovative treatments for its patients.
"Today's results are yet another landmark development in finding a way out of this pandemic and, when added to the armoury of vaccines and treatments already being rolled out, will play a significant role in defeating this virus."
The drugs dampen down inflammation, which can go into overdrive in Covid patients and cause damage to the lungs and other organs.
Doctors are being advised to give them to any Covid patient who, despite receiving dexamethasone, is deteriorating and needs intensive care.
Tocilizumab and sarilumab have already been added to the government's export restriction list, which bans companies from buying medicines meant for UK patients and selling them on for a higher price in another country.
The research findings have not yet been peer reviewed or published in a medical journal.
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BORG315
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Joined: 23 Apr 13 Posts: 4 Credit: 988,746 RAC: 0
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I understand that all work units for Rosetta are important. But some would like to think they are contributing to a pandemic and would like their resources focused on that. Like World community grid. Anyway, thats just my thought.
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Jim1348
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Burakreis Marangoz
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I won't support non-covid19 projects. Please user can select projects.
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mikey
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Joined: 5 Jan 06 Posts: 1895 Credit: 9,183,973 RAC: 3,314
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I won't support non-covid19 projects. Please user can select projects.
So how would you know which is Covid related and which isn't? Right now all the units have obscure names that only mean something to the group suppling the tasks, it seems you are asking for that to change as well. The way the Covid vaccine was developed had nothing to do with the Covid virus other than that it was a Corona Virus with spikes and someone figured out how to clog up those spikes so the virus can't replicate, it could as easily be the Common Cold they do next as it is ALSO a Corona Virus with spikes, just different spikes. In the past all vaccines were made by working with the actual virus itself, this time is unique so far and hopefully ground breaking for future vaccines.
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agen8etSlot
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agen8etSlot
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mc4win
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mc4win
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mc4win
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mc4win
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mc4win
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mc4win
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mc4win
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mc4win
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mc4win
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mc4win
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