Breakthrough in Fight on Tick-Borne CCHF Virus is Latest Use of New Strategy Against Diseases

A 3D atomic map, or structure, of the Gc protein (red and yellow)
bound to two antibodies (green, blue and white) produced by a recovered patient.
The Gc protein is a key molecule on the surface of the
CCHF virus enabling it to infect cells.
Credit: Akaash Mishra/University of Texas at Austin

Using the same approach they recently used to create effective vaccine candidates against COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), scientists are tackling another virus: the tick-borne Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF). It causes death in up to 40% of cases, and the World Health Organization identified the disease as one of its top priorities for research and development. The results appear today in the journal Science.

Using what scientists refer to as structural virology, a research consortium called Prometheus reconstructed the first 3D atomic-scale maps, or structures, of an infection-causing part of the virus that allows it to infect host cells. The team also determined how two neutralizing antibodies, fished from recovered patients, disrupt the virus’s ability to infect a cell, which together with the structural information, offers insights for developing therapeutics against the virus.

The research echoes a key approach that scientists, including The University of Texas at Austin’s Jason McLellan, have used in recent years to fight COVID-19 and RSV, signaling the emerging prominence of structural virology—the use of exquisitely detailed imaging of viral components to find their weaknesses—in preventing pandemics and curbing infectious disease.

Researchers study the link between vitamin D and inflammation

Majid Kazemian and a team of scientists have discovered
that a form of vitamin D (not the over-the-counter pills) could help combat
the inflammation in cells of people with severe cases of COVID-19.
Image Credit: Purdue University /Rebecca McElhoe.

Scientists recently gained insights into how vitamin D functions to reduce inflammation caused by immune cells that might be relevant to the responses during severe COVID-19. In a study jointly published by Purdue University and the National Institutes of Health, scientists do just that.

Majid Kazemian, assistant professor in the departments of Computer Science and Biochemistry at Purdue University, was co-lead author of the highly collaborative study, along with Dr. Behdad Afzali, chief of the Immunoregulation Section of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

“Our work demonstrates a mechanism by which vitamin D reduces inflammation caused by T cells. These are important cells of the immune system and implicated as part of the immune response to the infection causing COVID-19. Further research, especially clinical trials, and testing in patients, are necessary before this can be adopted as a treatment option.” Kazemian said. “We do not recommend the use of normal vitamin D off the shelf at the pharmacy. No one should be taking more than the recommended doses of vitamin D in an attempt to prevent or combat COVID infections.”

Previously hidden environmental impact of bursting bubbles exposed in new study

In a new study, mechanical science and engineering professor Jie Feng, left, graduate student Zhengyu Yang and postdoctoral researcher Bingqiang Ji used high-speed photography to demonstrate the mechanism that allows bursting bubbles to transport organic material, such as contaminants and microbes, into the atmosphere. 
Photo Credit: by Fred Zwicky

Bubbles are common in nature and can form when ocean waves break and when raindrops impact surfaces. When bubbles burst, they send tiny jets of water and other materials into the air. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign examines how the interplay between bubble surfaces and water that contains organic materials contributes to the transport of aerosolized organic materials – some of which are linked to the spread of disease or contamination – into the atmosphere.

The study, led by mechanical science and engineering professor Jie Feng with postdoctoral researcher Bingqiang Ji and graduate student Zhengyu Yang, demonstrates a distinct transport mechanism occurring at the interface of bursting bubbles and the air. The study results are published in the journal Nature Communications.

“We are all familiar with how we can smell beer when it is placed in front of us,” Feng said. “The bursting bubbles in the foam send droplets of aerosolized liquid into the air. We then inhale those tiny droplets, activating our smell senses – this is the phenomenon we are examining in this study.”

Researchers develop wearable pollution-measuring technology

Shown here under the microscope is some of Mason’s past work,
tiny electronics and channels for fluids will be at the heart of the team’s sensing devices.
Image credit: Matt Davenport

Researchers at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Oakland University are teaming up to develop wearable technology able to identify particulate matter pollution such as soot and toxic metals generated by cars, trucks and industrial sources with a $2.78 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The new grant work will build on the team’s previous work, including that of Andrew Mason, a professor at MSU’s College of Engineering, who will focus on developing the microscale sampling device. 

A walk in the park could soon include getting real-time measurements of pollutants in the air and updated walking routes to avoid the most toxic ones, all while wearing a gadget the size of a smart watch.

With the support of a $2.78 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, researchers at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Oakland University are teaming up to develop wearable technology able to identify particulate matter pollution such as soot and toxic metals generated by cars, trucks and industrial sources.

New holographic camera sees the unseen with high precision

A setup of one of the prototypes in the laboratory.
Credit: Florian Willomitzer/Northwestern University

Northwestern University researchers have invented a new high-resolution camera that can see the unseen — including around corners and through scattering media, such as skin, fog or potentially even the human skull.

• Technology combines two light waves from lasers to create a synthetic wave field
• The synthetic wave field reflected by a hidden object is captured as a hologram
• An algorithm reconstructs the hologram to reveal an image of the obscured object
• The camera could be used to help drivers see around corners to avoid accidents, as a noninvasive medical imaging device, for industrial inspection and more

Called synthetic wavelength holography, the new method works by indirectly scattering coherent light onto hidden objects, which then scatters again and travels back to a camera. From there, an algorithm reconstructs the scattered light signal to reveal the hidden objects. Due to its high temporal resolution, the method also has potential to image fast-moving objects, such as the beating heart through the chest or speeding cars around a street corner.

Resilience of vertebrate animals in rapid decline due to manmade threats

Global change is eroding life on earth at an unprecedented rate and scale. Species extinctions have accelerated over the last decades, with the concomitant loss of the functions and services they provide to human societies.

A general assumption is that this current loss of global biodiversity is paralleled by a decrease in the resilience of ecological systems. As such, preserving resilience of ecosystems has become a major conservation objective.

Now researchers at the University of Bristol have examined how species are responding to the rising environmental pressures, demonstrating in findings published today in Ecology Letters, that the planetary scale of human impacts to wildlife is also accelerating resilience loss of vertebrates worldwide.

Dr Pol Capdevila of the School of Biological Science said: “Global assessments of how the resilience of vertebrate species has changed over the last decades were absent before our study, rendering the assumption of global resilience loss untested.

“In this study, we evaluated how the resilience of vertebrate populations, including species of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish worldwide, is changing over time. We also tested which could be the main factors accelerating the potential decline of resilience worldwide.

Revolution in imaging with neutrons

Instrument scientist Adrian Losko at the neutron radiography instrument NECTAR.
Image Credit: Bernhard Ludewig / FRM II / TUM

An international research team at the Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed a new imaging technology. In the future this technology could not only improve the resolution of neutron measurements by many times but could also reduce radiation exposure during x-ray imaging.

Modern cameras still rely on the same principle they used 200 years ago: Instead of a piece of film, today an image sensor is exposed for a certain period of time in order to record an image. However, the process also records the noise of the sensor. This constitutes a considerable source of interference especially with longer exposure times.

Together with colleagues from Switzerland, France, the Netherlands and the USA, Dr. Adrian Losko and his TUM colleagues at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ) have now developed a new imaging method which measures individual photons on a time-resolved and spatially-resolved basis. This makes it possible to separate photons from noise, greatly reducing the interference.

"Our new detector lets us capture every individual photon and thus overcome many of the physical limitations of traditional cameras," says Dr. Adrian Losko, instrument scientist at the NECTAR neutron radiography facility of the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum at the Technical University of Munich.

Research Finds Venom of Cone Snail Could Lead to Future Diabetes Treatments

The cone shell is known for its serene mottled colors but researchers at the
University of New Hampshire found variants of the venom spewed by
the cone snail living inside may offer possibilities for
developing new fast-acting drugs to help treat diabetes.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

The tapered cone shell is popular among seashell collectors for its colorful patterns, but the smooth mottled shells are also home to the cone snail which is capable of spewing a potent insulin-like venom that can paralyze its prey. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have found that variants of this venom, known as cone snail insulin (Con-Ins), could offer future possibilities for developing new fast-acting drugs to help treat diabetics.

“Diabetes is rising at an alarming rate and it’s become increasingly important to find new alternatives for developing effective and budget-friendly drugs for patients suffering with the disease,” said Harish Vashisth, associate professor of chemical engineering. “Our work found that the modeled Con-Ins variants, or analogs, bind even better to receptors in the body than the human hormone and may work faster which could make them a favorable option for stabilizing blood sugar levels and a potential for new therapeutics.”

In their study, recently published in the journal Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics, researchers looked more closely at the cone snail venom which induces a hypoglycemic reaction00 that lowers blood sugar levels. Unlike insulin made in the body, the venom’s peptide sequence - which allows it to bind to human insulin receptors – is much shorter. To test whether it would still bind effectively, the researchers used sequences of the insulin-like peptides in the venom of the cone snail C. geographus as a template to model six different Con-Ins analogs. The newly created variants were made up of much shorter peptide chains than human insulin - lacking the last eight residues of the B-chain of the human insulin.

New Technique Improves Conversion of Carbon Dioxide Into Liquid Fuels

Schematic of a two-layer coating of films, called ionomers, on top of a copper surface. The negatively charged ionomer, Nafion, raises the pH near the surface. The positively charged ionomer, Sustainion, more strongly attracts CO2. These effects combined with a pulsed voltage result in substantially enhanced rates of CO2 conversion to valuable carbon-rich products.
Credit: Berkeley Lab

Carbon dioxide (CO2), a product of burning fossil fuels and the most prevalent greenhouse gas, has the potential to be sustainably converted back into useful fuels. A promising route for turning CO2 emissions into a fuel feedstock is a process known as electrochemical reduction. But to be commercially viable, the process needs to be improved, to select for, or to yield, a higher amount of desirable carbon-rich products.

Now, as reported in the journal Nature Energy, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have improved the process’s selectivity by developing a new approach to modify the surface of the copper catalysts used to assist the reaction.

“Although we know copper is the best catalyst for this reaction, it doesn’t give high selectivity to the desired products,” said Alexis Bell, a faculty senior scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Chemical Sciences Division and professor of chemical engineering at UC Berkeley. “Our group has found that you can do various tricks with the local environment of the catalyst to provide that selectivity.”

Simple, synthetic structure that mimics surface of SARS-CoV-2 mounts robust immune response in mice

Wei Cheng

In a viral infection, what’s the signal from the virus that alerts the immune system to produce protective neutralizing antibodies?

That’s a big question that scientists seek to answer when trying to understand disease or develop drugs to treat or vaccinate against COVID-19 and other viruses.

“The answer to this question is not simple,” said Wei Cheng, associate professor at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy. “Most infectious viral agents identified to date are made of complex assemblies of proteins and nucleic acids, along with other constituents that are important for viral fitness and used by viruses to their advantage for replication and proliferation in the infected host.”

To that end, Cheng’s lab developed a simple, synthetic structure that mimics the surface of SARS-CoV-2, that when injected into mice, mounted a robust protective antibody response to SARS-CoV-2, without the need of any other disease fighting agents, called adjuvants. The findings appear in the journal Bioconjugate Chemistry and were featured as an ACS Editors’ Choice. Co-authors are Wei-Yun Wholey, senior staff member, and doctoral student Sekou-Tidiane Yoda.

“This question of what signals an immune response is important for rational design of vaccines and also important for understanding the early events in a viral infection that could be targeted for therapeutic intervention,” Cheng said. “What this result implies is that an ordered assembly of the viral entry protein is all that is needed to initiate an antiviral response. The detailed molecular mechanisms behind this phenomenon remain unclear, but this study made an interesting step forward in our understanding toward viral immunogenicity.”