• HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

Understanding the progress of viral infections

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
October 8, 2020
in Health
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Researchers use stem cells to develop a simulation model for pathological mechanisms of action

IMAGE

Credit: Marlen Keß

It is only 120 millionths of a millimetre in size but can bring entire countries to a standstill: the Corona virus. Even if it were to disappear one day, viral infections will still be among the most frequent and difficult-to-treat diseases in humans. Even decades of research have only produced a few standardized vaccines and strategies for treatment to combat just a small number of viruses. Nor has there been much research into viral mechanisms of action – which was a reason for Prof. Guiscard Seebohm and his team at the Institute for the Genetics of Heart Diseases of Münster University to focus their attention on precisely this topic. And the team has now succeeded in making a groundbreaking development: it has created a viral expression model which can be used to simulate and analyse a large number of viral infections – including the one with SARS-CoV-2. The results can be read in the current issue of Scientific Reports published by the “Nature” journal.

One virus that is much less well-known than SARS-CoV-2, but which can be transmitted in the same way, is the Coxsackie virus B3 (CVB3). “Its symptoms,” explains Guiscard Seebohm, “are mostly similar to those for flu, as is the recovery time: after two or three weeks, any patients with a CVB3 infection are, as a rule, well again, and don’t have any obvious long-term impairment.” But – not always, says Guiscard Seebohm, who heads the Cellular Electrophysiology and Molecular Biology department. Apart from any acute infections, he explains, a viral infection also contains the risk of a chronic infection, with the consequence of continuous damage to certain internal organs – which can lead to death. This means that months or even years later, an inflammation of the heart muscle, or type 1 diabetes, can occur in some patients who had CVB3 in the past. Histological examinations of patients showed, in some cases, serious damage to the tissue structure. Also: even years after the acute infection occurred, tissue analyses prove the existence of a virus in the genes.

So far there has been an insufficient amount of study devoted to the question of how a CVB3 infection becomes chronic and how exactly an acute infection progresses. In this respect, the Guiscard Seebohm team has succeeded in taking a great step forward. It developed an expression model for CVB3, based on stem cells, in order to get to the bottom of the mechanisms of action in this virus – as a prototype for the effects of viruses in general. In a study, the model was tested for its controllability in heart muscle cells cultured from stem cells. In the process, the team of researchers was able to achieve a stable integration of the genetic information from a non-infectious variant of CVB3 into the genetic material in human stem cells. The latter can be converted into any kind of human tissue in the laboratory, making it possible to precisely investigate viral mechanisms. The CVB3 expression can be specifically activated by means of a chemical signal.

Guiscard Seebohm is delighted at this success, because, as he says, “As a result of this unique human viral expression system based on stem cells, it will now be possible to simulate a large number of diseases in their progression and, for the first time, analyse them with the utmost precision.” In Guiscard Seebohm’s view there is something else that is just as important: the system is completely controllable. The team of researchers managed to steer the CVB3 expression in the expression model time-wise, both in stem cells and in differentiated heart muscle cells. At the same time, the researchers were able to vary the quantity of viral proteins produced as well as their localization. In other words, the extent of the viral infection, the infection pattern and the time progression can all be adapted to whatever topics researchers are working on.

The production of the first fully controllable viral expression model in human cells, its proven functionality, and the transferability to patients all open up numerous new approaches for research. It is not only that any infection with CVB3 and other viruses such as Corona and influenza can be examined with a very high resolution; this new method also means that the borders of what can be researched can be extended. Follow-up studies on the controlled expression of CVB3 in hiPSC are already underway and showing promising results. Last but not least, Dr. Stefan Peischard, the lead author of the study now published, and his colleagues in the Seebohm team hope that their work will lead to significant benefits for patients.

###

Media Contact
Prof. Guiscard Seebohm
[email protected]

Original Source

https://www.uni-muenster.de/news/view.php?cmdid=11281

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-72966-9

Tags: Medicine/HealthVirology
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

IMAGE

Partners in crime: genetic collaborator may influence severity of the rare disease, NGLY1

January 26, 2021
IMAGE

UC study: The dangers of drugged driving are outpacing drunk driving

January 26, 2021

Psychologists track child psychopathology from before birth

January 26, 2021

A compound that slows bone loss, and a resource for developing treatments to slow aging

January 26, 2021
Next Post
IMAGE

Dietary migration of Impala rivals the geographical migration of Serengeti wildebeest

IMAGE

Climate projection research may help to battle 'snail fever' worldwide

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

POPULAR NEWS

  • IMAGE

    The map of nuclear deformation takes the form of a mountain landscape

    54 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14
  • People living with HIV face premature heart disease and barriers to care

    69 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 17
  • New drug form may help treat osteoporosis, calcium-related disorders

    41 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • New findings help explain how COVID-19 overpowers the immune system

    35 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Tags

GeneticscancerPublic HealthCell BiologyMedicine/HealthChemistry/Physics/Materials SciencesEcology/EnvironmentClimate ChangeBiologyInfectious/Emerging DiseasesMaterialsTechnology/Engineering/Computer Science

Recent Posts

  • Partners in crime: genetic collaborator may influence severity of the rare disease, NGLY1
  • UC study: The dangers of drugged driving are outpacing drunk driving
  • Earth Leadership Program announces 2021 cohort of 21 leading sustainability scientists
  • Psychologists track child psychopathology from before birth
  • Contact Us

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In