News by Subject Medicine & Health

Atom-scale models of proteins that incorporate ligands, like drug molecules, shows a strong correlation between minimally frustrated binding sites and drug specificity. Such models could lead to better-designed drugs with fewer side effects.

The cell membrane is impermeable to viruses: to get inside a cell, they have to exploit the biochemical properties of the membranes. The thiol-mediated uptake is one of the entry mechanisms. A research group from the University of Geneva has identified inhibitors of thhis cellular entry that block viruses expressing the SARS-CoV-2 proteins. The study paves the way for research into new antivirals.

A collaborative research team from the University of Oklahoma, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Merck & Co. published an opinion article in the journal, Nature Chemical Biology, that addresses the gap in the discovery of new antibiotics.

Stopping the replication of SARS-CoV-2 is likely possible thanks to a compound called EBSELEN: a group of researchers from the Politecnico di Milano has communicated aspects relevant to the blocking of replication mechanism in the New Journal of Chemistry.

Researchers have identified a new druggable target for heart failure in neonates and infants. Approximately 60 percent of children born with congenital heart abnormalities will develop overt heart failure within the first year of life. The progression of heart failure in these infants is often rapid, with a high frequency of fatalities. Stimulation of this target significantly increased the cardiac contractility of newborns and infants in mice with few side effects.

Scientists at Osaka University discovered a new method for producing sodium titanate mats nanostructured in a seaweed-like morphology for filtering heavy metal ions and radioactive materials from water. This work may lead to advances in treating contaminated wastewater.