Fight Aging! Newsletter, May 16th 2016
In this study the authors demonstrate that, as in many other cases, the methodology of delivery matters just as much as the details of the cells used:
Retinal and macular degenerative diseases affect millions of people worldwide. Similar to other neurodegenerative diseases, there are no effective treatments that can stop retinal degeneration or restore degenerative retina. Recent advances in stem cell technology led to development of novel cell-based therapies, some are already in phase I/II clinical trials. Studies from our group and others suggest that human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBM-MSC) m...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 15, 2016 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Zika virus crosses the placenta and causes microcephaly in mice
I am convinced that Zika virus causes microcephaly in humans, but it would be valuable to have an animal model to study how the virus crosses the placenta and damages the fetus. As with many questions about Zika virus, answers are coming very rapidly, and three different groups have now provided substantial insight into this problem.
When a Samoan isolate of Zika virus was injected into the brain of embryonic day 13.5 mice, the virus replicated mainly in neural progenitor cells, but also in many other brain cells (link to paper). At 5 days after infection, brain size was markedly reduced compared with uninfected litterm...
Source: virology blog - May 12, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information brain organic microcephaly mouse model neural progenitor cell placenta trophoblast viral virus viruses zika virus Source Type: blogs
Help to Crowdfund More Progress Towards DRACO Universal Antiviral Therapies
A new crowdfunding effort is running to gather funds and support to push forward with DRACO antiviral technology. DRACO stands for double-stranded RNA activated caspase oligomerizer, a class of designer molecules that can selectively destroy cells that are hosting viruses. Viruses hijack cellular machinery in order to replicate, and that process has a distinctive signature: all known viruses produce double-stranded RNA during replication, and that double-stranded RNA is not not otherwise found in our cells. Thus any cell containing these molecules is fair game. Since DRACO therapies don't target any of the other highly var...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 10, 2016 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Activism, Advocacy and Education Source Type: blogs
Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease in Singapore
Highest rates of Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFM) in Asia are reported by Singapore and Macao. In fact, the incidence of HFM in Singapore is even higher than that of the more familiar dengue fever. [1,2]
Reference:
Berger SA. Infectious Diseases of Singapore, 2016. 461 pages, 112 graphs, 2073 references. Gideon e-books, http://www.gideononline.com/ebooks/country/singapore/
See Gideon Graphs Tool at: http://www.gideononline.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/Gideon-Graphs.pps
The post Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease in Singapore appeared first on GIDEON - Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Networ...
Source: GIDEON blog - May 6, 2016 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Dr. Stephen Berger Tags: Ebooks Epidemiology Graphs ProMED Hand foot and mouth disease Singapore Source Type: blogs
TWiV 387: Quaxxed
On episode #387 of the science show This Week in Virology, Nina Martin joins the TWiV team to talk about the movie Vaxxed, her bout with dengue fever, and the latest research on Zika virus.
You can find TWiV #387 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen below.
Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 387 (69 MB .mp3, 96 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email, Google Play Music (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - May 1, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology Andrew Wakefield antibody antibody dependent enhancement autism brain organoids measles microcephaly MMR mumps New World monkey reservoir rubella vaccine Vaxxed viral virus viruses zika virus Source Type: blogs
Antibodies to dengue virus enhance infection by Zika virus
Model of Zika virus particle. E glycoprotein dimer is expanded at left.
It has been speculated that the development of neurological disease and fetal abnormalities after Zika virus infection may be due to the presence of antibodies against other flaviruses that enhance disease. In support of this hypothesis, it has been shown that antibodies to dengue virus enhance infection of cells by Zika virus.
There are four serotypes of dengue virus, and infection with one of the serotypes generally leads to a self-resolving disease. When a different serotype is encountered, antibodies to the first serotype bind virus but do not bl...
Source: virology blog - April 28, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information ADE antibody mediated enhancement dengue virus Guillain-Barré microcephaly myelitis viral viruses zika virus Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, April 18th 2016
This study confirms that having an apple-shaped body - or a high waist circumference - can lead to heart disease, and that reducing your waist size can reduce your risks."
The results of the new research expands on the results of a previously published study called FaCTor-64, which showed that the greater a person's body mass index, the greater their risk of heart disease. FaCTor-64 enrolled patients with diabetes who were considered to be at high risk for heart attacks, strokes, or death but had no evidence of heart disease as of yet. Study participants completed randomized screening for coronary artery disease by ...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 17, 2016 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Zika virus, like all other viruses, is mutating
Not long after the appearance of an outbreak of viral disease, first scientists, and then newswriters, blame it all on mutation of the virus. It happened during the Ebolavirus outbreak in West Africa, and now it’s happening with Zika virus.
The latest example is by parasitologist Peter Hotez, who writes in the New York Times:
There are many theories for Zika’s rapid rise, but the most plausible is that the virus mutated from an African to a pandemic strain a decade or more ago and then spread east across the Pacific from Micronesia and French Polynesia, until it struck Brazil.
After its discovery in 1947 in Uganda...
Source: virology blog - April 15, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Commentary Information genome microcephaly mutation pandemic transmission viral virulence virus viruses zika virus Source Type: blogs
The Rider Institute Seeks Funding for DRACO Research
Double-stranded RNA activated caspase oligomerizer, DRACO is an antiviral technology that works by destroying infected cells rather than directly attacking viral particles themselves, thus disrupting viral replication. It has proven effective against numerous viruses, and should in principal work against near all viral infections in a broad range of species, including the many persistent viral infections that presently lack any effective treatment. The technology finds itself in a similar position to SENS rejuvenation research however, with little support from the funding mainstream, and needing to raise funds from philant...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 11, 2016 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
TWiV 384: Agent 003, a view to a fish kill
Mass die-offs of tilapia by a novel orthomyxo-like virus, Ian Lipkin’s editorial on the movie Vaxxed, and new vaccines to prevent dengue virus infections, including a human challenge model, are topics of episode #384 of the science show This Week in Virology. With guests Ian Lipkin and Nischay Mishra from the Center for Infection and Immunity.
You can find TWiV #384 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen below.
Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 384 (76 MB .mp3, 105 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - April 10, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology attenuated vaccine dengue virus die-off fish farming human challenge model mmr vaccine northern blot orthomyxovirus tilapia Vaxxed viral viruses yellow fever yellow fever vaccine Source Type: blogs
Structure of Zika virus
Six months after Zika virus became a household word, we now know the three-dimensional structure of the virus particle. And it looks like very much like other flaviviruses, such as West Nile and dengue viruses.
In the old days, solving a virus structure was a big deal. A virus is, after all, a very large assembly of many proteins. To solve the structure of a virus – which will tell us the location of the amino acid chains in three dimensional space – was a technical tour de force. It was necessary to purify large amounts of virus particles, and then find the conditions to produce crystals, a hit and miss a...
Source: virology blog - April 6, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information capsid cryo-EM glycoprotein symmetry viral virus virus structure viruses X-ray crystallography zika virus Source Type: blogs
MedlinePlus Health Topic: Chikungunya
MedlinePlus has published a new health topic page on chikungunya virus.
From MedlinePlus:
“Chikungunya is a virus that spread by the same kinds of mosquitoes that spread dengue and Zika virus. Rarely, it can spread from mother to newborn around the time of birth. It may also possibly spread through infected blood. There have been outbreaks of chikungunya virus in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.”
Chikungunya (English): http://1.usa.gov/1PQFtUD
Chikungunya (Spanish): http://1.usa.gov/1TwHj45 (Source: BHIC)
Source: BHIC - April 4, 2016 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Kate Flewelling Tags: National Library of Medicine News Public Health Regional Information Source Type: blogs
Zika Genome Sequences Available from NCBI
And now Zika. Dengue, Ebola, West Nile, MERS coronavirus, and influenza viruses each have their own resource for virus data retrieval at NLM’s National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Data scientists at NCBI are working 24/7 to make information about Zika as accessible and searchable as possible—as quickly as possible. They know that making bioinformatics… (Source: NLM In Focus)
Source: NLM In Focus - March 17, 2016 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Posted by NLM in Focus Tags: Products Source Type: blogs
“A municipal health agent in Recife sprayed insecticide...
"A municipal health agent in Recife sprayed insecticide last month to combat Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which transmit the #Zikavirus. Zika, once an obscure virus discovered in Uganda in the 1940s, was long thought to pose relatively little harm compared with some other diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, like malaria and dengue. But as Zika spreads, international health officials are anxiously monitoring Brazil's efforts to combat the virus. This #nytweekender, we're sharing photos by @limauricio, a freelance photographer who has been on #nytassignment documenting a trail of Zika-borne anguish in Brazil." By nytimes on Ins...
Source: Kidney Notes - March 12, 2016 Category: Urology & Nephrology Authors: Joshua Schwimmer Source Type: blogs
