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Luiz O.F. Penalva PhD Awarded CPRIT Grant to Study Glioblastoma (GBM)

August 20, 2020

PROJECT SUMMARY Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and most aggressive brain tumor type among adults with a 14 months average patient survival. Despite all genomic efforts in recent years, novel therapies based on GBM common mutations and alterations have been disappointing. To build an alternative route, we have been focusing on oncogenic RNA binding [...]

Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering: Scaffold Architecture and Matrix Strain Modulate Mesenchymal Cell and Microvascular Growth and Development in a Time Dependent Manner

August 18, 2020

2020 CMBE Young Innovators issue Gennifer Chiou, Elysa Jui, Allison C. Rhea, Aparna Gorthi, Solaleh Miar, Francisca M. Acosta, Cynthia Perez, Yasir Suhail, Kshitiz, Yidong Chen, Joo L. Ong, Rena Bizios, Christopher Rathbone & Teja Guda Abstract Background Volumetric tissue-engineered constructs are limited in development due to the dependence on well-formed vascular networks. Scaffold pore size […]


UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL – Researchers identify enzyme that helps COVID-19 evade immune system (Gupta Lab)

July 30, 2020

Researchers announced Friday that they have discovered an enzyme that helps COVID-19 enter cells in the human body, allowing the infection to grow. Called non-structural protein 16, or nsp16, the enzyme is produced by the new coronavirus and acts as a “camouflage,” tricking human cells into thinking that the virus is “part of its own code and […]


NEWS 4 WOAI: Decoding Coronavirus Structure Could Lead to New Antiviral Drugs (Gupta lab)

July 28, 2020

SOURCE: WOAI Broadcast Date: July 27, 2020 A new discovery by researchers right here in San Antonio is giving doctors a better idea about how the coronavirus works. “I’m still not 100 percent,” said Rudy Palacios, a man who battled COVID-19 in a hospital for 16 days. “I actually was released from the hospital on […]


Laboratory Equipment: Coronavirus Makes Changes That Cause Cells Not to Recognize it

July 28, 2020

With an alarm code, we can enter a building without bells going off. It turns out that the SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has the same advantage entering cells. It possesses the code to waltz right in. On July 24 in Nature Communications, researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San […]


ABC Spain: They discoverd how the coronavirus camouflages itself to infect cells

July 27, 2020

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is capable of camouflaging itself to trick cells into entering them without causing any alarm. This is the conclusion of a study carried out by researchers at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio), published in “Nature Communications.”


Ahmedabad Mirror: Scientists decode how coronavirus molecules ‘camouflage’ in host cell; may lead to drug development

July 26, 2020

Scientists, including those of Indian-origin, have resolved the structure of a molecule which the novel coronavirus uses to make its genetic sequence seem like a part of the host’s own, an advance that may lead to the development of new antiviral drugs against Covid-19. According to the study, published in the journal Nature Communications, the […]


Technology Networks: SARS-CoV-2 Makes Changes That Cause Cells Not to Recognize It, New Findings Suggest

July 25, 2020

With an alarm code, we can enter a building without bells going off. It turns out that the SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has the same advantage entering cells. It possesses the code to waltz right in. On July 24 in Nature Communications, researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health […]


Nature Communications: Structural basis of RNA cap modification by SARS-CoV-2

July 24, 2020

Thiruselvam Viswanathan, Shailee Arya, Siu-Hong Chan, Shan Qi, Nan Dai, Anurag Misra, Jun-Gyu Park, Fatai Oladunni, Dmytro Kovalskyy, Robert A. Hromas, Luis Martinez-Sobrido & Yogesh K. Gupta Nature Communications volume 11, Article number: 3718 (2020) Abstract The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19 illness, has caused millions of infections worldwide. In […]


NewsWeek: Coronavirus Disguises Itself to Hide Inside Our Cells and Replicate

July 24, 2020

The COVID-19-causing coronavirus disguises itself so it can hide inside our cells without being detected by the immune system in order to replicate, according to a study. For the paper published in the journal Nature Communications, scientists examined the 3D structure of a protein called nsp16 that the coronavirus creates.