2020 will be remembered as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with all its catastrophic consequences for public health, and for social and economic life. This health crisis has highlighted the fragility of our system and of our preparedness in the face of an epidemic, notably the economic infrastructure supporting the research and development (R&D) […]

SARS-CoV-2 variants have rapidly supplanted the initial Wuhan strain and have greater capacities of transmissibility. The first variant to emerge was the D416G, with a mutation that improved the spike’s interaction with the ACE2 receptor, but which did not enable it to evade neutralizing antibodies (See News-COVID-19.info letter 8-14 Mars 2021). More recently mutations and […]

In order to fight the COVID-19 pandemic successfully, we need to better understand the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 and the host cell. This requires us to know how each viral protein functions, but also how they interact with cellular proteins. “Omics” studies is a systematic approach allowing understanding of the functioning of life in general, and […]

The UK variant of SARS-CoV-2, detected for the first time in the south of England in September 2020, spread rapidly through the country and became the dominant strain. It has now been detected in more than 114 countries across the globe. This variant is characterized by 14 mutations and 3 deletions, of which 8 are […]

The South African variant is more resistant to vaccines Development of current vaccines against COVID-19 has required a huge amount of investment. There are now four available in Europe: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Janssen. All are designed to prompt antibody and lymphocyte T responses against the surface spike (S) protein that was present in the […]

A significant number of new SARS-CoV-2 variants have been identified in recent months, notably the South African variant, which emerged in October 2020 and rapidly became dominant in South Africa. This variant carries 3 characteristic mutations in the RBD domain of the spike (S) surface protein: K417N, E484K and N501Y. This domain is particularly important […]

SARS-CoV-2 penetrates into the cell using its spike (S) viral surface protein. Following its interaction with the cell, the S protein allows the fusion of viral and cellular membranes which usually occurs after endocytosis. Nevertheless, the infected cells, which express the S protein on their surface, are able to merge with others, causing the formation […]

Antibodies that attach themselves effectively to their target have a major importance in biomedical research and in medicine. We can speak of affinity (more or less strong binding) and of specificity of the target site. This perspective is interesting not only for pathologies such as cancer, but also against COVID-19. This effectiveness can be enhanced […]

Cellular ageing is a multifactorial process of molecular changes leading to the progressive degradation of biological functions. It is a major risk factor for many illnesses (cancer, heart attacks, pneumonia…) that occur in the context of COVID-19. These changes can be detected in the genome, in intracellular signalling, in organelles and in the cellular phenotype. […]

More transmissible variants of SARS-CoV-2 have emerged from the original Wuhan strain. Amongst these, the UK variant, discovered in Great Britain in the 3rd quarter of 2020, quickly became the dominant strain in the country. This variant carries a number of mutations, notably within the spike (S) protein, such as for example the N501Y mutation […]