Researchers have shown that proteases are actively used by SARS-CoV-2 for it’s entry and replication into human cells. To support research on this topic, tebu-bio provides a full range of screening kits to identify inhibitory compounds directed against these human and viral proteases .

To better understand the mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 cell entry, BPS Bioscience have developed 3 new pseudotyped lentiviruses, allowing you to study the interaction between the coronavirus Spike protein and the human ACE2 protein in a physiologically relevant context.

One of the challenges in respiratory research in general, and for COVID-19 related projects in particular, is to have access to relevant in vitro cell culture models. Human lung epithelium models are currently being tested as a platform for COVID-19 research and several cell types susceptible to SARS-CoV infection have already been identified. In this post, I’ll introduce lung primary cell models you may find useful, as well as other cell types that have been reported as involved in COVID-19 infections and the multiple severe associated syndromes.

Advances in mRNA Vaccines for Infectious Diseases

It is now admitted that mRNA vaccines provide a safe and long-lasting immune response in humans. Since capping of the mRNA is involved in the protein production into the cells, the capping technologies are of great interest for the development of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines. In this post, I’ll focus on the CleanCap reagents (Trilink BioTechnologies), and notably the CleanCap AU for the self-amplifying mRNA, as well as their benefits, especially for vaccine approaches against pathogens (including the SARS-CoV-2).