Respiratory News and Research

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Researchers show how 'bad mucin' contributes to worsening pulmonary conditions

Mucus is an essential protective layer of gel-like liquid composed largely of proteins called mucins throughout our airways.

23 Sep 2021

Llamas' nanobodies could provide a new frontline treatment against Covid-19

A unique type of tiny antibody produced by llamas could provide a new frontline treatment against Covid-19 that can be taken by patients as a simple nasal spray.

23 Sep 2021

Research identifies an unnoticed site for priming of CD8+ T cells—the spleen

CD8+ T cells, also called “killer” T cells, are the killers of the immune system. Upon being primed, they look for and kill cancerous cells or virus-infected cells.

14 Sep 2021

UAB researchers identify an unnoticed additional site for priming of "killer" T cells

CD8+ T cells -; known as "killer" T cells -; are the assassins of the immune system. Once they are primed, they seek out and destroy other cells that are infected with virus or cells that are cancerous.

13 Sep 2021

Study details replication and immune evasion of Delta SARS-CoV-2 variant

According to scientists, the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has likely spread through its capability to avoid neutralizing antibodies and its heightened infectivity.

8 Sep 2021

Scientists develop lung organoids to imitate actual SARS-CoV-2 infection

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States in early 2020 left researchers struggling to identify lab models of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

From UC San Diego 2 Sep 2021

Study proposes a novel approach for developing safer analgesics

Opioids are potent painkillers; however, their use is hampered as patients become tolerant to them, necessitating more and more doses.

From The University of California, Davis 31 Aug 2021

Accurate diagnosis of bacterial superinfection pneumonia could help avoid antibiotic overuse

Only 21 percent of patients with severe pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) have a documented bacterial superinfection at the time of intubation, resulting in potential overuse of antibiotics, according to new research published online in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

23 Aug 2021

Researchers identify potent antibody that protects against a wide range of viral variants

The virus that causes COVID-19 today is not the same as the one that first sickened people way back in December 2019.

23 Aug 2021

Researchers discover how glycans act as gateways for SARS-CoV-2 entry

Since the early days of the COVID pandemic, scientists have aggressively pursued the secrets of the mechanisms that allow severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to enter and infect healthy human cells.

From UC San Diego 20 Aug 2021

Understanding computational fluid dynamics can inform more effective design of drug delivery devices

Increased air pollution in recent years has not only contributed to deteriorating environmental conditions in cities across the globe.

12 Aug 2021

UW researchers identify a link between air pollution and dementia

Using data from two large, long-running study projects in the Puget Sound region -; one that began in the late 1970s measuring air pollution and another on risk factors for dementia that began in 1994 -; University of Washington researchers identified a link between air pollution and dementia.

10 Aug 2021

Researchers devise a new method for safer delivery of RNA drugs

Scientists have developed and tested a library of lipid-based compounds for the safe and effective delivery of RNA drugs to the lungs.

3 Aug 2021

Study shows promising results for treating muscular dystrophies with umbilical cord-derived MSCs

Results of a compassionate-use study released in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine show promising results for treating muscular dystrophies with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from Wharton's jelly (WJ), a substance found in the umbilical cord.

28 Jul 2021

Natto, a Japanese fermented soybean dish, may hold the key to COVID-19 treatment

Natto is a fermented soybean dish usually served by the Japanese for breakfast. Although it actually originated at the turn of the last millennium, it could be the key to a modern problem—COVID-19—reports a new cell-culture-based study.

23 Jul 2021

Specific subset of fibroblast cells could provide protection from debilitating lung disease

Single-cell RNA sequencing has revealed a subset of cells that could provide protection from a rare, but severely debilitating and fatal, lung disease.

16 Jul 2021

Study on memory T cells of COVID-19 convalescent patients could power effective vaccine strategies

Researchers have discovered that a majority of the COVID-19 convalescent patients develop and maintain T cell memory for more than 10 months.

7 Jul 2021

New airway model boosts COVID-19 research

A research team has successfully built a model of lung cells that can be used to simulate how COVID-19 infects the airways.

22 Jun 2021

Fluorescence microscopy and deep learning predict viral infections

Researchers have now used fluorescence images from live cells to train an artificial neural network to reliably detect cells that are infected by herpes viruses.