Antiretroviral (ARV) therapy suppresses HIV, but viral replication rebounds once treatment is discontinued. The redistribution of lipids in the plasma membrane to form microdomains is crucial for viral entry and biogenesis during HIV infection. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (nSMase2) to be a key component of the late stages of HIV viral assembly and maturation; they hypothesized that nSMase2 inhibitors could help avoid viral rebound.
To date, there is a lack of consensus in anal cancer screening. DNA methylation markers zing finger protein 582 (ZNF582) and achaete-scute homolog 1 (ASCL1) have been associated with anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN3) and anal carcinoma risk in people with HIV infection.
Autoantibodies are typically not good news. But a group of researchers from Bellinzona, Switzerland, have observed that the presence of autoantibodies against chemokines, a special class of cytokines, is associated with mild disease and less risk of developing long COVID. “Our hypothesis was that antibodies to chemokines, if they existed, would also be associated with a negative outcome of the disease. But, what we found, in fact, was the exact opposite of what we were predicting,” Davide Robbiani, director of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, told BioWorld.
Bugworks Research India Pvt. Ltd. has identified oxazolidinone compounds acting as DNA gyrase and DNA topoisomerase IV (Escherichia coli) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of bacterial infections, in particular gram-positive and gram-negative, as well as viral, fungal and protozoal infections.
Bacteria inflaming the meninges have developed an immunosuppressive mechanism that contributes to their ability to attack the brain. Researchers found that, by activating pain receptors (nociceptors) to release chemical substances that block an immune cell receptor, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus agalactiae deactivated the protective function of macrophages and weakened brain defenses. This, in turn, enabled them to invade the brain.
Cocrystal Pharma Inc., Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. and MSD R&D (China) Co. Ltd. have jointly patented new cap-dependent endonuclease (CEN) (influenza virus) inhibitors that are reported to be useful for the treatment of influenza.
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